What is wrong?

Black spots that are indented in the leaf. It is not sooty nor can I wipe it away. It started on one plant and now two others have it. Help!?! I need to get this under control before I have my plants in close quarters.

Tahitian Clown with the spots

This message was edited Oct 16, 2009 8:03 PM

Hi Dee

It looks like a fungus that develops on hibiscus leaves that stay too damp for too long. It can be caused by excess rain, dew on the plants that forms overnight and less than ideal air circulation (the plants being too close together). It is not harmful to the plant other than it looking bad. If your plants are kind of close together, space them out more. You can also remove the infected foliage if you're sick of looking at it. It will eventually go away on its own when conditions are drier and the infected leaves will fall off on their own. You can slow down the process of it spreading by the use of a fungicide and to make sure you don't wet the foliage when you water the plants. Watering in the mornings only might be a good idea for the time being. That way if you wet some of the foliage it will dry out quick during daytime conditions.

Jon

Ahh, many thanks Jon. That explains why it is only on the plants that get hit by the sprinklers watering the grass. Guess I'll need to find another spot for them or convince my hubby to stop any watering in the evening. I've treated with Bayer 3 in 1 so I guess that should help too.

So glad its not anything bad, Dee. You have such pretty Hibs.

Judy

If the sprinklers are on a timer, just have him set it for the sprinklers to come on early in the morning. That way they won't stay damp as long. Another good reason for watering in the early morning hours (4-6AM) is that there is less water use and you get better water pressure out of the sprinklers.

Yep, it's not anything bad Judy. It just doesn't look great. It occasionally happens on some of my plants in the late spring/early summer. That's the time of the year when we're more likely to get morning dew/condensation on things.