How to get rid of black dots on top side of leaves and branches?
Question:-top side of leaves and on branches too
-branches seem to be drying out +leave turn yellow and falling off
-premature dying of plant
-just this year
-perhaps a fungi?
-plant smells bad(putrid smell)
PLEASE HELP!
Answers:
Little black dots on the tops of leaves and on branches sounds like the fruiting bodies (spore releasing structures) of a fungus. Spraying a fungicide now will not help your plant. Fungicides are preventative. They help a plant to defend against a fungus' initial attack and entry into the plant.
At this point, not knowing specifics of your plant and the fungus you are dealing with, I would recommend the following: Prune out the affected branches, burn or discard the pruned branches, clean-up any dead leaves & branches from around the plant and discard, do not get the foliage wet when watering, and follow proper watering practices for your plant (remove stress on the plant since fungus typically attacks stressed plants). Remember to clean & dry your pruning tools beween each cut with a 10% bleach solution or 75% alchahol soution so as not to spread the fungus. Also, when prunning out infected branches, try to prune 6-8" past the fungal fruiting bodies.
P.S. Providing more detail like the specifics of the plant, your cultural practices and the weather patterns around the time you noticed the infection can all help in pinpointing the specific disease.
When I see leaves turning black, I spray a fungicide hoping it will help, and it always has.
I use Ortho "Rose Defense", which used to be called funginex.
If you are talking about vegetables, I don't use any chemicals so I have no recommendations.
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