Question

Pale   Hi James,

The attached pic is from my garden. The right side of the plant in the pic started turning pale a few months ago. It used to be the same color you see in the left part of the pic. What might be causing this? What's the remedy? Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Rick

Answer
Hi Rick, There are a number of possible causes...vole damage, soil disease, stem disease, drainage issues, etc., so without the exact cause being known, I'd address the most likely and see if it helps.  Go to your local garden center and pick up a fungicide for soil disease control.  My preference would be Agri-fos by Monterrey, but your local expert may have another product they would recommend.  Also pick up some liquid iron that can be sprayed on the foliage.  Iron can be absorbed into the leaves, so it will work better than a soil applied form if we have soil disease or drainage issues.
I'd pull back any mulch around the plant to allow the soil to dry as quickly as possible and make sure mulch is not allowed to contact the trunk during the growing season.  If we've hit on the cause, you should see results, improved color and vigor, in 2-3 weeks.  Let me know what happens.  If no improvement, we will try another approach.  Jim