Tiny red spots on blueberry leaves.

Weedonk · Jan 11, 2025

Hey!

First post here. I’ve been growing blueberries for a few years in my garden. This winter I decided to start large scale hardwood/ semi hardwood propagation (after a couple winters of propagating here and there).

In one of my young bushes I purchased last year I’ve got small red spots on the leaves. I’ve done some research and can’t definitively say it’s one of the ringspot viruses. I’ve also got some purple color in a couple new growth leaves. What do you think?

For context, the soil on all of my bushes (young and old) is too alkaline. Definitely above the 5.5ph threshold. My other young bushes are showing signs of iron deficiency as a result of the PH. I’ve treated all the soils with pelleted sulfur, and re potted the young bushes adding spag peat moss and bagged ericaceous soil . Well aware that this will take months to correct, especially outside in the cold. I’ll be spraying chelated liquid iron in the short term. I’ve got urea and ammonium sulphate on stand by, I’ll probably be applying soon after more research.

The Labyrinth · Jan 11, 2025

Don't know about the red spots.
Throw a handful of pine needles in with the mulch. Pine being acidic.
I do that every fall.

Weedonk · Jan 11, 2025

Yep, I’ve heard the pine needles trick a bunch of times. But I’ve read that it may not actually do much (on the science end of things), kind of life coffee grounds. The elemental sulfur will do its job, it just takes awhile for the biological breakdown process to take place. Thanks for replying.

harrylee · Jan 11, 2025

Welcome to the forum. Wish I could help.

k.vidura · Jan 12, 2025

Another possibility is spider mites.
Which causes tiny specks by sucking sap from the leaves.
I had this happen to my blueberries once, and I treated it with a mild soap and water spray to get rid of the mites.
But always It's a good idea to inspect your plants closely, remove any affected leaves, and dispose properly.

Weedonk · Jan 12, 2025

k.vidura said:
Another possibility is spider mites.
Which causes tiny specks by sucking sap from the leaves.
I had this happen to my blueberries once, and I treated it with a mild soap and water spray to get rid of the mites.
But always It's a good idea to inspect your plants closely, remove any affected leaves, and dispose properly.

thanks for sharing. Yeah, I’ve had spider mite problems indoors with my house plants, so definitely could be what was going on. I saw honeydew on the leaves a couple weeks back and treated with neem oil, twice in ~7 days. Seemingly took care of what I thought was just aphids. Either way, will continue to spray every couple weeks for preventative maintenance and let the elemental soil slowly do its job to correct the high ph soil. Thanks again!

Tiny red spots on blueberry leaves.

Attachments

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities