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How to Treat Leaf Gall on Azaleas
How to Treat Leaf Gall on Azaleas. Leaf gall on azaleas is a fungus that spends the winter hidden in the plant and then emerges during a wet, warm spring. The tissues of the leaves swell and become covered with fungus spores, which appear as white, pinkish or sometimes brown galls. The spores are distributed onto other plants when heavy rains (or...
Leaf gall on azaleas is a fungus that spends the winter hidden in the plant and then emerges during a wet, warm spring. The tissues of the leaves swell and become covered with fungus spores, which appear as white, pinkish or sometimes brown galls. The spores are distributed onto other plants when heavy rains (or overly zealous watering) splash them onto nearby plants. Leaf gall is not easy to prevent, but it is easy to treat once it appears on your azaleas.
Things You'll Need
Protective gloves
Trash bag
Fungicide containing the ingredient Bayleton
Treat leaf gall early for best results. Check your azaleas for symptoms shortly after the plant blooms and new leaves begin to grow. Look for swelling and distortion in the leaves.
Slip on protective gloves and pluck the galls (infected leaves) right off of the azaleas. Try to disturb the plant as little as possible so as to avoid inadvertently flicking spores onto nearby azaleas.
Discard the galls in a trash bag. Do not compost them or discard them near any plants, as this will only spread the fungus.
Treat several azaleas at once for leaf gall by spraying them with a fungicide. This option should be used only if you have so many azaleas that hand removal is impractical. The best time to spray is in the spring before the new leaves open. Choose a fungicide that contains Bayleton. Reapply the fungicide every two weeks as long as there are young leaves on the azaleas.
Tips & Warnings
Pruning heavily infested azaleas is another way to get rid of leaf gall if it is too late to treat them with a fungicide. Replace the mulch under the azaleas each fall to remove any possible traces of leaf gall.
