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Honeysuckle (Caprifolia) is a climbing shrub that is often used to create a hedge on a plot. A healthy plant has not only a beautiful appearance, but also tasty, healthy fruits. Despite the fact that the culture is unpretentious, in some cases, gardeners are faced with the fact that the honeysuckle has dried up. To save the landing, it is necessary to find out the cause as soon as possible and take a set of protective measures.
Why honeysuckle dries
There are several main reasons why honeysuckle has dried up:
- natural and climatic;
- agrotechnical;
- infectious and fungal diseases;
- insect pests.
So that honeysuckle does not dry out, it is necessary to maintain an optimal level of soil moisture. Especially in conditions of dry, hot weather and prolonged absence of precipitation.
The root system of honeysuckle is located in the upper layers of the soil. It is easy to damage in the process of loosening the soil. The underground activity of shrews and moles can also lead to root damage.
An equally important reason that the honeysuckle has dried up is a violation of the rules of planting and improper care. Poorly chosen site, characterized by heavy acidic soil, lack or excess of light weaken honeysuckle and make it susceptible to infection by fungal and infectious diseases.
Common reasons why honeysuckle wilts
If, when determining the reason why the honeysuckle dried up, climatic and agrotechnical factors are excluded, the most common is the impact of infections and pests. Diseases that cause the death of a plant are divided into fungal and infectious.
Fungal diseases of honeysuckle:
- Cerkosporoz manifested by the formation of spots on the foliage with a brown edging, the color of which varies from dark green to gray. The spores of the fungus in the form of black dust multiply under the affected areas, destroying the leaf surface.
With a disease of cercosporosis, honeysuckle is covered with dark spots.
- Powdery mildew. The fungus forms a white cobweb-like coating on the shoots. Most often, plantings growing in the shade are affected by this disease.
The main cause of powdery mildew is lack of water.
- Ramulariasis, white spotting, can cause the honeysuckle to dry out. The disease affects the stems and leaf surface with gray-brown spots with a white core.
High humidity contributes to the growth of spots covered with a powdery coating
- If the honeysuckle bush dries up, the cause may be tuberculosis. It is easy to identify by the tubercles that appear on the branches, inside which fungi multiply.
Visible to the naked eye, tear-shaped swellings that appear on the branches are a symptom of a dangerous fungal disease.
- If before the honeysuckle withered, the leaves turned dirty brown, then the plant was struck rust. The fungus is especially dangerous during wet summers, when favorable conditions are created for its intensive spread.
The brown color of the leaves gives out the presence of a disease such as rust.
- Frost punches. In spring, when the return of night frosts is possible, the bark on young branches cracks, creating conditions for the reproduction of saprotrophic fungus.
Branches bursting from frost are covered with a gray bloom
Viral diseases that cause honeysuckle to dry out are less common than fungal ones:
- Rezuhi mosaic virus. Leads to excessive bushiness honeysuckle. There is an increased growth of lateral shoots and shortening of internodes. The leaves stop developing, which leads to the death of the entire bush.
Rezuha mosaic can destroy a whole plant
- Mottled leaves. The appearance of this disease is evidenced by the motley spots and stains that appear on the foliage. If the honeysuckle has dried leaves, the cause may be soil nematodes – roundworms.
Affected foliage has a patchy color and dried patches
- Mosaic. First, the leaf surface near the veins brightens. Then yellow dots appear, which increase in size and turn into faded areas. If after that the honeysuckle dried up, then time was lost, and timely measures were not taken.
The leaves of plants affected by the mosaic turn yellow and curl
Honeysuckle branches also dry out from the pathogenic effects of insects and pests:
- Leaflet – a brown butterfly of small size, covered with fluff, whose caterpillars eat young foliage.
The most dangerous rose and motley-gold leaflet
- Honeysuckle aphid. It develops in large numbers and actively sucks the juice from young shoots, depriving the plant of strength.
During the entire growing season, several generations of aphids develop.
- Willow and acacia shields attach to the shoots and, like aphids, suck out the juice, inhibiting the growth of honeysuckle.
Scale insects, sucking the juice from the shoots, suppress the vital activity of plants
- If the underside of the leaves is covered with spots of different sizes, and by the end of summer all the foliage has turned brown, twisted, and in August the honeysuckle has dried up, this is the result of activity honeysuckle mite, having microscopic dimensions.
Thickened, shaded plantings and high humidity create favorable conditions for the reproduction of the honeysuckle mite-Rincaphytoptus
- Zlatka – a golden-green beetle that lays eggs in the tissue of branches. Developing, the larvae gnaw out the stems from the inside. This causes the foliage to wilt, and the edible honeysuckle dries out.
The larvae of the borer gnaw wide passages under the bark of the roots, descending to a depth of 30 cm.
- Gooseberry moth (harlequin). A large motley butterfly lays its eggs on plants in mid-July. The emerging caterpillars feed on young shoots and foliage.
Females lay up to 300 eggs on the underside of leaves between the veins.
Timely detection of pests and the adoption of protective measures can save plantings of honeysuckle, even if it is partially dried up.
What to do if honeysuckle dries
When the first signs of the disease are found, the affected leaves must be removed, and the bush should be treated with special preparations containing copper, for example, Bordeaux or Burgundy liquid. The fight against viral diseases comes down to limiting the spread, removing the affected and prophylactic treatment of healthy areas.
To prevent the foliage from drying out, the crown of the bushes should not be allowed to thicken. Thinning pruning is recommended for 4-5 years of plant life. In the first years, sanitary pruning can be carried out, consisting of the removal of broken and dried shoots.
During fruit ripening, honeysuckle especially needs a sufficient amount of moisture. In May-June, 4-6 good waterings should be carried out, spending up to 5 buckets of water on each bush.
Tips from experienced gardeners
Damaged areas of honeysuckle must be cut off, capturing the healthy part. The place of the cut is treated with garden pitch.
Experienced gardeners recommend following simple preventive measures with which honeysuckle diseases can be prevented, and the fight against them can be kept to a minimum.
To do this:
- take out only healthy seedlings into the ground;
- provide a sufficient level of humidity;
- weed and mulch the space around the trunks;
- choose varieties that are not susceptible to diseases;
- cut bushes regularly;
- treat plants for pests.
So that honeysuckle does not dry out from the vigorous activity of sucking insects, bushes are treated in early spring with such means as Eleksar, Aktara, Aktellik.
Experienced gardeners recommend using the microbiological agent “Baikal EM-1”. The drug not only introduces beneficial bacteria into the soil, improving its fertility, but also protects the honeysuckle from pests. One watering can with a fine spray is enough for 5 bushes.
Conclusion
Improper care, pests and diseases can cause honeysuckle to dry out. To avoid this, it is necessary to carefully prepare the place and soil for planting, regularly inspect the plants, carry out timely pruning and preventive treatment. At the first detection of signs of drying, the necessary measures should be taken to protect and save honeysuckle bushes from death.
