The Lemon Fool

One of my tall camellia bushes has a problem. It flowered fine last year. This year, so far, only flowers at the top. The lower trunks and branches have a grey green mould on them in circles, looks like mould found on old bread. Leaves look fine.

Any thoughts and help you can give would be very much appreciated.

Arizona11 wrote:One of my tall camellia bushes has a problem. It flowered fine last year. This year, so far, only flowers at the top. The lower trunks and branches have a grey green mould on them in circles, looks like mould found on old bread. Leaves look fine.

Any thoughts and help you can give would be very much appreciated.

Sooty mould?

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/camellia/sooty-mold-on-camellia.htm

RC

So far our one Camelia is really suffering to get over frost damage. We had four days and nights in a row at minus ten celcius here. Never had that before and I have lost more shrubs last winter than in previous thirty years combined. Hopefully the Camelia will recover. But it's struggling.

The problem in our area with shrubs seems to be honey fungus. They look fine in have an off year and then succumb. I had a camellia many years ago, but it didn't like my soil. There are plenty around, though.

TJH

I thought Camelias were pretty hardy, though of course the flowers go brown at the slightest hint of a frost - particularly if they then get caught by the morning sun. My Camelia is very large and grows mainly under the cover of tall oak trees which give it some protection. It is also a williamsii x which means (I think) that it is a little later than the japonicas, and in many years escapes the early frosts.

I agree the mould might be sooty mould, but then that is on the leaves, not the stems. It is caused by greenfly (?) droppings going mouldy, so insecticide and washing the leaves is the solution.

Honey fungus in my experience is a strange disease which is not always virulent. I have lived with it for 40 years in my garden, and the only plant I think it has killed was a clump of rhubarb. Trees and shrubs don't seem to be bothered.

Having looked further, I think it is some kind of lichen and someone said it won’t harm the plant. Let’s hope!

Arizona11 wrote:Having looked further, I think it is some kind of lichen and someone said it won’t harm the plant. Let’s hope!

If it is lichen then no, it cannot harm the plant. Lichen is supposed to be an indicator of clean air.....

Algae, lichens and moss are non-parasitic plant-like organisms that colonise bark, rock and other hard surfaces. Lichens and algae are often mistaken for a fungal disease but, fortunately, they do not harm plants on which they grow. Furthermore, they can give a mature look to a garden, preferring damp areas with minimal air movement.

However, growths of algae, lichens and moss may be more common on plants lacking vigour, so their presence could indicate that attention is needed, particularly on old fruit trees and azaleas.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/alg ... ees-shrubs