Dear Friendly People of the botanicalgarden.ubc.ca, Can someone please help me identify the problem with my tree and also provide any suggestions for cures/remedies. I have a mountain apple tree. I believe the scientific name is Syzygium malaccensis, but I could be mistaken as I really don’t know the first thing about science. It has fruits that come out yearly are red ovals or bells. The skin are red (like apples) and the flesh is white. It tastes like a cross between an apple and a japanese pear. There is spherical seed in it about 1.5” in diameter. The tree is currently looking sickly. About 2 years ago it had a slight mold on the leaves. I tried watering it and fertilizing, but the mold has spread across the entire tree and now its looking somewhat sparse. The mold also appears on the fruit. Can someone help me identify this and suggest any chemicals/treatments/processes to help cure my tree? If it makes any difference i live in Hawaii, near the mountains and my area gets about 110 inches of rain a year with about 7 - 11 inchs a month. Thanks
Hello, I will not pretend to know anything about gardening in Hawaii. However, I hope that I can assist in at least diagnosing the problem. It looks as though you have a couple of pest problems. Some of the photos appear to show damage caused by scale. In looking up this plant in Tropical and Subtropical Trees by Margaret Barwick I found that Syzygium malaccense is susceptible to scale. Scale is a piercing-sucking insect, meaning that it pierces its mouthpart into the plant and sucks the juices. They are difficult to spot, as they do not move (unless they are mating). Look closely on the surface of your leaves for tiny motionless bumps. I have also read that rose beetles are a problem in Hawaii. You can refer to this link. The damage (see fuller rose beetle at that link) looks similar to the damage on you plant. Before you attempt to treat the problem be sure to identify the pest. Raakel
