If your crepe myrtle tree farewell are turn jaundiced , you may be worried that it could be dying . Yellowing leaves could act a range of dissimilar problem , and it is important that you know which one is affecting your trees .
1. Water
The leaves of a hefty crape myrtle will be dark unripened on the top side and lighter unripe on the bottom side of each foliage . If you notice your crepe Vinca minor ’s leaf turn yellow or brown , this could designate that it needs more piss .
The color of the leaves can tell you how much H2O is useable to your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . The greener the foliage , the more wet there is in it ; therefore , the greener it will appear when equate to other plants with less moisture in their leaves . Yellowing leaves signal that there is not enough water available for your plant .
Too much water
If your tree is getting too much water , the leaf will turn chicken . Crepe myrtles do not wish wet foot and will rot if they sit in stand body of water for too long . They also need full drainage so that water does not pool around the base of the trunk or roots . If you live in an area with stiff soil , this may be more of a worry than if you know in arenaceous soil where it drains well naturally .
If you have been watering your tree too much or have recently planted it in an area where it induce too much water , try pruning back some of the limb to give them more way to breathe . you’re able to also plant it in another location where it will get less water supply or try on adding some mulch around its al-Qa’ida to help keep moisture aside from its ascendant .
Too little water
If your crepe Vinca minor is getting too lilliputian water , then it can have the leave of absence to release yellow and fall off . This is especially true if they were embed in an domain where they did n’t get enough pee during the summer months or if they were imbed in a slew that did not drain well and had body of water sitting in it for too long . If this is the case for you , then just water more often should figure out this problem quickly because it will avail to replenish nutrient in the filth as well as rehydrate them so they can start grow unexampled leaves again .
Impurities in water
Crepe myrtles are extremely raw to impurity in the water they are growing in . The parting will plough yellow , then brown and go down off . The problem is that these impureness can be hard to place .
The first matter to check is your water source . If you use a well , it might be depict in mineral from the grease or rocks close to the wellhead . A city water supply may have eminent levels of chlorine or other chemical substance added to down bacteria and viruses . Both of these can cause leaf discoloration in crepe Vinca minor .
If you suspect your water quality is causing the yellowing leaves , try impart some charcoal - establish filtration system such as an activated carbon filter or reverse osmosis organization for drinking water at home . You could also try adding organic fertilizers like fish photographic emulsion or seaweed excerption at once onto your stain around your crepe Vinca minor instead of using them as fertiliser sprays on top of the leaves , which may not get all the means down into the roots where they are require most .
2. Age
This is a rough-cut problem with this tree , especially if the tree diagram is honest-to-god than 15 years onetime . The leaves will get going turning yellow and falling off .
The reason for this is because there is an imbalance in the food that are given to the tree . When you give too much N to the tree , it will have an excess of chlorophyl yield , and this will cause the leaf to turn jaundiced and fall off . If there is not enough N in the soil , then you will comment that your trees have weak branch and fewer green leave than normal .
The best way to specify this problem is by getting disembarrass of all of the dead branches from your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and giving it right care by add up more N - rich fertilizer into its land .
3. Pests
Aphids
aphid are small , soft - incarnate louse that are often green but can also be yellow , pink , or black-market . They feed by stick in their long , metro - similar sass contribution into a plant and sucking out the juice . aphid are known to transmit plant life virus with their piercing - sucking mouthparts . The honeydew they produce as they feed may boost the development of sooty mould on the leaves . grease - borne diseases may also be circularize by aphids feeding on de-escalate plant . Aphid infestations usually occur during the spring and summer months when temperatures are strong , and plants are actively growing . Aphids prefer crank unexampled growth and blossoms of many arboraceous decorative industrial plant ( such as crepe paper myrtle ) . They can also attack new stems bring out deformed outgrowth or stunt flying .
Scale
Scale insects feed on the blackjack in the leaves , sprig , and outgrowth of the crepe myrtle . They go down on nutrient from these parts of the industrial plant and wedge their excretion on the leaves , which causes them to plough yellow . The plate insects themselves appear as small gibbosity on the Earth’s surface of the leaves or stems .
Mites
Mites are petite arachnid that live on the bottom of leaves , sucking plant life juices from the leave . They run in color from blanched to red , blue , and black . Mite infestations usually stimulate damage during spicy summertime when plants are accentuate for water and nutrients . The best elbow room to control mite on crepe myrtles is to spray the leafage with insecticidal soap or neem oil color every two weeks during the summertime months .
Mealybug
mealybug are minor insects that suck sap from plant and secrete a waxy message name honeydew on which jet-black mold grow . They tend to attack newer ontogeny at first , then move upward along the bow until they reach the top of the flora , where they congregate under protective flaps of barque or in leaf axils ( where novel buds emerge ) . Damage include wilting , turn leaves , and dying offset . you’re able to apply dormant horticultural oil color in early fountain before Modern growth emerge if you see mealybugs in winter or early spring ; otherwise , treat weekly with insecticidal soap .
Whiteflies
Whiteflies are very small flying insects that resemble tiny moth . Adult whiteflies have four wings and clear bodies with white wings ; however , their larvae look similar to maggots with clear bodies and blackheads . There are two types of whiteflies : sweetpotato wireworms ( Bemisia tabaci ) and silver folio whitefly ( Bemisia argentifolii ) . Sweetpotato wireworms feed on root of grasses and weeds ; however , Silverleaf whitefly feeds on the foliage of trees , shrubs , and vine , cause damage to fruit trees as well as ornamental plants like crepe myrtle .
4. Disease
Phyllosticta Leaf Spot
Phyllosticta foliage spot is the most common disease that sham crepe myrtles . It produces little , round or oblong spots on the leaves that are ab initio yellow to brown and then become Olea europaea green to black . afterwards on , the spot turn into sunken area palisade by a sorry brown pack . The fungus that causes phyllosticta leaf fleck overwinters in fall leaves and spreads through rain splash onto new growth during the growing season . It ’s important to withdraw infected leafage as shortly as you see them , so they do n’t scatter the spore to other parts of the plant .
Myrothecium Leaf Spot
Myrothecium folio patch is do by Myrothecium roridum , a fungus that overwinters on septic leave-taking and produces spores in other spring . It is most common on young flora but can happen any time of class if condition are favorable for the growth of the fungus . septic leave develop yellow spots with purple borders ( gross profit margin ) that later on turn chocolate-brown or black as they mature . As the infection spreads to young leaves , they will develop brown blot that finally grow together to form large lesion on the upper and lower surfaces of leave as well as stems .
Cercospora Leaf Spot
Cercospora folio place is a common disease triggered by the fungus Cercospora crepe myrtle . This fungus overwinters in leaf litter and can get substantial damage to your crepe Vinca minor . The fleck are circular , yellow - orange with a drab center , and fall out on the upper leaf airfoil . Leaves may turn yellow or brown , curl and drop prematurely . septic leave often have a water - soaked appearance .
Bacterial Leaf Blight
Bacterial foliage blight is a unwashed disease that affects crape myrtle . It causes brown or black office to form on the leave and finally kill them . The smear may also have white , powdery spores on them . This fungus is spread by splashing pee and twist , so it ’s important to keep your tree diagram well - watered but not overwatered during dry periods . Prune off touch subdivision when they choke back in winter to help prevent the spread of the disease .
Powdery Mildew
Powdery mould is another common disease that affects crepe myrtles in late summertime or fall . It appear as white or gray powdery patches on the top of leaf ; underneath these patches , foliage veins persist dark-green while the residual of the leaf call on jaundiced and eventually dies off entirely if get out untreated . Treating with fungicide can facilitate prevent this disease from spreading further ; applications should be made too soon in the season before symptom look for best results .
5. Soil health
The parting of your Crepe Myrtle may sprain yellow because they lack nutrients such as atomic number 7 ( N ) and K ( K ) . To correct this job , utilise fertiliser at half strong suit when irrigate your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or bush . The type of fertilizer that work in effect depends on what kind of soil you have ; sandy loam soils require more nitrogen while clay filth need more atomic number 19 .
The pH level of soil determines whether the nutrient plants call for for growth are readily available or locked up by chemicals in the soil . A pH degree that ’s too high or too low pass water it difficult for plants to absorb nutrients . A meter reading below seven indicates acidic land , while meter reading above seven indicate alkaline soil . you may test your land ’s sour with a outfit from your local computer hardware memory board or glasshouse . If you notice that your crepe myrtle leave are turn xanthous , especially if the entire leaf turn xanthous rather than just part of it , it could be a signaling that your soil want more lime or sulfur to better its pH level .
6. Overfertilization
Over - fertilisation can cause the leaves of the crepe paper Vinca minor to plough yellow or brownish . This is because the plant is not able to absorb all of the food that are being added to it . In most cases , this is due to supply too much fertilizer at one clip . If you tot up too much fertilizer , it will build up in the dirt and forestall access code to other nutrient , such as atomic number 7 and potassium . The practiced way to ward off over - fertilization is to utilize slow - acquittance fertilizers or else of melted ones . These type of fertiliser easy release their nutrients over metre , so there is no chance of overfeed your plants .
7. Soil drainage
Soil drain can cause root to rot , and root death can result in yellowing leave . Poor drainage go on when the land becomes too compacted or when there are n’t enough air sac usable for root growth within the soil profile . To ameliorate drain , amend your territory with organic topic such as compost manure or ripened sawdust before plant your novel Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , so it has plenty of wet - retain constitutional thing to aid keep it moist during teetotal full stop without getting waterlogged during rainy seasons .
While crepe Vinca minor Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are one of the most commonly produce trees in the Southeastern part of the United States , there are several cause why crepe Vinca minor leaves may change colors . These leaves will first turn light dark-green , then yellow or brown as they age and naturally precipitate from the tree diagram . Understanding the underlying cause can help determine if you should do anything to prevent further leafage drop .
