Question
hydrangea 1 
and 2
Hello! Thank you so much for helping me! I live in Michigan, zone 5, and I have a Pinky Winky Hydrangea that I bought 1 year ago. It has spots on the leaves, as shown. Can I save it? I know nothing about plants. This hydrangea is very important to me, as my beloved bunny in buried underneath it. Thank you!!
AnswerDear Bethany, Absolutely gorgeous hydrangea! It appears that the leaves have a fungal infection, probably Cercospora. This is very treatable although it will take some time to get the leaves cleared up. Go to a garden center and get a fungal spray product that contains the ingredient Proprioconazole or Chlorothalonil. It will be sold in a liquid form and you will put it in a pump up sprayer to coat the hydrangea until the plant is dripping wet. You will probably need to spray about every 10 days for a few months. If the leaves fall off this hydrangea, (it does look like it may be a deciduous hydrangea), then when the leaves are all gone, you can discontinue spraying. In addition, and this is most important, clean up and bag all fallen infected leaves from this bush. Do not compost these. The fungal spores on the fallen leaves will reinfect the plant. Also, be very careful to avoid watering in the evening when the plant will stay damp for longer in the nighttime hours. Water only at the base at the plant, and avoid getting the leaves wet when watering. The spots will not disappear from the old leaves, but the new leaves in the spring should come out unaffected. As a precaution, you may want to spray it occasionally in the spring when the new leaves come in. Cercospora is a very common fungal leaf disease and it can be very stubborn. It might be a different kind of leaf spot, but the above chemicals will cure it. Incidentally, I generally prescribe organic methods of curing most garden problems, but I haven't found anything to be as successful as the chemicals for leaf spot. I hope this information helps. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. Good luck, Melissa
