Gardenia leaf damage...bacterial? Burn? ...

Howdy Folks,

On some potted gardenia bushes I have outside I've noticed the past few days the damage shown in the following pic.

It seems to start on the sides of the leaf but I've also noticed a few of the brown areas between the main leaf vein and the outermost part of the leaf margin. The brown areas aren't dried and the leaf is still flexible (so far!).

Notice how this malady seems to work on one-half the leaf....and then seems to eventually spread to cover the whole leaf.

At first I kept thinking it was some kind of tip-burn (fertilizer burn) but I only see one leaf that shows that typical progress (i.e., tip of leaf turns brown then followed by the rest of the leaf browning). Also, doesn't fertilizer burn/tip burn start out with a brown and "dried" texture?

I don't see any sign of insects, bugs, scale, or spores indicating this is caused by those types of things. Have no idea if this is bacterially-oriented or what.

Any ideas?
Thanks!
Shoe

Shoe... Looks more like weather damage to me. How big are your pots? try taking a pot and tipping it over and check out the roots. One pots hit freeze temps dmagage happens to them. The tops may look good for a while and a few may even flower, but eventually the plant wil die if there been alot of root damage.

Are they sitting in the sun by any chance?

Howdy starlight...sorry to just now be getting back to this thread.

I normally over-winter gardenias in pots and haven't seen this malady before. These are in 1 gallon pots, by the way.

If it is weather-oriented I wonder if extreme heat to cold could be the culprit. We had a big fire here a couple weeks ago, burning down a nearby building; I wonder if the heat from the fire then later that heat gone and the plants being exposed again to 27 degrees could've shocked them somehow. It is just so weird looking to see those little brown areas appear and spread so easily.

I've checked the roots, they look fine and healthy, no sign of root damage.

Oh well...maybe I'll just trim off the damaged/sick leaves and see what happens.

Thanks!
Shoe

Too much beer being dumped on the Gardenia. You have to stop drinking when the sun come up Shoe. LOL Over watering maybe. Does the pots drain well or were the roots sitting in water.

Hah! So THAT'S it!....too much hops?

These gardenia are in pots that were re-potted early Fall last year...they aren't rootbound and yes, they drain well. Haven'thad much rain here since the middle of February (and I hope those firemen didn't hose them down when they were putting out my big fire a couple weeks ago!).

I do water them from time to time to keep the roots moist and slow down any freezing of the roots. (Wonder if cold well water would cause those spots if they were watered during super cold weather.)

Sofer...maybe I should switch to drinking whiskey? I hear it warms you up during the cold months.

Shoe

That is what I do Shoe. But I drink Brandy so it warms my tummy and I can work out in the snow. Or maybe just forget the drinking and just shovel the snow. LOL

How far away was the fire? That could well cause the damage, though I don't think 27°C will harm them, that's not hotter than they can survive

Resin

I think Shoe meant cold temps of 27F after being exposed to the heat of the fire? My gardenias suffered a week of low 20's here this winter and I don't see even the tiniest little bit of damage to the leaves, so I definitely don't think 27F temps would do any damage.

Thanks for correcting my "temperature talk", ecrane. And yes, Resin, I'll remind myself to remember to designate F or C as a courtesy (have been following the I18N thread best I can!). (Now where is that conversion chart? F-32/1.8=C or is it F/32 X 1.8? Oh well...research time again.)

And yes, these plants have survived temps as low as 14ºF quite a few nights this winter. I was just wondering if the quick jump between the heat of the fire back down to 27 might've done something.

Then again, maybe it's some sort of bacterial thing? But in Winter, outside? I'm stymied.
Ya gotta admit, sure looks a bit weird, eh?

Shoe

Hah, how true! Sorry Resin.

That reminds me how upset my dog is now. A can of Alpo dog food is now up to a dollar each. Yikes! That's seven dollars in Dog Money!!

Shoe

Shoe... You'd be surprised how much damage a fire can do. If you had one that hot then I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't what caused the damage.

I almost lost several of my trees from a small mound of leaves I was burning. tree was quite aways away and way way up in the air, but the heat was enough just from that small bit of burnign to burn all the leave s on that side of the tree and spotty on the other side.

Doesn't look like any virus or bacteria I ever saw.

becareful if you switch to whiskey. Your Gardenias may like it and want a daily swig. LOL

Hah...too funny. Okay, will be careful with the whiskey!

As for the fire, some of the nearby trees may or may not make it...they are covered in fire soot or half their trunks are showing signs of being burnt. Guess I'll have to cut them down at some point but will wait and see if they leaf out for now.

I talked with a guy I do a lot of business with today, he's been in the growing/greenhouse/nursery biz all his life. I forgot to take a leaf with me but when I described it he says it is most likely weather/water/temperature oriented. With all the winds we've been having lately, combined with the rainfall, it'll will cause a wet windburn. He may be onto something because in years past when I've over-wintered my plants outside they were on the down side of my greenhouse, out of the wind. These are on a weed mat in a wind tunnel area, plus combined with some rains we've had (or the fire hoses?) that may have certainly contributed to this problem.

Shucks. Oh well, at this point I think I'll trim off the damage leaves, move the plants out of the wind, and see if any new growth will surface. (Days are warming up here now, hope that will encourage the plants to think it is now safe to put forth new life!)

Thanks, Folks! And if anyone still has any input I'm sure open to it!

Shoe