Diseased horse chestnuts

[m1.carson]

Hi,

Last year there was a post concerning diseased H/chestnuts, but can't find it,

There's a row of these not far from where we live, all in this Autumn condition, I think the disease was to do with sap, anyway does it need reporting, I think they belong to the council.



Max.

[mrs fish]

It is a little moth called the Leaf Miner that causes it

UKMoths - Horse Chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella

Forest Research - Horse chestnut leaf miner - Cameraria ohridella

The Horse Chestnuts around here have recovered well from how they were the last two or three Summers

I did see one the other day though that is suffering

[m1.carson]

Thanks for the reply Mrs Fish,

I'm not sure that a moth can cause nearly all the leaves of approx. six trees to turn Autumn brown, I did read the link and it said brown blotches, not the majority of the leaf.

Thanks,
Max.

[IanS]

It is a moth (well their grub anyway), millions of them. Seen a lot of trees further south suffering from it again this year. Hopefully they will keep bouncing back each spring and get their growth in early before these pests attack again.

[Dogghound]

Another option to the moth is it could be the result of Guignardia leaf blotch, often the moths are mistaken for this fungal infection which mainly affects the tips and edges of the leaves. The name of the fungus is Guignardia aesculi.

[djackso]

I saw a similar tree, I tore the blisters and I found no moth. In this case I think it was fungal - thanks for the possible ID Dogghound.

[aeshna5]

The leaf miner is pretty prevalent around me + this week have seen mini swarms of the moth flying below the trees, even in the rain.

However more serious is a canker which can be fatal to the trees + is assciated with the sap run.

[m1.carson]

Hi mrs fish and all,

I have to admit you must be right about the leaf miner, took a close up this AM.






What a ruin it's made in such a short time.

Thanks Max.

After looking at the map we're almost smack in the middle of the infestation.

[mrs fish]

The trees around our local school were leafless due to it two to three years ago but look nice and healthy now

[Wild-Woman]

I've seen the Cameraria ohridella moth under a lens. They're really tiny but very attractive looking with stripey wings, even though their larvae are responsible for loads of leaf damage to the leaves of horse chestnuts.

It seems that the trees in the south will probably suffer most as they will probably be able to have more generations.

Advice from the FC is to clear leaves in the autumn and compost under 4cm of soil so that new moths won't be able to emerge.

Most of the Horse Chestnuts here have some degree of damage. Some look in a very sorry state indeed. I think we'll have to wait for some parasitoid of the moth to catch up with it before it gets under some control.