HOLY HELP ME PLEASE

Kelly W
by Kelly W
I consider myself an advanced gardener. I was in the yard yesterday inspecting the beds, everything looked great. I go out there today and one of my beds all of a sudden has a major problem, half of it just turned brown/black, leaves are curling up and I'm freaking out, never had this happen to me before. I don't know what to do. I don't even know what this is. check out the pics below. Whatever it is, it hit half the bed and then a few plants in a distant bed that is connected to this one but really could be considered separate, but only in spots.
If you look in the back round you can see other plants have not been affected
black eye sue
bee balm
  28 answers
  • Cyndi Moore Tippett Cyndi Moore Tippett on Jun 24, 2013
    it looks like some kind of chemical was blown over it, like if you spray weed killer and then two days later you see the tops of your plants down wind got some of the spray and have turned brown.
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 24, 2013
    no weed killer, very cautious about that stuff because I have massive beds throughout the yard.
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 24, 2013
    could it be mold?
  • Sylvia Becerra Sylvia Becerra on Jun 24, 2013
    Can it be powdery mildew?
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 24, 2013
    does that turn the leaves black and cause them to roll up
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 24, 2013
    what do u do for it
  • Sylvia Becerra Sylvia Becerra on Jun 24, 2013
    I do believe it does. Powdery Mildew is a fungus. I heard water mixed with baking soda is good for this.
  • Sylvia Becerra Sylvia Becerra on Jun 24, 2013
    or leaf curl?
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 24, 2013
    Im gonna try it tomorrow
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Jun 25, 2013
    Powdery mildew would not make your plants look like that. Could someone have sprayed near you?
  • Cyndi Moore Tippett Cyndi Moore Tippett on Jun 25, 2013
    Could it be chemicals from your pool?
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Jun 25, 2013
    It does look like it could possibly be chemical damage, pool or drift from yard chemicals
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 25, 2013
    That side of the bed is against the grass, the other side is against the pool and there's no damage there, you know the neighbor has a pool though on that side. I wonder if she did some chemical that might have drifted over. I don't use yard chemicals. The weird thing is the bed extends down the length of the deck and as you go down the deck you can see where it just hit like a plant here and then a plant there. Totally never experienced this and I hate to sound so dramatic but I'm devastated. This is a 3rd year bed and the bee balm was really getting ready to put on a show.
  • Gail Salminen Gail Salminen on Jun 25, 2013
    @Kelly W I am not an expert in this area, but what I do when I can't figure out what is causing problems with my plants/trees is put a plant sample in a baggie and seal it then head to our local nursery. Explain the history and suspicions to the expert. So far I have been successful in obtaining useful advice to return them back to normal. Do let us know what the end results are.
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 25, 2013
    Thanks gail, my neighbor made this suggestion today, I'm gonna do it.
  • Trent-Tonya Sharp Trent-Tonya Sharp on Jun 25, 2013
    is your pool a chlorine pool ?? when I was little this happen to plants and flowers my aunt had planted near her pool so we was not aloud to splash the plants flowers or shrubs with the chlorine water.
  • Sharon Kavanagh Sharon Kavanagh on Jun 26, 2013
    You could also go to your local county extension agent or a master gardening club, They are just a boatload of info. Good Luck
  • Shirley Towe Shirley Towe on Jun 26, 2013
    Have you weather sealed your deck recently? I did mine and the overspray got on some grass and plants close by and killed parts of them
  • Peg Peg on Jun 26, 2013
    I've been called to client's homes on many occasions asking for my help on what happened to their plants, like overnight. This is actually quite common -I ask, "Did you water your plants yesterday" answer - yes. "If you used your hose and it was laying out in the hot sun, did you let the scalding hot water out before you sprayed your plants?" Ah Ha!!!! The poor plants got scalded with very hot water!
  • Pajunka Pajunka on Jun 27, 2013
    Peg! You're amazing! Who would have ever thought of that? "Plant scald", huh.
  • Sal kemple Sal kemple on Jun 27, 2013
    I also notice you have a pool nearby. Is it possible that someone could have watered some of your plants with chlorinated water, a little kid perhaps? But I too am guilty of accidentally scalding plants from a water hose that's been on standby to water what needed and literally boiled those poor puppies!
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 27, 2013
    You know what @Peg I would never do this but now my man child, Hmmmmm I can almost see him doing it, thinking what a good job I'm doing. lol I bet he did, I'm gonna ask him.
  • Peg Peg on Jun 28, 2013
    Kelly -"man child"...I'm rolling in laughter on that one!! If your "man child" is not a gardener, he may be jealous of the attention you give the plants and want to do away with them!! Just joking on that!! My guy is wonderful but thinks I'm too consumed with my gardens. Hey, I don't sit in the salon getting my hair or nails done nor do a shop for shoes and purses. I'm in the garden centers or the nurseries! :)
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 30, 2013
    I hear ya, I don't do nails/hair either, and if I'm home I'm in rags cause I'm usually covered in dirt. The neighbors laugh at us, just about dusk, you can usually hear him yelling out the window " hey are you coming in, it's getting dark". lol
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jun 30, 2013
    Aright everybody, mystery solved, we got a really good rain, the next day everything affected improved. Not a big fan of miracle grow, I like to go natural, buuuutttttttt, a shot of miracle grow and they look a lot better. Definitely some kind of chemical damage, probably my pool or the neighbors. They will not totally recover so I'm gonna have to tolerate them this year but at least the bee balm bloomed.
  • Peg Peg on Jul 02, 2013
    I'm an EX L.I gal Kelly, my family is still there. Bayshore used to be my stomping grounds to go out dancing when in our 20's.
  • Kelly W Kelly W on Jul 02, 2013
    really, born and raised here my self, I still do a little dancing my self down town, all the bars are still there, just some different names, lol what year did you graduate?
  • Peg Peg on Jul 03, 2013
    graduated 1976 from Central Islip. My nieces and nephews now go to the clubs we used to and will drag our butts out for a night of fun.