Ficus Tuffy Black Spots

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BLazeD

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#296055 17-May-2022 13:28

Hi, I have an enormous ficus tuffy hedge. Usually it looks great but I have noticed these black spots on some leaves. It's probably on around only 10% of the leaves on the tree.

What is it, how would the trees have got it, and what can I do about it?

Thanks!

neb

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#2915332 17-May-2022 20:37

It's not the spots that are the big symptom, it's the rolled-up leaves, that looks like a fungal disease. There's a vast range of fungicides you can try for this, the obvious one is copper oxychloride but that's mostly a protectant and contact-based, to kill the stuff that's already there try carbendazim or myclobutanil which are systemics, or thiophanate-methyl if you can find it, that's absorbed by roots as well as leaves so easier to apply.

BLazeD

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#2915471 18-May-2022 10:29

Thanks neb! Any idea where I could find thiophanate-methy in Auckland? Applying it to the leaves is not possible.

Also, could this disease kill the plant?

Thanks!

neb

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#2915621 18-May-2022 15:28

All of the ones I mentioned are sold to the public (as opposed to the good stuff, which is growers-only, sigh) so it's just a case of finding the brand name it's sold under, in the case of thiophanate-methyl it's in Greenguard and Guardall, assuming they haven't been banned too.

However, before going for that: Are you sure you can't spray them? That's the only real way to deal with this stuff, you're really going to have to spray the hedge to deal with it, the root absorption is more a secondary thing and not nearly as effective as through the leaves.

Another thing you can do is to break off a few of the curled-up leaves and take them to a garden centre and see what they tell you, although their advice can be hit-and-miss at times so you may want a second opinion.

In terms of killing the plant, it's hard to tell, it'll certainly weaken it if left untreated but there's a bunch of other factors that all play into it, they may just end up looking a bit sad for awhile rather than dying off completely.

neb

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#2915670 18-May-2022 15:40

Just did a quick check, everything with thiophanate-methyl is no longer sold to the public, everything with carbendazim is no longer sold to the public, that leaves the least effective of what used to be available, myclobutanil, sold as Yates Fungus Fighter. Apart from that I'm not aware of any systemic fungicide that's still sold to the public, if anyone knows of any please post here.

BLazeD

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#2915671 18-May-2022 15:43

Thanks neb, appreciate it! Was just about to post that I wasn't having much luck tracking this stuff down!

I did find this https://www.daltons.co.nz/banrot-0 but the cheapest tub is $500!

neb

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#2915681 18-May-2022 15:50

BLazeD:
Thanks neb, appreciate it! Was just about to post that I wasn't having much luck tracking this stuff down!

I did find this https://www.daltons.co.nz/banrot-0 but the cheapest tub is $500!

Yeah, it's a nasty catch-22, the good stuff is only sold to agricultural users but they buy it by the drum/sackload so the prices are outrageous if you just want to get a few grams/ml for your garden.

Another option is to ask any older relatives/friends you have if they could poke through the collection of half-empty containers of garden spray in their shed, most of that will date back to when you could still buy sprays that worked.