H. kerrii - Problem with Leaves - Help!

Hello - can someone please identify what is going on with my H. kerrii and offer suggestions of what to do? I checked the “sticky” thread, but did not see quite this combination of damage/symptoms. A leaf at the top of the plant (closest to the grow light), had formed small black spots/mottling on it, had started to curl, and then slowly turned yellow – see photo. Now I see that another leaf is starting to do the same thing – see photo. I have always noticed this hoya having small black spots on the stem that connects the leaf to the main stem, and I had thought this was normal. Otherwise, the plant looks healthy - no insects observed, putting out new growth, and I believe it is starting to form “buds”! The plant is 2 yrs old. I can send a photo of my plant shelf in the event lighting might be identified as a problem. These plant stands are located in front of sliding glass doors that are not opened and have have western exposure getting some late afternoon sun …

Thank you!
Terri

Here is a photo of the plant shelf, mostly Hoyas and some Chiritas. The H. Kerrii is located on the top right shelf. Thank you again!

I've seen similar Kerrii woes discussed on another forum.

Someone did an experiment, and thought that this might be a viral/fungal condition, so she gave her plant a shot of fungicide weekly, I think, over a month, and the problem finally disappeared.

I have a variegated kerrii that does the same thing, and am going to try a fungicide as soon as I can find some.

Good luck with yours....I'm sure others here may have seen this problem, too.

BTW....Welcome!

Terri, I can't really tell from your picture, but it looks like it COULD be spider mites. If you shake a leaf over a piece of white paper and look at it carefully with a magnifying glass, you may see some very tiny black dots moving around. That would be them. If that is the case, or if it is a leaf fungus, three treatments with neem oil at a week apart each should provide control.

H. kerrii is susceptible to black spot fungal infections. Get yourself some aerosol spray used to treat athletes foot like TINACTIN and spray top and bottom of leaves.

This message was edited Jul 7, 2006 11:29 AM

Have you used that, PC?

I've read about using it for other plants where there's a mold on the soil....but you actually spray it directly *on* the leaves and there's no harm done to the leaves?

Yes used it and yes spray it directly onto the leaves, only a slight powdery residue remains on the leaves after application. I've seen no harm done to the plant :)

Thanks, I'm going to give it a shot on my sorry var. Kerrii!
I guess I've got nothing to lose.

Hi there, I have the same problem with one I just received from a vendor, I e-mailed them to see what they intend to do about it, but will also try the advice y'all gave here. Bec

Somebody volunteering adding the Black spot fungus to the disease thread?

Other option is that I'll add it but would need a photo of it from one of you folks :)

it looks a lot like what happened to one of mine's leaves when it got sunburned.

Thank you all! I sprayed Tinactin on my H. kerrii. I am not sure, however, how often I am to apply the Tinactin or am I only to apply this once? I will let everyone know how the plant responds.

I've used it directly on leaves before. It was the kind of fungus that starts with a black mushy hole that consumes the leaf and then the entire plant.

It worked great! I only had to spray once on top of the leaf and once underneath. Stopped the problem right in it's tracks.

This is what the nursery adviced me to use, I just sprayed them, so cross the fingers and hope it works! I got the rose x 3 stuff,
"daconil,or funginex, or even a rose fungicidal spray"