This year I planted 5 Alchemilla mollis plants(Ladies Mantles) in a raised
bed, well drained, well mulched. Yesterday one of them has a thin white line
edging along all serations of every one of it's leaves. I think it's mold,
tried spraying with cinnemon tea but the sprayer got clogged up! Any
suggestions? I am afraid this will spread to the group of them.
Thank You,
Moll

From: "Moll McCarty"
Date: Tue, Jun 24, 2003 11:30 AM
Message-id:

This year I planted 5 Alchemilla mollis plants(Ladies Mantles) in a raised
bed, well drained, well mulched. Yesterday one of them has a thin white
line
edging along all serations of every one of it's leaves. I think it's mold,
tried spraying with cinnemon tea but the sprayer got clogged up! Any
suggestions? I am afraid this will spread to the group of them.
Thank You,
Moll

Have you checked the white stuff to see if it can rub off at all? Mold or
mildew will show up on your fingers if you rub it, although that won't be the
way to clear it up. It's unusual for Lady's Mantle to get foliar diseases, so
let's look at other possibilities. I see that the weather is quite hot in
parts of Wisconsin today, if that is where you are. Has this suddenly become
the case, as it has here in the Northeast, after a long cool wet spring? If
so, it could be a kind of sunburn effect. I've been growing Alchemilla mollis
for years and it does indeed get sunburned, particularly if the leaves are wet
and the weather has suddenly turned hot and sunny. Mulching can't protect
leaves, of course. It usually recovers nicely, with some judicious cutting
back of damaged leaves. If you're noticing the problem on the leaves along the
flower stems, well....that's just the aging process. Those leaves will
deteriorate as the blooms mature.

As for the sprayer, it's necessary to filter the tea very well before pouring
it into a sprayer. Sediment will indeed clog up most sprayers. You can use
fine cheesecloth, or better still, paper coffee filters. If the plant is
getting sunburned, the spray won't help, of course, and could worsen the
situation. (I've had no luck with cinnamon spray for powdery mildew, by the
way, but I hear about positive experiences with it.)

You could dig up the plant, pot it up and isolate it until it shows signs of
recovery. It could simply be a weaker plant than the others and thus be more
susceptible to whatever ails it, sunburn included.

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7

I double filtered another batch of cinnemon tea, as the white stuff on edges
rubs off easily. The spray seem to dissolve the mold. I've got 2 more
Alchemilla mollis that are now showing dark stuff that rubs off of leaves,
placed throughout the top of the leaf. Perhaps changing weather conditions
have caused this, too. Will do a web search on this. Thanks for your help.
Moll
Wi Zone 5a

"Tyra Trevellyn" wrote in message
...
From: "Moll McCarty"
Date: Tue, Jun 24, 2003 11:30 AM
Message-id:

This year I planted 5 Alchemilla mollis plants(Ladies Mantles) in a
raised
bed, well drained, well mulched. Yesterday one of them has a thin white
line
edging along all serations of every one of it's leaves. I think it's
mold,
tried spraying with cinnemon tea but the sprayer got clogged up! Any
suggestions? I am afraid this will spread to the group of them.
Thank You,
Moll

Have you checked the white stuff to see if it can rub off at all? Mold
or
mildew will show up on your fingers if you rub it, although that won't be
the
way to clear it up. It's unusual for Lady's Mantle to get foliar
diseases, so
let's look at other possibilities. I see that the weather is quite hot in
parts of Wisconsin today, if that is where you are. Has this suddenly
become
the case, as it has here in the Northeast, after a long cool wet spring?
If
so, it could be a kind of sunburn effect. I've been growing Alchemilla
mollis
for years and it does indeed get sunburned, particularly if the leaves are
wet
and the weather has suddenly turned hot and sunny. Mulching can't protect
leaves, of course. It usually recovers nicely, with some judicious
cutting
back of damaged leaves. If you're noticing the problem on the leaves
along the
flower stems, well....that's just the aging process. Those leaves will
deteriorate as the blooms mature.

As for the sprayer, it's necessary to filter the tea very well before
pouring
it into a sprayer. Sediment will indeed clog up most sprayers. You can
use
fine cheesecloth, or better still, paper coffee filters. If the plant is
getting sunburned, the spray won't help, of course, and could worsen the
situation. (I've had no luck with cinnamon spray for powdery mildew, by
the
way, but I hear about positive experiences with it.)

You could dig up the plant, pot it up and isolate it until it shows signs
of
recovery. It could simply be a weaker plant than the others and thus be
more
susceptible to whatever ails it, sunburn included.

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7

"Moll McCarty" expounded:

This year I planted 5 Alchemilla mollis plants(Ladies Mantles) in a raised
bed, well drained, well mulched. Yesterday one of them has a thin white line
edging along all serations of every one of it's leaves. I think it's mold,
tried spraying with cinnemon tea but the sprayer got clogged up! Any
suggestions? I am afraid this will spread to the group of them.
Thank You,
Moll

There is a variety of Alchemilla mollis that *is* white edged, I find
it very attractive.

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
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