I've been reading some backlogged threads on "Is it verticillium or not? and am wondering if there are any labs that can identify it yet from soil samples around the base/roots and cuttings of tree branches. It would be nice to get a definite answer instead of all this probably/may-be stuff........such as UC Davis in Sacramento, Ca.? Arborists can be noncommittal so as not to be responsible for a tree's demise. It's kind of a helpless feeling watching what were healthy 25 year old JMs gradually lose all their leaves and being stymied into inertia. It's not textbook. I tried Phyton 27 at the end of June, but I think I'm going to have to try successive sprays. I have a magnificent magnolia across from them about the same age. As it, too, is apparently susceptible to verticilium, and is beginning to lose leaves on some branches, I'm getting worried that this is the case. I'm watching a newer dwarf maple that I have under one of these trees to see how it does. I've grown all these plants from seedlings. I'm wondering if it could be leftover plants (loropetalum, and Hellebores) that were introduced to that area by landscapers 5 years ago. It showed up in 2007. For a while, I thought web-spinning spider mites, as there were some signs of them on the ends of some of the branches. Any ideas?
