Photina Red Robin

My photina red robin is covered in black spots plus the leaves are turning yellow. As I am relatively new to the game how do I deal with this, I am a little worried at the thought of cutting out all the affected branches, or pruning them (I have two on my deck)in case I kill them. Any help out there?

 

Hi there and welcome. You say they are on the deck - does this mean they are in containers?

Photinia Red Robin is usually pretty tough, and what you describe does not sound like fire bligt - so at a rough guess I would say that it is a feeding or watering problem (too much).

If it is in a pot and the compost is not wet, I would suggest that you give it a drink with some miracid plant food - and repot it in the spring, removing as much compost as possible without damaging the roots and planting it in a bigger pot with ericasious (? spelling) compost.

If the compost is too wet - then it may not survive - but stop any watering.

Could of course be vine weevil but I don't think so.

 

hi magnolia and wlcome.a friend has a Red Robin growing at the bottom of her garden and im allowed to take cuttings if i wish.Fran whens the best time to do this and whats the best way of doing this?thanks.

 

Since Photinias are in the same family as Roses, this sounds like it could be the same sort of black spot fungus which attacks them As well as doing what Fran sugggests, you could also water with a systemic fungicide designed for Roses. Also collect up any fallen leaves and disopose of.
Cuttings are taken of them in July August. These should be about 4 inches long side shoots with a heel ( a little bit of the old stem) Insert in sandy compost. To stand a real chance of them rooting you do need bottom heat. They need to be kept over winter before rooting begins in spring.

 

Thanks for the replies - Fran they are in very large pots and already in ericacious soil. I have not been watering them whilst the weather has been damp, but I will try and clear out as much soil and replace and wate with miraclecid,and I will also take up Palustris' idea of spraying them with a rose fungide - maybe if I do all these then things will improve.