HolographicYou Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) Hiya all. My cherished phlebophylla is showing signs of struggle within the past month or two. I'm worried it's the bacterial infection they are troubled with at buffalo. Anyone have a more optimistic diagnoses? Should I cut off the affected growth? The branches are showing the most signs of damage. Infected stems? Blemishes on top new growth. Kind regards, HY Edited October 24, 2016 by HolographicYou Another image. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sallubrious Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) I'm no expert on plant diseases but that doesn't look like a bacterial or fungal infection to me. It seems more like pest damage, in the 1st and 3rd pic there seems to be damage caused by some type of leaf miner and the deformed phllyode tips seem like something could be eating them as well. If you can remove a phllyode with signs of damage and put it in ziplock bag you may be lucky enough to have the larvae hatch out in the bag and find some small flies buzzing around in the bag in a few days. That will help you identify them & plan an eradication strategy. If you couldn't be fucked messing around with hatching insects in bags you could try some white oil or eco oil. You can mix your own with vegetable oil and dishwashing detergent diluted in water to do the same thing (smother the pests) also. I'm way too pissed to quote recipes so google that if you want to mix your own. In some species of trees the miners can be a big problem but for Acacias they are normally a fleeting thing that passes when the heat of summer kicks in. I hope it's not an infection but I really don't think it is, it looks more like some sort of pest is eating the new growth, this time of year is the most common time for that to happen to almost any tree. Edited October 24, 2016 by Sallubrious 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
communacacian Posted October 26, 2016 What Sal said! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obtuse Posted November 5, 2016 (edited) As above, looks like fairly normal insect damage to me. possibly in tandem with environmental conditions as well. i have seen a lot of burnt plants this spring, i suspect because of lack of normal hardening on new growth due to weird spring weather. overcast and wet with sudden hot days Edited November 5, 2016 by obtuse 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HolographicYou Posted November 7, 2016 Wonderful! Thanks to all, I really appreciate the separate opinions. I'll be keeping a very close eye over the next few weeks to spot any pest or eggs, and might just try the ol' ziplock bag trick. I've just got to have the heart to pluck a leaf! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
communacacian Posted November 8, 2016 Ive seen very similar damage on an obtusifolia I grew. They were very small black beetles, for some reason they loved chewing on these phyllodes and making those ingravings in the process. There were large numbers of them at different times of the day, I resorted to flicking them and finally some spray, I think Pyrethrum which was all I had on hand, worked well if I recall, eventually the tree got so big that damage like this was insignificant 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
