A couple of days ago I noticed that there was something white on the edges of the leaves on my 1-year old VdB. It made me think of calcium.

Today I looked closer and there appears to be "fuzz" on the underside of the leaves. The leaves are also starting to curl.

The "fuzz" kind of looks like mildew, but mildew is usually "greyish".

It doesn't look like webbing, though I have found several spider mites on my tomatos.

Any thoughts? I have Spinosad to spray for bugs and Greencure (potassium bicarbonate) for fungus, but which one am I fighting?

Thanks,

gary

You can at least cut the leaf off to keep what ever it is from spreading.
I want to lean towards it being spider mites but not sure, just a wild guess.

But could it be mealy bugs? Mix 10% to 20% alcohol with water in a spray bottle and mist the area.
I have a spray bottle of 70% alcohol right by my rooting cuttings/plants and ready when ever I see something like this. Mealy bugs get burned when sprayed by alcohol.

Good luck and hope you have the issue resolved soon.

Thanks, Rafed. I guess I'll approach it as a bug problem first but use Neem oil instead of Spinosad as there are still honey bees working my late-blooming cherries.

If that doesn't help I'll try a fungicide.

I've got mealy bugs on citrus trees so I know what they look like through their whole life cycle and can rule them out.

gary

Thanks, Rafed. I guess I'll approach it as a bug problem first but use Neem oil instead of Spinosad as there are still honey bees working my late-blooming cherries.

If that doesn't help I'll try a fungicide.

I've got mealy bugs on citrus trees so I know what they look like through their whole life cycle and can rule them out.

gary

A photo would help us help you.

Hi Waiting,
I would wash it with water, and see if it comes back.
If it comes back then I would spray.
Something white ... Bird poop ? Latex from the leaf ?

I looked again today and wonder if I'm dealing with two issues.

The white on the edges is just on the very tips of the serrations, every one. Even on new leaves. I tried wiping it off but apparently what ever it is has destroyed the leaf tissue. It looks like someone took a very fine brush and painted the tips white.

The "fuzz" on the undersides is looking more like a mold or fungus. It covers most of the undersides and it wipes off. It's a thin coat and you have to get it at the right angle to see it. It's now on some of the leaves of the nearby Panache, too.

I am not in a damp area. We had rain last week but things dried up quickly and we've been warm since then.

I don't have a camera. Or a cell phone (with or without a camera).

gary

Does it look like this? http://laplantpath.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/disease-du-jour-july-15/

Learn something everyday.  I didn't know there was a fig blight.  
I have been fighting blight on walnuts, chestnuts and hazelnut trees and the blight is winning. 
There seems to be no registered products for fig blight.  Hope fig blight is not too bad maybe just cut out the affected parts?
 

Chivas, thanks for posting that link.

Thankfully mine doesn't look nearly that bad.

At this point I'm thinking spider mites as I found about a dozen of them.

I'm reluctant to spray as there were a couple of inch-long praying mantis' crawling on the tree, too.

gary

Give the trees a gently shaking first and the mantises will get the hint. 

If you don't like spraying, you can turn the tree upside down and really soak it with water, when you think you put enough, put more.  They hate water and humidity so it will get rid of most of them, not all of them but it's an easy way to get the population down.  Spinosad will not do anything to them, safers soap or neem ooil will do much more for them.  If you have moderate temperatures and you decide to spray, spray them every 5-6 days 3 times, preferably rotating what you spray ie. 1 neem, 1 safers soap 1 more neem.  If you have hot temperatures they will reproduce faster and you will need to spray every 3-4 days to catch the generations of hatching eggs.

Try this: Add one head of mashed garlic to one gallon of water. Stir well and soak for a day. Add one spoon of  liquid dish detergent. Strain and spray. I use this on my citrus tree. It works fine.