I have a hedge of 43 waxleaf plants. Around 6 of those plants all next to each other haven't been doing too well within the past 2 months. Leaves started falling out and turning yellow with brown spots. Branches with no leaves easily break off. Could this be disease or just the 108° heat waves we've been having? What can I do to fix this?

The area of concern


A sample of a "sick" plant. No brown spots yet.


A sample of a healthy plant

Hi Tony, Welcome to NGA.

Could you update your profile to show State and zone? That is very helpful in figuring out the problem.

One possibility is Cercospora leaf spot

http://www.clemson.edu/public/...

Moonhowl said:Hi Tony, Welcome to NGA.

Could you update your profile to show State and zone? That is very helpful in figuring out the problem.

One possibility is Cercospora leaf spot

http://www.clemson.edu/public/...

Sorry about that We've had a crazy heat wave of up to 108° for the past few days in SoCal.

Probably the best info I can give you would be the Cooperative Extension office link for California. The first is to locate the county service nearest you. The second is for the MasterGardener help for home gardens program.

http://ucanr.edu/county_office...

http://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/

Good luck and please let us know what you find out.

Thanks a lot Moonhowl!

You are most welcome Tony. Hope they can give you the help necessary.

Jean

I just realized the only affected bushes are the ones in front of (and actually touching) a white wall as can be seen in the first picture. This might explain the sudden browning of the leaves within the past 7 days. However that doesn't explain the foliage thinning within the past 4 months. Here's a comparison of the same plant today and 7 days ago:

Cooking would be a real detriment to to the plants...

With your heatwave, lack of rain and reflected heat from the wall, that could turn most any plant's leaves yellow/brown. But, the entire area is boxed between sidewalk, driveway and fence, a lot of hard heat reflecting surfaces. The two shrubs closest to the driveway would get some rain runoff from the driveway. The area to the far side of the drive doesn't look to have the wall behind the hedge. It seems to me that any moisture that would be available to the hedge would be blocked by the wall. It is possible that the yellowing and leaf loss could be from thirst. The shrubs may just not be getting enough water.

I would still consider talking to your Co-op agent at UC just to be assured that there is not another issue. Stressed plants, no matter the cause are more susceptible to disease and pest damage.