Sourwood tree leaves

I planted a Sourwood at beginning of April and it seems to be doing well but I noticed several days ago that some of the leaves have black tips and some leaves have red blotches on them. No leaves have dropped yet and the leaves are quite soft. The tree is in a sunny location, has no other tree/shrub within 25 feet of it and is 6 feet high. I have been spraying water on it every two or three days. It is a predominently clay soil and when I planted it I added quite a bit of organic soil and bone meal. We had an unseasonably cool and wet spring here in Victoria and now things are quite dry. Does anyone know if the leaf problem is weather related, moisture issue or bacteria/fungus problem? Thanks for your time, Curtis.

 

I have seen partial blackening of this species multiple times, maybe it's bacterial - stop spraying the leaves as that might assist the bacteria, which perhaps is active due to the cool and damp weather.

This species needs good drainage, is characteristic of bedrock outcroppings in at least part of its wild range. If your soil is too fine and heavy it may have problems on your site for this reason. One thing that is for sure is that you never want to plant a tree in a small hole back-filled with amended soil or replacement soil ("planting mix"). And since sourwood is adapted to acidic soil the bone meal you added, if in sufficient quantity might be able to have an adverse effect - although cultivated soils here are often quite acidic.

But there are other reasons not to add bone meal. See the Garden Myths section of the web pages of Linda Chalker-Scott.

 

Thank you for the information, it was very helpfull. Curtis.