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| Hi all, I purchased a house 1-1/2 years ago with a sick looking sycamore in the front. All the sycamores on the street looked poor, but mine looked the worst, with curling whitish leaves, small brown dots, and dead leaves falling all summer. I began treating it with Daconil late in the summer which seemed to help (the tree pushed its first few good-looking leaves), but this year it has not improved much, despite 3 or 4 Daconil treatments. Unfortunately, I didn't' start treatments until a month after the tree leaved out this spring. Our summer has been warm and dry, and I moderately thinned the tree out in spring. I don't know if it is powdery mildew or anthracnose, but it seems to be something that may be stored in the bark of my tree because mine still looks the worst even though it is the only one that has had any treatment given. Any suggestions on what it might be or how to try treating it? I have provided pictures that hopefully may be of help in diagnosing the problem. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by valleybeach (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 8:49
| More leaves |
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- Posted by valleybeach none (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 8:51
| ...and one more leaf pic |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 8:52
| how big is this tree ... and how are you applying your 'cures' .. professionally .. or self applied??? and why is it so important to 'save' what is otherwise a very sick tree ... thats a lot of chemical use.. for what is most likely.. a losing proposition ... presuming its anthracnose ... frankly.. i would get rid of it.. and plant just about anything other than a sycamore.. since the whole neighborhood seems infected ... ken |
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- Posted by valleybeach none (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 9:21
| Ken, the tree is approximately 20' tall. I have applied all the treatments myself, because I have not been able to find anyone that has been able to confidently diagnose the problem. The only reason that I have chosen attempt to save the tree as opposed to remove and replace it (which I would prefer to do) is because my street is lined with the sycamore trees. If it helps, here is a picture of the entire tree. |
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| ken, anthracnose causes part or all the leaf to turn blackish, and is not active in mid-summer when the temps are hot. That doesn't look like anthracnose. Sycamores can also get a leaf-rust (London plane trees more than Amer sycamore), but not usually until later in the season. valleybeach, not sure what to tell you. Usually such leaf-diseases need to be dealt with before the symptoms appear. The tree is still making food w/the affected leaves, so it may not be hurting as much as you think. Search the net for sycamore and leaf-rust. |
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| The problem with spraying before you even know what disease is that it's a shot in the dark, not necessarily the right fungicide and not necessarily the right timing. With most of these fungal diseases, it's absolutely critical to hit the fungus at just the right stage of its development for the cure to be effective. For many of these diseases, it is at bud break in the spring and soon thereafter. When you ID the problem, then hopefully you can find the right solution. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 14:04
| I have to disagree - the examples shown look exactly like the anthracnose experienced by California sycamores, especially anywhere close to the coast. The fog and seasonal overcast ("june gloom") are very conducive to the developemnt of this fungal disease and IME, it is difficult to locate a sycamore at this time of the season that doesn't look like this or worse. Since this is a repetitive problem and the pathogen can weaken the tree over time - especially if it experiences any significant defoliation - it may be worth considering replacing this tree with a less worrisome species. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Fri, Jul 27, 12 at 15:16
| Valleybeach, these are street trees. Have you no Forestry Department to handle such issues? Where I live, that would be the case. I too don't think it looks like anthracnose, at least not of the type we see in this region. But maybe it does behave differently there. Above all, an accurate diagnosis must precede any treatment regimen. You display some considerable knowledge of the pathogens which could be responsible. But I still think you need to go the next step of calling your County Horticultural Agent or equivalent person to find out where and how to get this diagnosed. +oM |
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| Members of the sycamore family in California get that. Some years it can look pretty bad and the next year they look fine. As long as the trees are not otherwise stressed, it is more of a cosmetic problem. One of mine had it last year, I think because of a couple late rains. This year it doesn't. It's more of an issue in coastal locales. |
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- Posted by valleybeach none (My Page) on Thu, Aug 9, 12 at 9:29
| Thank you to all who offered suggestions and guidance. You provided direction for me to further research the problem/treatment. This tree is a street tree technically owned by the city, but is the homeowner's responsibility to care for. County Extension office has not been helpful. I have had a couple arborists come out who were not sure what was wrong with the tree. One arborist came out yesterday and was confident that the tree had some powdery mildew, but primarily was infested with sycamore scale. He did not believe it had any anthracnose. For treatment, he suggested an injection this winter (I didn't think to ask what product he would use), but I have also read that scale can be treated with imidacloprid (Bayer Tree and Shrub). Any thoughts on which would be more effective? I would LOVE to replace this tree with not only a more resistant tree, but also a more attractive tree (most sycamore around here look pretty sad by the end of summer). Unfortunately, replacing the tree will be last resort since our street is lined with these trees and I don't want to break that up. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Aug 9, 12 at 18:10
| I'm going to make a wild guess here that steep budget cuts in your state are seriously affecting the various agencie's ability to be helpful...and then move quickly away from politics! Scale can also be nicely controlled with summer weight oils, taking care to apply under the proper conditions. BTW, I'm not sure what we are to compare from your post above, in terms of treatment options. Bayer systemic....and what? I too have mixed feelings about sycamores. Not a finer tree out there in terms of bark, but around here, anthracnose really does them in most every year, early in the growing season. That's all I got for now. +oM |
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| Maybe it's just me, but it seems that the anthracnose in this area(Central OH) was not as bad as typical this year. Probably due to the lack of rainfall and warm spring. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 11:13
| Makes perfect sense, Joe. Always worse in years of wet spring weather. +oM |
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| After more than a week of humid hot weather some of the leaves on mine are starting to look just like yours. I think these are the leaves that were just emerging when it rained a few weeks ago. The oldest leaves are good for the most part as are the new ones at the tips. Most of the sycamores in my area are beginning to acquire a bronzy tint. They do that in august. Some years the leaves look downright brown -not dry and dead just brown. Mine don't have that color. I think because I deep water them rather than the 15 minutes of sprinklers the commercial plantings get. There are lots of trees out there that have prettier, brighter foliage. When I did my homework when choosing trees for shade, I ended up going with sycamores because they could take wind and heat which were my two biggest issues. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 15:50
| They have exceptionally cool bark too. It is a bother though that the foliage is so often marred by fungal disease, etc. +oM |
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