I live in Maryland, zone 7B, and noticed this weekend a rapidly spreading white powder-like substance on one of my blueberry plants on the stems. I also noticed in the very center of recently pruned stems on my peach trees - though I don’t think it was done with unwashed shears. What is this and what do I do about it? Looks fungal, but it’s pretty weird. I can take out the blueberry plant, but the peach tree is established and this is more concerning there.
Many thanks!
The top picture looks like woolly aphids.
That’s normal looking for a peach tree.
Can’t tell but it could be lichen or wooly aphids on the blueberry depending on where you are. Wooly aphids are rare on blueberries and only seen in places like peru, chile, Florida. This is from my experience though. If you’re worried, i would take a lighter and just run it over the area a few times. I do this for what i think are spider mites and aphids
You could spray it w some 3% h202 if you think it is fungal and not aphids. It won’t hurt the blueberry plant at all. Or the peach.
Thank you for the input. I don’t think it’s aphids (I’m in Maryland - zone 7B). It’s definitely nothing “squishable” and does not look or behave like a bug. It’s more of a powder if anything - and it’s spread quite quickly. Here’s another picture:
For the peach it’s in the core of the stem, only after pruning, and if I split a young shoot, the white will fill the center for about a centimeter.
I get the exact same thing on my blueberries every March. I spray it with sulfur and dormant oil. It kills it right away. You don’t need to cut any branches off
It looks like lichen to me. Lichen can be ignored.
IMO it’s a mildew
This is why I just cut my 3 carmine Jewel plants to the ground. It is a scale infestation and will get worse.
Horticultural oil and be diligent…
Can you upload a better quality picture? It looks like a fungus to me but the quality is very low so it’s hard to tell. Thanks.
Thank you all for the responses. I hit the stuff with Neem oil and went to get a better picture today and it was pretty much gone.
what type of dormant oil do you recommend?
The one I use is from paraffin oil
