Mulberry worries

[sloth]

Hi all, I planted two mulberry trees in my garden last summer (I got three berries then!) about five metres apart. This year they both, though one more than the other, are starting to look off. They have random patches of leaves which slowly over a week or two turn yellow, then wilt, then drop. There doesn't seem to be a definite pattern to the yellowing, but it mostly starts interveinal near the base and spreads to the whole leaf from there, either single leaves or whole small twigs, scattered all over the tree.

I know very little about mulberry growing, but I love the fruit and would be gutted to lose them and have to start again. Tia... [ATTACH]222217[/ATTACH][ATTACH]222218[/ATTACH][ATTACH]222219[/ATTACH][ATTACH]222220[/ATTACH]

[sloth]

Anyone? The soil is about 20-30cm of good humus rich gravelly soil then heavy clay, it was often quite wet through the winter and early spring, but seems OK since - Apple, cherry and jap acers are doing fine around the mulberries...

[Paul Cleaver]

difficult one - I'm wondering if you have some beetle larvae which burrows inside the base of the leaf stalk , affecting the phloem ??? - its a long shot

[nepia]

...or simply a visiting sapsucker of some kind. Any honeydevv? Google says that vvhitefly can be a problem.

 

Sorry for the 'vv's; the Double U key's bust!

[sloth]

Good ideas, and have had a good look, no aphids or insect pests of any sort are visible, nor evidence of (holes etc)....

[slack ma girdle]

My only listing for foliage damage is salt/ wind burn.

However it goes on to say there is a bacterial blight Psudomonas syringae pv mori which affects leaves of Morus. But it has not been recorded for many years.

Are there any cankers or legions on any of the branches?

 

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[sloth]

I don't know Mr Girdle, none that I've noticed but I'll have a closer look when the rain stops...

[slack ma girdle]

I don't know Mr Girdle, none that I've noticed but I'll have a closer look when the rain stops...

My othet though is lack of a particular nutrient, try a good mulch and a good feed.

 

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[sloth]

No signs of Pseudomonas, thank goodness. Nutrient deficiency is looking likely, though no other plants/trees in the vicinity are suffering and it had slow release fert balls in the pot with it when I planted it - maybe mulberry are just a bit more sensitive than others. Hopefully it'll struggle on through and pick up next year...

Cheers

[Peasgood]

If it was a nutrient deficiency it would be the whole tree, not just random branches here and there.