I have a very large Gunera plant which is ten years old. It has always done very well. This year it is large but the leaves have brownish rust spots on them. I know they need alot of water so I do water it alot. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Foxglove Lady #2
Maybe it picked up a fungal or bacterial problem during the poor spring we had this year. Not enough information here to be able to say anything specific. Note that it's spelled Gunnera.
My gunnera has the same look this year and I blame it on sun scald. That bit of quite hot weather that we had 6+ weeks ago hit the plant while the leaves were still in vigorous growth mode. Likely just an occasinal occurence.
Yes, I thought of that also. Plants with outsize leaves are often native to very wet environments, such as cloud forests, and may not always be able to cope with hot and dry atmospheres even when the roots are damp. There also seems to be a tendency for cloud forest types in local cultivation to be mite magnets, both in our gardens and inside our structures. Certain plant-sucking mites such as spider mites like it hot and dry, may not be present where these plants grow wild.
Thank you so much for the advice for my Gunera plant. I think it could have been the hot spell we had this summer that caused the leaves to brown like they did. We did have a very wet spring and then a very hot summer. I'm hoping it's just an occasional occurence and next year it will come back beautifully like always. I am going to fertilize it quite well before I cover it with it's leaves etc. The rest of my tropical plants have done awesome this summer. My banana trees are very big but need to be divided so if anyone knows how to do that I would appreciate it. My Angel Trumpets were huge this year. I am good with those tropical plants for sure. Well thank you again for the help. Rosemary (Foxglove lady#2)
Your Gunnera will be dying back very soon for the winter. I have always believed that fertiliser put on late in the year will just be leached out of the soil with the winter rains. Your plant will be dormant and not actively growing. Far better to wait until the spring, then feed and mulch it as it comes into leaf and is actively growing. Then it can utilize the fertilizer. I think you missed Rons note. It is spelt Gunnera.
Thank you for you advice on the Gunnera. I didn't realize it had to n's. I will just cut off the leaves and cover it and then fertilize well in the spring. They are very cool plants. Rosemary