Haskap/Honeyberry Browning

[SusG]

Hello All,

I have a question about my Haskap (Honeyberry) bushes. We have four bushes that have been doing really well so far, two are about 4 years old and the other two 6 years old (if I remember correctly). This year was the best yield yet with 32 pounds. But now, after all the berries have been harvested, the leaves are starting to look terrible. It started with some yellow spots on the leaves near the bottom of two of the bushes which I now know is aphid related. The yellow spots have spread around the bottoms of the plants and under each leaf at the yellow blotchiness there are about 4 aphids. I think there are aphid helping ants around that area too. I think I can get that under control with soapy water but the problem I'm concerned about is there's a lot of brown/bronzy spots now. It's often on the same leaves as the yellow but seems to be more widespread. Most of the browning is on leaves that don't get a lot of sun, if that matters. There are a couple branches with dried, dead leaves.

It's been very wet this year but recently very hot compared to the rest of summer (30C). Can anyone tell me what these brown spots are, and maybe how we can control them? Obviously it's the end of the season but I'm concerned about the plants having enough energy and strength to make it through our -40C winters if they're being weakened by something. Is there anything extra we can do for them before fall to help strengthen them? Any help would be great, thanks!

We're in Central Alberta btw.

[applestar]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I admit from outset that I don’t have honeyberries so I can’t give you a definitive answer.

But based on my familiarity with blueberries, I’m going to guess that the brown splotches could be “rust” which is a fungal disease.

Now, most of the time, with other plants, I treat fungal diseases with potassium bicarbonate or sodium bicarbonate, based home made solution, and Bordeaux mixture for serious cases, but for blueberries, I try to stay acidic. So garden sulfur based solution might be the way to go.

A simple, acidic home-made fungicide preventive/remedy can also be made with grain vinegar (I use rice vinegar) — but be careful — vinegar must be diluted at least 200 to 300 times since in undiluted and in stronger concentrations, it can also be used as herbicide.

I prefer to make “eggshelll” vinegar — crushed eggshells soaked in vinegar for 24 hrs and then strained out — for extra nutrients. This is normally diluted 500x for foliar treatment and can be used regularly.

When treating fungal issues, be sure to spray both underside as well as the topside of the foliage.

Something else to consider is you may want to prune them now, to open up the shrubs for better air circulation and general access. Start with any dead or twiggy branches in the interior, then crossing or rubbing branches.

[SusG]

Hi,

Sorry for my very late reply. I really appreciate the advice. I gave them the eggshell vinegar spray like you suggested. It's hard to tell for sure because the fall colours are in but it does appear to have stopped it from spreading. Thank you!

[applestar]

Thanks for the followup. Heres to hoping for a good overwintering season and plentiful harvest next year.