Honeysuckle leaves yellowing...

joeyvicks

hi guys,

i plnated this honeysuckle in March/April and its been getting on really well. I noticed a while ago some of the leaves yellowing and dropping and then spotted several greenfly on the leaves. I have since been spraying it weekly with fairy liquid and water but some of the leaves are still turning and a number have holes in them.

Is the anything else i can do to keep the aphids off?

joeyvicks

earthlysparky

That doesn't look like green fly damage to me. TBH, looks like you have a combination of problems there. What sort of soil is it planted in?

joeyvicks

well this is just the thing. Its planted up against a north facing wall in pretty heavy clay soil. I lost a couple of armandii recently on the same wall but further up and when i dug them out the soil was absolutely sodden and stank!
The hole for it was double dug but i was told to water them regularly in there first year, so during the dry period we had i was watering nightly, giving it a 20 second blast with the hosepipe!!

oldtractor

I think its hungry. give it a good watering then feed with a general purpose fertilizer.

gardenroute

I wouldn't worry about a few greenfly and small holes in the leaves - the plant should be able to handle a few pests. A quick google on nutrients threw up this quote:

Micronutrient Chlorosis

Micronutrient chlorosis is a honeysuckle disease typically caused by manganese, iron or zinc deficiencies. Chlorosis first shows up in a light green or yellow discoloration on the areas between leaf veins. Chlorosis symptoms gradually worsen, causing leaves to turn pale yellow, brown along the edges and curl. Angular brown spots might also appear between the leaf veins. Chlorosis of plants in acidic soil is frequently caused by the careless disposal of lime, ashes, detergents or caustic chemicals.

http://www.gardenguides.com/75453-honeysuckle-diseases.html


The answer is not to chuck loads of feed down, but to stop using detergent so much - this is what's making the nutrients unavailable to the plant.

joeyvicks

So stop with the soapy water spraying then?

oldtractor

Yes stop the soapy water spraying.

earthlysparky

And maybe give it a does of something like liquid tomato food, or seaweed, or comfrey tea.