Why do my three year old chokeberry bushes keep shedding leaves? - Ask Extension
My three year old chokeberry bushes have never produced berries and shed leaves early in the summer season after getting white or brown spots on them....
Knowledgebase
Why do my three year old chokeberry bushes keep shedding leaves? #873826
Asked June 19, 2024, 4:58 PM EDT
My three year old chokeberry bushes have never produced berries and shed leaves early in the summer season after getting white or brown spots on them. I have sprayed them with a fungicide that was supposed to stop insects, mites and fungus but it has not worked and by mid summer the bushes appear dead.
Prince George's County Maryland
Expert Response
The plants pictured look to be in decent condition, health-wise. The leaf stippling (the term for the pale flecking) is caused by lace bugs; there are more images of a variety of lace bug types on this Ohio State University page. They are a very common and minor pest whose damage does not seriously affect the plant. If an eyesore, they can be managed by either blasting them off the leaf undersides with a strong spray of plain hose water, or treated with either horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Re-treatment to catch any missed lace bugs or their eggs that hatch later may be needed.
Treatment cannot reverse existing leaf damage, but any heavily-stippled leaves will probably be shed by the plant, which it sounds like you're already experiencing; this is normal. Raking-up leaf litter around the base of the chokeberries can be one way to reduce a lace bug population for the following year, since they overwinter in that material.
The few older, lower leaves turning orange and falling are just due to environmental stress -- often drought, insufficient sunlight (for sun-loving species), and sometimes soil that is too wet. In the case of Chokeberry, which is very adaptable to a range of soil conditions and sunlight levels (though full sun is still ideal), it would be more likely to result from under-watering than over-watering. If the shrubs haven't been watered recently, they might benefit from at least a gallon or two per plant in this stretch of hot, dry weather.
As to the lack of berries, there are a few possibilities. Cross-pollination isn't necessary for Chokeberry, but it can help with berry set when plants receive pollen from other individuals that are not the same cultivar. If pollinators themselves are lacking or grounded due to cool or rainy weather during the bloom window, that too can result in poor fruit set that year. Plants stressed by environmental conditions can also abort flowers or fruits if not yet fully developed, and fruits also can self-abort and fall off if the seeds inside are not fertile due to poor pollination. Fortunately this doesn't hurt the plant (if anything, it can help save it energy), though we acknowledge this is an aesthetic hindrance. If the shrubs aren't in enough direct sun, they can grow fine but may not flower well or fruit heavily, or might only flower/fruit sporadically every few years as they build-up enough stored energy.
If and when the plants have been pruned can also remove flower buds or developing fruit unintentionally. Were they ever trimmed in the past year? Could deer have browsed them, eating either flower buds or immature fruits before they enlarged and changed color?
Fungicide alone does not target insects (though pollinators or others can be harmed by some of those chemicals), nor mites. What was the active ingredient(s) in the product you applied? It might be marketed towards all three issues, but isn't likely to be as effective against all of them equally well. We do not see any fungal disease symptoms in the photos, so a fungicide is not needed. Plus, not all fungal infections respond well to fungicide use, especially once symptoms manifest. Identifying the cause of plant damage is the best first step to deciding if intervention is warranted and, if so, with what particular chemical. Aside from the lace bugs, which do not really require spraying, no other insect damage is pictured, nor do we see indications of mite damage.
You said that by midsummer in years past, the shrubs appear dead. Does this mean they have become leafless by July or so? Or just more sparse, having lost some leaves? They have recovered well if they were leafless last summer and fall, so that suggests it was a temporary issue and might be tied to weather if they weren't regularly checked for watering needs. Chokeberry is known for being drought-tolerant once established, but these shrubs might not be fully established yet for some reason, and a "tolerance" does not mean a plant will thrive or not struggle in such conditions, just that it tends to survive them.
Miri
Treatment cannot reverse existing leaf damage, but any heavily-stippled leaves will probably be shed by the plant, which it sounds like you're already experiencing; this is normal. Raking-up leaf litter around the base of the chokeberries can be one way to reduce a lace bug population for the following year, since they overwinter in that material.
The few older, lower leaves turning orange and falling are just due to environmental stress -- often drought, insufficient sunlight (for sun-loving species), and sometimes soil that is too wet. In the case of Chokeberry, which is very adaptable to a range of soil conditions and sunlight levels (though full sun is still ideal), it would be more likely to result from under-watering than over-watering. If the shrubs haven't been watered recently, they might benefit from at least a gallon or two per plant in this stretch of hot, dry weather.
As to the lack of berries, there are a few possibilities. Cross-pollination isn't necessary for Chokeberry, but it can help with berry set when plants receive pollen from other individuals that are not the same cultivar. If pollinators themselves are lacking or grounded due to cool or rainy weather during the bloom window, that too can result in poor fruit set that year. Plants stressed by environmental conditions can also abort flowers or fruits if not yet fully developed, and fruits also can self-abort and fall off if the seeds inside are not fertile due to poor pollination. Fortunately this doesn't hurt the plant (if anything, it can help save it energy), though we acknowledge this is an aesthetic hindrance. If the shrubs aren't in enough direct sun, they can grow fine but may not flower well or fruit heavily, or might only flower/fruit sporadically every few years as they build-up enough stored energy.
If and when the plants have been pruned can also remove flower buds or developing fruit unintentionally. Were they ever trimmed in the past year? Could deer have browsed them, eating either flower buds or immature fruits before they enlarged and changed color?
Fungicide alone does not target insects (though pollinators or others can be harmed by some of those chemicals), nor mites. What was the active ingredient(s) in the product you applied? It might be marketed towards all three issues, but isn't likely to be as effective against all of them equally well. We do not see any fungal disease symptoms in the photos, so a fungicide is not needed. Plus, not all fungal infections respond well to fungicide use, especially once symptoms manifest. Identifying the cause of plant damage is the best first step to deciding if intervention is warranted and, if so, with what particular chemical. Aside from the lace bugs, which do not really require spraying, no other insect damage is pictured, nor do we see indications of mite damage.
You said that by midsummer in years past, the shrubs appear dead. Does this mean they have become leafless by July or so? Or just more sparse, having lost some leaves? They have recovered well if they were leafless last summer and fall, so that suggests it was a temporary issue and might be tied to weather if they weren't regularly checked for watering needs. Chokeberry is known for being drought-tolerant once established, but these shrubs might not be fully established yet for some reason, and a "tolerance" does not mean a plant will thrive or not struggle in such conditions, just that it tends to survive them.
Miri