Box blight. Can it be beaten?

[Easternlight]

Hi. I have four shaped box bushes that I saved from my late mother's garden when we sold her house in 2009.
They have done well since then, despite me moving them a few times, and I have kept them clipped.
A couple of months ago I noticed a few brown patches on one of them and felt it may be blight.
Over the last few weeks they have all suddenly developed similar patches.
In the last week the large corkscrew has really gone bad fast.
I suspect I've re acted to late and have sprayed them with provanto fungus fighter.

Am I wasting my time trying to save them now? (I think I know the answer)

[pquinn]

Tebuconazole, trifloxystrobin and triticonazole are supposed to be the things to use, so search out stuff with those. Other types of fungicides might work too.

Provanto Fungus Fighter Plus, Toprose Fungus Control & Protect, Fungus Clear Ultra, probably others too.

[pquinn]

Also box will grow back merrily from almost nothing so until they're dead they're salvageable.

[Simpo Two]

Could it just be that we've had very hot weather and almost no rain for 6 weeks? (ignore if you watered them of course!)

[dimots]

Could be caterpillars?

[Nobby Diesel]

If it is the dreaded Box Moth Caterpillar, you have caught it plenty early enough,
As said, these trees are hardy things and will recover, if treated.
I have around 20m of Box hedge which has grown from 6" high seedlings into a dense hedge which I now keep at about 1m high x 40cm deep.
It gets attacked every year and I spray it with Topbuxus XenTari as soon as I notice the damage; normally around June.
Also, spend some time picking off the caterpillars you can find and killing them. They are tough to spot initially, but you will become accustomed to spotting them.
Spray thoroughly; from the top, from the bottom and inside.

This year, they have seemed particularly active. So, I also bought a TopBuxus moth trap. Seems to work quite well as I now have a tub of dozens of dead moths.
Keep on top of it.

[Carlososos]

Fingers crossed. Lovely things especially the corkscrew.

[Silvanus]

Box moth and box blight can be beaten. All depends if you want too, can take time and not the prettiest to look at in the meantime. Recently swapped out a box hedge for someone with woody herbs. Also change a small one with yew, Looks and smells amazing. If you're happy to put in the effort it can be worth it as box can look great if you like neat and manicured.

[Randy Winkman]

Silvanus said:

Box moth and box blight can be beaten. All depends if you want too, can take time and not the prettiest to look at in the meantime. Recently swapped out a box hedge for someone with woody herbs. Also change a small one with yew, Looks and smells amazing. If you're happy to put in the effort it can be worth it as box can look great if you like neat and manicured.

I sort of agree with this with the proviso that I don't think you'll ever "beat" it. Whatever the problem is this year will probably be a problem next year, and the year after. And affected plants just don't look that good so is there any point? First step is to work out if it's blight or caterpllars. Here's a photo of a caterpillar on a small hedge I pulled out 2 years ago. The hedge was knee high and about 6 feet long. On one particular day I picked off 80 caterpillars. Then loads more the next day, and the next etc. Then, as I say, I pulled the hedge out.

[pquinn]

If it was moths you'd expect the leaves to be gone down to the stalks, and a load of silk and caterpillar st.

Don't need that Xentari stuff either; Bug Clear Ultra and/or Provanto Ultimate Fruit and Vegetable Bug Killer concentrates will also cheerfully kill the things and keep them gone. A thorough spraying inside and out and no more chomped box plants.

Once the little gits are dead the plants will grow back like nothing happened.

[pquinn]

Simpo Two said:

Could it just be that we've had very hot weather and almost no rain for 6 weeks? (ignore if you watered them of course!)

Lots of things went moldy/diseased after their first good rain soaking in a while so that might have been a trigger if it's blight.

[anonymous-user]

pquinn said:

If it was moths you'd expect the leaves to be gone down to the stalks, and a load of silk and caterpillar st.

Don't need that Xentari stuff either; Bug Clear Ultra and/or Provanto Ultimate Fruit and Vegetable Bug Killer concentrates will also cheerfully kill the things and keep them gone. A thorough spraying inside and out and no more chomped box plants.

I too can vouch for Bug Clear. I was convinced my box tree was a gonner but a few soakings in this stuff worked wonders and the leaves came back in a few weeks. Moths have been really bad for 2 or 3 years now and the caterpillars eat everything

[Easternlight]

Thanks for all the advice.
Yes they have been watered.
How big are the catapiller's?
I did look but couldn't readily see anything and the leaves do seem to be there but dead.
Might get some bug spray as well.
Close up pic.

[Randy Winkman]

Pquinn is right - if it was caterpillars they would eat the foliage right down to the stem. Like this:

[Silvanus]

Randy Winkman said:

Silvanus said:

Box moth and box blight can be beaten. All depends if you want too, can take time and not the prettiest to look at in the meantime. Recently swapped out a box hedge for someone with woody herbs. Also change a small one with yew, Looks and smells amazing. If you're happy to put in the effort it can be worth it as box can look great if you like neat and manicured.

I sort of agree with this with the proviso that I don't think you'll ever "beat" it. Whatever the problem is this year will probably be a problem next year, and the year after. And affected plants just don't look that good so is there any point? First step is to work out if it's blight or caterpllars. Here's a photo of a caterpillar on a small hedge I pulled out 2 years ago. The hedge was knee high and about 6 feet long. On one particular day I picked off 80 caterpillars. Then loads more the next day, and the next etc. Then, as I say, I pulled the hedge out.

beat was probably the wrong world, takes a lot of hard work and then constant maintenance. Its why a lot are removing affected hedges. Some are even removing healthy hedges and replacing with different species. If it was me and it was a couple of potted plants they'd go in the garden incinerator. Sad but certainly one of the better options.

[pquinn]

Silvanus said:

eat was probably the wrong world, takes a lot of hard work and then constant maintenance. Its why a lot are removing affected hedges. Some are even removing healthy hedges and replacing with different species. If it was me and it was a couple of potted plants they'd go in the garden incinerator. Sad but certainly one of the better options.

Only hard work if you don't just spend 10 minutes spraying and be done with it. Haven't had to touch mine again since I sprayed them when the first few showed up earlier in the year. They were very dead very quickly and so were all that tried to follow later.

[NMNeil]

I had powdery mildew on my marijuana plants. 3 tablespoons of baking soda in a gallon of water sprayed onto the plants and it was gone within a few days. Blight is almost the same as powdery mildew or so I'm told.
Can't hurt and it's free, and if you add a teaspoon of canola oil to the mix it will also kill most nasty plant eating bugs.

[Silvanus]

pquinn said:

Silvanus said:

beat was probably the wrong world, takes a lot of hard work and then constant maintenance. Its why a lot are removing affected hedges. Some are even removing healthy hedges and replacing with different species. If it was me and it was a couple of potted plants they'd go in the garden incinerator. Sad but certainly one of the better options.

Only hard work if you don't just spend 10 minutes spraying and be done with it. Haven't had to touch mine again since I sprayed them when the first few showed up earlier in the year. They were very dead very quickly and so were all that tried to follow later.

sometimes it can be easy if you're lucky, often people don't realise until its too late. Also people misidentify between blight and months, or have extensive hedges or topiary to deal with. Some leave and hope the birds will eat the caterpillars, but birds really aren't that fond of them (toxic), spraying g us to only really option, but spraying is becoming less and less popular. Blight can be a PITA too. Seen a few wild outbreaks of both which can be devastating to the shrubs.

[Silvanus]

Here is one I've been tasked to sorting out