Tips for solving seasonal horticulture problems

Each season brings us something different with general horticultural problems that occur. This year is no different. First we started out wet and cold, which brought bacterial and fungal issues and stunted our plants from growing. Then, we headed into the heat, which brought about other pest problems.

First, we saw junipers with tip blight, and now we are seeing fireblight on plants in the rose family. There have been leaf spots and leaf blights on skunkbush sumac where normally there is nothing that affects these plants. But since the humidity is 60% or more and the dewpoint has also stayed high mostly in the 60th percentile, there is a lot of moisture in the air and it hangs around.

The best thing to do with either fireblight or leaf spots/tip blight on skunkbush sumac is to prune out as much of the affected areas as possible. Sometimes that is not possible or reachable. When pruning for fireblight and leaf blight, dip your pruners in a solution of one tablespoon of Clorox in a gallon of water. This will stop you from spreading the spores to a new surface, especially an open wound. Both of these diseases can overwinter and create cankers along the stem which open and ooze. The spores can be carried by the rain, insects or wind to other parts of the plant.

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