Crepe myrtles come in various colors and heights, so you need to choose one that suits your needs. Few flowering plants can match the crepe myrtles’ brilliant summer hue. Take a look around your immediate area. From mid-June until mid-August, nearly every street in the South is lined with beautiful blossoming trees.
But if you keep asking yourself the question of why does my crepe myrtle look dead, keep on reading this article for answers to your question!
Why Does My Crepe Myrtle Look Dead?
Sooty Mold
Sooty mold is a type of fungus that covers the leaves and gives the impression that your crepe myrtle has been sprayed with asphalt. The mold isn’t attracted to the leaves. Instead, it feeds on sticky honeydew produced by sucking insects such as aphids, scales, and whiteflies that eat the leaves. Get rid of the bugs, and the black mold will follow them in getting out of the plant.
The leaves are covered in a black spot-like mold. Mold is removed by rubbing. The leaves beneath are healthy and green.
Black molds are sometimes known as sooty molds. Several species of fungus create these ugly molds. Multiple sooty mold fungi may emerge on the same plant at the same time, feeding on a variety of insects’ honeydew. The growing season for fungi is from spring through early fall. The fungus can be transferred to neighboring plants by splattering rain or water.
Sooty mold is a dark, brown-black powdery fungus growth that typically covers leaf surfaces and twigs. It may appear as a thin, dark film or as black patches. The fungus almost entirely covers the surface of a leaf in numerous situations.
Because the fungus does not feed on plants, it is regarded as relatively harmless. However, highly dense infestations can prevent sunlight from reaching the leaves, causing them to yellow and fall prematurely.
Sooty mold is a dark, brown-black powdery fungus that typically covers leaf surfaces and twigs. It may appear as a thin, dark film or as black patches. The fungus almost entirely covers the surface of a leaf in numerous situations.
Because the fungus does not feed on plants, it is regarded as relatively harmless. However, highly dense infestations can prevent sunlight from reaching the leaves, causing them to yellow and fall prematurely.
Plant sap is not entirely digested by some sap-sucking insects. The undigested fraction is expelled as honeydew, a sweet, sticky liquid. If honeydew forms in large quantities on trees, it can coat sidewalks and other surfaces below, resulting in sooty mold.
Ants make this problem worse by collecting and caring for insects that produce honeydew, such as aphids, scale, and mealybugs. They milk the insects for honeydew, which they then feed to the other ants. Ants also move honeydew-producing insects from one plant to the next.
Powdery Mildew
Because of the unusually chilly, rainy summer we’ve had everywhere this year, your crepe myrtle is most likely infected with mildew. Powdery mildew is a fungus that grows on leaves and flower buds and is filmy and white.
Leaves curl and shrivel as a result of it. Flower buds that do not open fall to the ground. Powdery mildew was the most common concern about crepe myrtles back when we didn’t have resistant varieties.
Leaves, stems, and flowers develop white powdery patches. In just a few weeks, the spots had grown to totally cover the leaves. The buds may not open if the fungus spreads to flower buds.
Powdery mildew is caused by a variety of fungi. Fruit trees are where the fungus spores overwinter. The fungus begins to grow in the spring, and spores are discharged into the air, where they travel to fresh leaves.
Powdery mildew grows in areas where warm days are followed by cool nights. Its growth is aided by a lack of sunlight and inadequate air movement. On foliage and flowers, a white or gray powdery fungus emerges.
Round, white dots on the upper leaf surfaces spread and coalesce, eventually covering both sides of the leaves. Infected leaves turn a yellowish-green color before turning brown. Stunted, curled, and deformed new growth are all possibilities. Fruit from infected blooms may acquire rough skin or be covered with powdery fungus. Fruit falls off too soon or gets dwarfed.
These all contribute to the plant looking dead.
Cercospora Leaf Spots
Cercospora is a type of leaf spot fungus that was once uncommon but is now widespread. The widespread planting of crepe myrtles throughout the South has facilitated the spread of this fungus.
Angular, brown dots appear on the oldest leaves in the middle to late summer. These leaves then turn a premature shade of autumn and fall to the ground. Except for a few fresher leaves towards the top, the tree may be fully defoliated by fall.
No Blooms
No blooms might be caused by a number of reasons, such as your plant being too small and you need to give it time. If your crepe myrtle doesn’t bloom, it will start looking dead.
If your plant isn’t getting enough sun, it will start dying. The plant loves to stay in the sun, and if you deprive it of it, it will start looking pale and will also lose its color.
Also, some species bloom better than others, so your expectations might be too high for your plant. If you’re looking to improve the look of your flowers, you need to replace them with some species that bloom more aggressively.
Conclusion
Don’t just chop down your huge crepe myrtles to unattractive stubs because your neighbors do. This distorts the natural shape and fosters the formation of spindly, whiplike branches that can’t support the flowers.
Use hand pruners or loppers to lower the highest branches of a crepe myrtle by 2-3 feet in late winter. Always cut back to the crotch or trunk for branches that are more than 2 inches thick. Leave no large, unsightly stumps.
I hope your question of why does my crepe myrtle look dead is now answered.
Best of luck!