Spores on branches of duranta saphire ok?

Question

My duranta saphire is potted on my balcony and, while it is still blooming here at the end of summer, many branches look like they are dying (dark grayish coloring), but upon closer inspection the branches are actually covered in some sort of white/black/gray colored spores. When I rub it with my hands it crumbles off. I am no expert, but the branches upon which this is encroaching, don’t appear to be very healthy. What do I do about this, if anything.

Answer 1

This is definitely a fungal infection. It is quite far along, as well. I think this will have to be treated quite carefully, and prevented in the future.

Replace 1/4 of the water that you would normally use to water with peroxide. Spray this on all of the infected branches, and water into the soil.

This may cause some damage to the plant as it works, but will kill off the infection and help new growth to return healthy.

Make sure in the future that you only water once the soil is completely bone dry down to about 2 inches in the soil. This will help prevent infections in the future.

Also be sure that the container has plenty of drain holes. Enough that there will be no standing water in the container at any time.