Dogwood Tree Disease Powdery Mildew

One of the very common diseases of dogwood trees is the dogwood anthracnose which is caused by the fungus discula sp.
Dogwood tree disease powdery mildew. Powdery mildew on flowering dogwood hi i m james blake director of the clemson extension home garden information center. Young plants and new growth are usually more severely damaged than older plants leaves or branches. The flower bracts are usually attacked first and then the leaves young shoots and fruit of dogwoods primarily during wet spring weather. They are generally host specific.
Symptoms are small inch tan spots with reddish purple borders. This disease is caused by the fungus elsinoe corni one of the most common leaf diseases of flowering dogwoods. Powdery mildew usually attacks dogwood from mid to late may until frost in tennessee. Disease resistant cultivars are available and reduce the chances of problems such as powdery mildew and spot anthracnose.
Powdery mildew is a powdery white to light gray colored fungus that will grow on succulent stems leaves buds and flowers. We are recommending that you spray at least 6 hours prior to a rain. Join virginia tech plant pathologist mary ann hansen as she discusses common plant diseases in virginia. Banner maxx rubigan and eagle have provided better control over previously recommended fungicides.
In this video she talks about powdery mildew on do. Prune out dead limbs that might be harboring fungi but do not trim infected. In the southeast powdery mildew on dogwood is known to be caused by two different fungi microsphaera and phyllactinia. The shoots are also killed in this disease.
Deprive powdery mildew of excess succulent dogwood growth to feed on by avoiding fertilizers with high nitrogen content. The canker slowly girdles the tree. Dogwoods are forest understory trees that grow best in partially shady sites with regular moisture and an annual application of organic matter such as leaf compost. The infection is manifested in the form of leaf spots and stem cankers.
Powdery mildew is a disease which is common on many ornamental trees and shrubs including dogwoods. Apply a fungicide to protect plants. Remove the infected tree and do not replace it with another woody ornamental until the soil has been fumigated and aerated. There are many powdery mildew diseases on many of the different plants that we grow but they don t go back and forth across the different species.
During this time the tree flowers and fruits profusely but eventually dies.