Shrub Help!!!

[Scott Shepherd]

I have a row of "red tips" or photinia's and I'm having problems. See the photo below. The leaves look burned. Only thing I've done this year is feed them with Plant Tone about 6-8 weeks ago and then a little liquid fertilizer about 4 weeks ago.

I've got about 12-15 of them and most of them are starting to look like this. Any idea what's causing it and how to resolve it?

[ROY DICK]

Scott, you might want to try your local County extension service.

[Scott Shepherd]

They are closed until Monday :D and I'd like to try and get them some help this weekend when I can get to the stores and get something down for them, or on them.

[James Harrison]

You need to search for disease of red tip. I know in my area they are prone to disease and most people have quit trying to grow them.

[Ted Calver]

I second the county extension service advise. Red Tips are prone to leaf spot in our area of Virginia, particularly when we are having a wet year. I had luck with Spectracide Immunox systemic anti-fungal spray a couple of years ago. Don't know if it's still available or recommended.

[Jim Rimmer]

i hit several websites that said cut them down, burn them and bury the ashes. Seemed a little extreme to me. I vote for the ext. agent or a good nurseryman that might help.

[Ted Calver]

I took a second look at your leaf problem picture and it doesn't appear typical of the the leaf spot I'm used to seeing. Now I wonder if this is the result of some environmental issue. Here's what lead spot looks like:
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/450/450-609/450-609.html

[Scott Shepherd]

Thanks for the help so far. I'm aware they have a history of issues. Of course I wasn't aware of that when I bought them. It took me 2-3 years of fighting with them to get them healthy and they looked good early this year.

Second year they were in, they got black spot. Probably didn't help that I watered them every day :(

Got that all worked out, stopped watering them, and they did very well.

Third year came, I went out there, saw a few leaves that bugs were nibbling on, figured I'd hit them with something on the weekend when I had time. Came back on the weekend and they had all but stripped them to nothing but stems. My fault, I should have taken the bugs seriously!

While I know they can be a problem, they are 5 years old now and providing an excellent barrier between me and my neighbor with a pool filled with screaming kids all summer, so cutting them down is not an option at this point.

My personal belief is that They got too much fertilizer in the liquid I used and it burned the ends of the leaves, but that's just my guess. I guess I'll have to wait until I can get to the agent to help.

[John Fricke]

Try taking some stems with leaves to your local nursery. they should have a knowledgeable pathologist on staff. They have to keep all those plants looking spiffy to sell.

[Scott Shepherd]

Took the photo to a local full service garden center and they looked at it and said "Not enough water" in about 2 seconds. They also said since it's coming from the tips in, it's water, if it were coming from the base of the leaf out, it would be something other than water.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to water I go!