Auckland
September
Q.
Hi Tui, I have black spots/marks appearing on my newly planted feijoa trees. Any idea how to fix this? Thanks!!!
Carla
A.
Hi Carla, the spots are caused by a leaf spot fungal disease. These are prevalent in humid weather, wet weather or caused by the plant being stressed, such as transplant shock. If the infection isn't too wide spread pick off the leaves and dispose of in the rubbish. If it is wide spread apply a copper based spray available from garden centres and DIY stores. Pick infected leaves up off the ground and dispose of as this helps the disease spreading, make sure there is good air circulation around your trees as well.
An alternative to leaf spot could be scale insect damage. Look for a raised bump on the underside of the leaf and along the stem, ants could be crawling up the plant. If you suspect scale insect damage spray with a plant spraying oil which smothers the insect or a pyrethrum based insecticide. Either way, apply a seaweed based plant tonic such as Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic, it will help prevent transplant shock, also strengthens the cell wall of the plant and helps stimulate root growth. This can be applied every 7-14 days, it also helps stimulate flowering and fruiting.
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What causes the spots on my feijoa trees? Comments
I have three feijoa in my garden and they are fruiting really well. The Unique, however, is a very spindly specimen and it is needing to have branches propped and tied up to support the weight. Is it possible to cut it back to encourage a more bushy habit? I don't mind sacrificing fruit for a few years if the overall tree could be strengthened somehow. Thankyou.
Susan Roy
Hi Susan, your feijoa tree will benefit from being cut back, trim the tree back by approximately one third, now is a good time to do this. By doing this, it will stimulate new growth and ultimately, more fruiting branches. It would be good to know why the tree is not growing as well as the other trees, is it planted in the right position because if it is too shady, the new growth will grow back spindly as well. Maybe there is a fence that shades the tree? If it is too shady, can the tree be moved to a better location or can surrounding trees be trimmed so that there is more light available to the tree.
The Tui Team