please help save my Ginkgo !

Discussion in 'Woody Plants' started by ginkgo nut, May 17, 2007.

  1. ginkgo nut

    ginkgo nut Member

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    Hello all,

    Well, here we go again. Two years ago I had a ginkgo biloba 'Variegata' that succumbed to some sort of "wilting" virus. No one was able to help ( local nurseries or Rutgers co-op ext.) and all I kept hearing was, "Ginkgos are supposed to be disease resistant." Well, they're not. The poor tree started looking rubbery, mushy to the touch, and the leaves began to gradually turn tawny with dark brown striations, starting with the lower branches and then working its way up, untill the whole tree looked dead. The ginkgo then made a brief revival with a new flush of leaves, but after about a week, the same thing happened, and it was dead.
    Now I have a new 'Variegata' that is a Japanese clone, and it seems to be doing the same thing. I've had it for a year, and this time, I've been growing it in a pot. It was doing so well, looking great, and then I saw it...leaves turning tawny with the same dark striations. So now what? Does anyone out there have any ideas? What is it? How do I stop it? Can this tree be saved? Please help...
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    What did Rutgers say?
     
  3. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    I'd advise burning it, before the causative agent can spread to every other Ginkgo in the region. Look out for any others with it, too. A new Ginkgo disease could be a very serious problem with the number of Ginkgos planted everywhere.
     
  4. ginkgo nut

    ginkgo nut Member

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    O.K., don't panick,

    I've spoken with somebody else at the Rutgers co-op extension, and they are sure its anthracnose. They said that even though all the info about ginkgos says that they are disease resistant, a little bit of info turned up that said that they can be susceptible to anthracnose under certain conditions. It could have been that cold snap that we had here ( with frost) right after everything started leafing out. All the ice cold rain we had didn't help either. This probably resulted in tissue damage which left it wide open for infection. I will be bringing them some leaf samples so we can check it out further.

    Just a little background about my garden; it was originally a multi generational vegetable garden and fruit tree orchard many years ago, therefore, I suspect that many pathogens are lurking about! I had a severe problem here with verticillium wilt and botrytis;I nearly lost all of my acer palmatum collection. Fortunately, I heard about something called phyton27, and was able to save a few trees. So that brings me back to my current situation. I got in touch with the good people at phyton again and told them of my plight, and from what I understood, variegated plants tend to be weaker and therefore easier targets. So hopefully that is the answer and I won't have to burn my favorite plant..perhaps a nice chemical treatment will suffice. Now I just have to figure out what to do about all those pesky squirrels...

    All right then, I'll keep you posted...
     
  5. ginkgo nut

    ginkgo nut Member

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    Oops, just another note,

    The first variegated ginkgo came under attack by grubs, regular lawn grubs, right before it started showing the previously mentioned symptoms. I couldn't believe it. When I dug the plant up to put it into a sheltered place, it almost had no roots left, and there were a dozen or more grubs clinging to it! Has anyone ever heard of that? So that obviously counts as tissue damage as well...sorry for leaving that out.
     

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