Escallonia disease?

Ben.foster76

Hello all, we’ve bought a number of escallonia macrantha to start a hedgerow down one side of the house. On being received there appear to be spots on most (if not all) the leaves. 

It appears (to me at least) to be bacterial leaf spot but on taking up issue with the suppliers they are claiming it is bruising caused by overhead watering. 

Before I take this any further I’d really appreciate any thoughts. I’ve attached a picture.

Many thanks 

Ben

AnniD

My instinct is the leaf spot, but l await more knowledgeable posters !

Borderline

I don't consider that as bruising. They look like fungal leaf spots, and on such a young plant, it's probably kept in very damp and poorly ventilated growing conditions. I would not be happy to receive shrubs looking like that.

Normally, on a mature shrub, they should be able to shrug it off as new leaves form and old leaves slowly drop off. You just need to keep removing dead leaves away from under the shrub. But on your young shrubs, this will take a long while to recover.

You should avoid cutting and over pruning such a small plant as it will stress it further. Keep it growing well with re-potting into free draining soil and watered consistently and avoid watering over-head. 

Ben.foster76

Borderline said:

I don't consider that as bruising. They look like fungal leaf spots, and on such a young plant, it's probably kept in very damp and poorly ventilated growing conditions. I would not be happy to receive shrubs looking like that.

Normally, on a mature shrub, they should be able to shrug it off as new leaves form and old leaves slowly drop off. You just need to keep removing dead leaves away from under the shrub. But on your young shrubs, this will take a long while to recover.

You should avoid cutting and over pruning such a small plant as it will stress it further. Keep it growing well with re-potting into free draining soil and watered consistently and avoid watering over-head. 

Many thanks for your considered response - what an excellent forum this is.

Rubytoo

I also "vote" for leaf spot, everything Borderline said.
I recognize it as I found our Escallonia's prone to it. We have clay soil, so I do not think ours have the best of growing conditions so make it worse.
New foliage does well for a good while then it gets worse again. The best one we have is in the better position cultivation wise. I sadly removed the others we had for things that could cope better with the conditions and positions.
They are lovely shrubs and bees also love the flowers, Good Luck with your little plant.
If you find you like them, is a white one called Iveyii, which has notably scented flowers, I no longer grow it but it was my favourite.

Lizzie27

You should reject any new plant that looks in that kind of condition and ask for your money back. It's outrageous to sell diseased plants.

JennyJ

How long is the guarantee period?  If new leaves that appear after you received them develop the spotting, then it's something spreading from the older leaves not damage due to incorrect watering (I'm sure you'll be watering the compost/soil not the leaves). 

It does look very much like this https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=108

Rubytoo

Jennyj good link (sadly for Ben.f) Bens picture is very good for close up detail you can see the white centers (fruiting bodies as described in Jennys link) on quite a few of the the black spots.
Good luck with replacements or money back. I would not want to start a hedge off with diseased plants either.

Ben.foster76

Thank you all for your considered opinions and thoughts. It’s really appreciated.

JennyJ

Perhaps best not to accept replacement escallonias instead of a refund.  It's quite likely that all of their stock is infected.

AnniD

Let us know how you get on @Ben.foster76