I have two honeysuckle plants, which are approximately 5 years old. They have developed a fungus and I have been spraying them weekly with a fungicide recommended by the nursery where I purchased it. My question is, how long must I continue to treat the plant with the spray. It has been three weeks, and once a week I have sprayed it. Should I continue to spray the plant?
Frequency and duration of treatment are depedant upon fungal species and specific fungicide used. Most fungicides are best used as preventative controls and would be most effectively sprayed regularly until conditions no longer favor the fungal infection. Be sure to read the label on your fungicide, as some are systemic and may need to be sprayed less frequently than others. If you need any more info maybe try posting a pic of the infected plant, or providing a little more detail. --Hope that helps
Check directions on spray bottle, ask for more help from nursery, look product up on internet, look fungus up on internet...
Which reminds me to add the warning that if this fungus isn't growing directly from the plant but merely on the ground around the base, then I wouldn't be worried about it. These mushrooms, although clearly attached to the plant in some way or another, are more likely to be mycorrhizae......symbionts whose presence is beneficial to the plant. I frequently hear from people who have become alarmed at the presence of mushrooms near the base of their prized trees or in the flower or vegetable garden. Apart from Armilarea mellea complex, there's little to worry about and probably much to be happy about. A few years ago my grandfather found some mushrooms in his garden and plucked them all out. When I went to see what they were, it turns out they were the prized edible Stropharia rugguso-annulata, a find which would have... had they still been rooted and firm... provided with the photographic evidence to extend the range of this species to it's most northerly limit in BC. I felt as though my heart had been plucked out when I first learned of this detail on range.
Yes: It has not been positively established--here anyway--that you do in fact have a fungus problem for which product being used is appropriate. Although it may be a bit early in the season, afflicted plant being a honeysuckle I would first wonder if it was infested with aphids, whose sugary excretions were supporting a growth of sooty mold fungus. The remedy for this is to control the aphids, with regularly repeated washing using a forceful jet of water, or with an insecticide.
