New leaves are curling under.

At the top of the vines the new MG leaves are curling under and are shaped somewhat like the cap of a mushroom. What is going on and what is the remedy?

one3k - could you post a closeup photo...

Thanks(!)...

TTY,...

Ron

Some of mine are doing the same. I thought it was from a few nights when the temps got down to 43! ...in august even!

What kind of MG is it?

Joseph

I really am not sure what kind of MG it is, I planted a lot of different ones.
Have sprayed for white flies, which they had; also for mites, and fungus.

Thanks to you all for your posts.
one3k

Here's a photograph of the strange-curling-mushroom-shaped M.G. leaf. I'll gladly take more photos,
just let me know.

one3k - What do the flowers look like...(!)

The leaf looks like it is currently a host for some pathogen with those toad warts combined with the outer edge curling...even so it's an interesting 'look'...can we see a top view of the toad skin leaves(?!)...

TTY,...

Ron

These are Grandpa Otts. The buds do not look healthy, but the blooms seem to be okay. All of my M.G.s have been extremely slow growing and spindly, however my neighbors M.G.s are flourishing. Fortunately, last year I did not have this problem.

The underside view of the same G.O.-M.G. leaves I just posted.

Was there any herbicide being applied close by?

To my knowledge, there has been no use of herbicides around. Pesticides are another story. I used Sevin because I thought that bugs might be the leaf cupping culprits; at the same time something was eating perfect partial circles arould the edges of the larger leaves. Before that I used Neem to get rid of white flies. The Sevin and Neem worked on the leaf eaters and the white flies. Later I used a fungicide-mite combination spray, and have no idea what it did. Apparently nothing, because the new leaves continued cupping. The cupped leaves were on the vines before my spraying spree began, and about two weeks elapsed between using each different type of spray. The leaves remind me of little Savoy cabbage leaves.
All around my M.G. growing area there are a lot of Ailianthus trees, which are dying and dead for no apparent reason, but there is still a lot of shade. Could they have some kind of blight which affects M.G.s? Ailianthus are the most dreadful trees on earth, but that is a different story.
Regardless of the reason for the curling leaves, would it be a good idea not to save any seeds, throw out all of the old dirt, and to buy my M.G. seeds from a different nursery next year?
Thanks,
one3k

one3k - whatever is causing the trees in your area to die may also be affecting the MG's...

You mentioned
"Regardless of the reason for the curling leaves, would it be a good idea not to save any seeds, throw out all of the old dirt, and to buy my M.G. seeds from a different nursery next year?"

That does sound like the safer bet...

TTY,...

Ron

My hypothesis for the curling M.G. leaves is the fact that the vines are growing under a live Ailanthus altissima, (I misspelled it in an earlier post),tree of heaven, and I think sap falling from the leaves is doing the damage to the M.G.s. The vines which have the worst case of "curls" and warts, are directly under the tree, and the bad M.G. leaves are at the very top of the vine. The following website about the tree, gives a lot of interesting information about the toxicity of the trees; how they inhibit the growth of other trees around them, and much more about their poisonous nature.

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/ailalt/all.html

The tree of heaven is repulsive; I am not alone in my opinion of this monster, look at the comments in the Dave's Garden Plant Files.
After reading the above website does anybody else think this tree of Satan might possibly be the cause of the case of "curls" and warts on my dear M.G. leaves?
Thanks.

This message was edited Sep 10, 2007 12:03 AM

This message was edited Sep 10, 2007 12:22 AM

The above is a new post.

one3k - I haver no experience with the tree you mentioned...

It's your call as to whether you want to keep the tree or not...

TTY,..

Ron

Hi Ron,
I don't own any of the trees. Those on the property where my apartment building is located are owned by our slumlord. The tree in question is in the backyard of another apartment building. I cannot do anything about getting rid of it. If I could chop it down, a chainsaw would be going at full tilt. The easiest solution is not to plant M.G.s in the danger zone of a tree of Satan. Perhaps I will experiment with a tent of clear plastic to shield the M.G.s. I am extremely curious as to the cause of the deformed leaves.
Many thanks,
one3k

You could try planting some of the MG's in containers that you could move around outside and inside and see if the plants in the containers do better than the ones in the ground under the trees...then at least you would know if the location under the trees is definitely problematic...

TTY,...

Ron