Recognize shotgun
You can tell that no pest is responsible for pitting by the fact that the leaves show different disease stages:
- There are lightened points on the young leaves.
- These turn reddish brown after a few days.
- The leaf surface is visibly thinning.
- The plant rejects the diseased tissue, leaving the typical holes.
also read
- The causes of holey leaves in cherry laurel
- Recognize and combat shotgun disease in cherry laurel
- Recognize and treat fungal infestation in cherry laurel
The nectar glands of the cherry laurel look deceptively similar to shotgun
If you discover some dark spots along the leaf blade on the underside of the leaves, it is usually not a shotgun shot. The cherry laurel secretes sweet plant juices from these extra-floral nectaries. The glands are initially recognizable as dark green dots that turn brownish over time due to harmless sooty fungi. Depending on the type of cherry laurel, there are between four and ten of these nectar glands per leaf.
Curb the fungal disease in the early stages
Before you reach for the chemical club to curb the shotgun shot, it is worth fighting the fungus with biological means first.
Thoroughly cut out all infected parts of the plant. You should pay attention to a loose structure of the bushes so that the leaves can dry off quickly. The cherry laurel leaves that have fallen to the ground must also be consistently removed. Dispose of both the clippings and the leaves in the household waste, as the fungal spores will survive in the compost.
To strengthen the bushes, it is advisable to fertilize them with long-term fertilizers such as horn shavings, ripe manure or compost (€ 6.39 at Amazon *). Spraying with horsetail is also very successful.
If the disease cannot be contained, fungicides can help
If the fungus attacks the cherry laurel again in spite of these measures, you can obtain highly effective sprays against shotgun disease (Stigmina carpophalia) in stores.
Tips & Tricks
Eaten leaves on the cherry laurel could also come from the black weevil. However, the nocturnal beetle nibbles almost exclusively on the leaf edges and causes pens. This makes it easy to distinguish the damage caused by the blackjack weevil from that of the shotgun disease.
