Content
- The causes of leaves with holes in the cherry laurel
- Infestation with the fungus tigmina carpophila (shotgun disease)
- Infestation with the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae
- Tips & Tricks
The causes of leaves with holes in the cherry laurel
Many gardeners have suspected pests, they discover unappealing holey leaves on cherry laurel. Only very rarely are insects or animals responsible for pitting. The holes in the leaves are rather the reaction of the plant to an infestation with fungi or rare bacteria.
Infestation with the fungus tigmina carpophila (shotgun disease)
On the infected with shotgun leaves show first reddish bordered brown spots that are later dry and repelled. On the shoots and branches form through the fungus mycelium wounds that heal only bad.
As the fungus overwinters in the diseased shoots, fruits and fallen leaves, it infects the young leaves again shortly after the shoot. In humid weather conditions, it spreads explosively and also attacks other woody plants such as cherry, plum or peach.
Measures against shotgun shot:
Infestation with the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae
If it is not fungi but bacteria that cause leaves with holes, the foliage of the cherry laurel has circular necroses surrounded by a light green courtyard. Missing fruiting bodies or a mushroom coating are missing. As the disease progresses, the patches clearly separate from the healthy tissue and eventually fall out of the leaf.
Humid weather promotes the spread of the bacterium, which is why the plant disease is often confused with shotgun. From May on, the bacterium primarily infects freshly depleted leaves, while shotgun shows up on both the old and fresh leaves.
Remedy is the consistent pruning and treatment with copper preparations. Since the bacterium is reliably destroyed only at temperatures above sixty degrees, all infected parts of plants must be disposed of with household waste.
Tips & Tricks
Some species of cherry laurel very often get shotgun while other varieties are largely immune. When creating a hedge, choose preferentially resilient species.
SKb