Honeysuckle Health?

Hi,

I bought a honeysuckle two years ago, was reluctant to get it in the ground, but got it in the ground late last season. This year it was doing awesome, tripled or more in size, but then all of the sudden it started getting brown spots on the leaves and it has yet to bloom.

Any thoughts or ideas on what might be wrong and how I might be able to help? It was supposed to have beautiful white and red blooms...

Can you post some pictures? I wouldn't necessarily worry about it not blooming, lots of things won't bloom the year that you plant them because they're working on getting their roots established, but the brown spots don't sound normal, could be something fungal but it's hard to say without a picture.

Do you have it in full sun? Does it get enough water? When you first planted it, did you water it everyday for a few weeks to help it get established? Like ecrane said, don't worry about the blooms now. It may take another year to do that. During the hot fry times they need plenty of water.

Thanks for your responses.

To answer your questions:
It is in direct sun, it gets plenty of water and has well draining soil. The only thing I was thinking at first was that something was climbing the post I'm training it to climb and eating it, but now I'm seeing less bite marks and more just brown spots...

I'll get a picture posted tonight after work.

Sorry for the delay -- its been a crazy week.

Anyway here are some pictures of the honeysuckle's leaves...

Another section that's a bit more healthy looking.

Gosh, I have the SAME problem...I'm seriously almost giving up on my honeysuckle! NO mater what I do....it still gets powdery mildew!
Ecrane...HELP US!!!

Luckily I've never had to deal with powdery mildew--I'm posting some references below to give you some information but hopefully someone else will come along and tell you in real life which approaches they've had the best luck with. As with other fungal diseases, make sure you pick up any infected fallen leaves rather than leaving them on the ground, do what you can to improve air circulation, and then these references list some things you can try spraying, but I think spraying is typically most effective when you do it as soon as you start to see symptoms. The good news is that this disease is unsightly, but I don't think it's typically fatal to the plant (but the bad news is that if you have a plant that's susceptible to it, it will tend to be a recurring problem from year to year).
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7493.html
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/powdery/powdery.htm
http://www.gardenguides.com/pests/tips/powderymildew.asp

Darnit, I'd never thought of that being the issue... what is it with this piece of property??? I have anthracnose on my poor maple out front, black spot on a couple of my roses, my dogwood does something funny everyother year, and now this plant... :-S Is it me??

Ecrane, as always...thanks!
My honeysuckle has been so much work since I bought it about a yr ago. It's either aphids or powdery mildew...In addition to the info on those 3 sites, I've also read very hot and dry conditions can also trigger this. Which I think is my case as mine is potted...
Lazy-ladies, you might want to try Neem (they mention it in those articles). I use it, but it's constant work! I'm really getting annoyed with my honey suckle. Good luck! : )

Does anyone have experience with using the organic options listed? I have chickens that roam the yard and can't use chemicals for risk of poisoning them as well.

Since its nearing the end of the growing season. Any additional thoughts on whether I should try trimming it back significantly to help with prevention for next season?

Neem is organic.

Thanks Rob,
As in edible and non-toxic? Hmmmm...I'll have to look for it. I was bummed when I read that your honeysuckle has been constant work. I'm kind of a lazy gardener... well its more like I have two children under 5 and just don't have the time to fuss with my plants a LOT. Have you at least gotten beautiful flowers from it??? I still just have the picture from the marker to look at. ha! ;)

Yes, I got blooms and they're very pretty...
I don't garden with edibles but that info should be on the label, I think it's ok up to a day before harvest but you should check it out.

Thanks not that I'm planning to eat them... I just couldn't be certain that one of the fowl ladies in my backyard wouldn't sneak a nibble and then get herself poisoned.

THANKS!

Good luck!