A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Crepe Myrtle w / a fungus!!!?!

Crepe with a problem! What to do?!!

White fungus on leaves causes them to curl up and eventually die. tree has new growth, but it soon gets fungus-ed too! No 'bugs'found.

This is a friends tree and it is rather old....10+ years I believe. Will find out for sure if it is important.

Try spraying with a copper fungicide or Neem oil. Make sure there's good air circulation around it and lots of direct sun...in other words, if nearby trees have grown over it, prune them back. Fertilize with compost if you can get some, but don't use chemical fertilizer, it can promote lush, tender growth that is more prone to disease. You might even have her spread Ironite around it to feed it trace minerals it may be deficient in. Crepe Myrtles are pretty tough, and some years are susceptible to powdery mildew...that's what this is...they usually pull through just fine, but this needs to be dealt with.

I was checking around and found a recipe for a fungicide developed at Cornell University. Here's what you do:
In a sprayer mix 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 or 2 drops dishwashing liquid with 1 gallon of water and shake well, then spray.
They recommend using horticultural oil, either dormant oil as is used to spray peaches and other fruit trees in late winter, or summer oil, which is a lighter oil, but they say that if you can't get these, vegetable oil can be used. They say this recipe has been proven to be as effective as any chemical spray. Spray in early morning or late evening to avoid sun scorch.

Thanx so much Dave!

I have just emailed her your suggestions! You are a peach!