wisteria and bougainvillea

Question

My wisteria is sick. There is no new growth. The leaves are starting to wilt and I can’t find anything in my books. Thought it was lacking in water but the soil is moist. Can’t see any signs of pests. There is a little bit of marking around the base of the trunk though. The bougainvillea is in the same area and it hardly flowered this year. There are few leaves appearing and these two plants are only three years old.

Answer 1

It sounds like there may be a root rot fungus in the soil. It would cause the plants to look under watered. Try soaking the soil with a fungicide. This may clear it up. Unfortunately, some forms of root rot are untreatable and the only fix is to remove affected plants before it spreads to other plants. But I would give fungicide a try first. Try treating the soil every other week for a few weeks and see if you see improvement.