How To Treat Brown Spots On Ivy Leaves

If you’re not sure how to treat brown spots on ivy leaves, don’t panic because cleanliness, sanitation, and fungicides should help you solve this problem. Growing your plants is rewarding, but it’s part of a gardener’s life to see signs that are out of the normal. It’s usual to feel scared when you notice brown spots on ivy leaves, but learning how to treat them and what causes them should get your confidence back.

To further prevent potential problems with your ivy plants, you can consider growing them inside the greenhouse. This way, you can avoid and even control problems more conveniently. You can also mimic the growing conditions of this plant that grows well in zones 4 to 9. 

Don’t Panic, Read This On How To Treat Brown Spots On Ivy Leaves

How to treat the brown spots on my ivy leaves?

Cleanliness and sanitation

Did you know that a simple gardening responsibility, proper and consistent cleanliness and sanitation can treat the brown spots you see on ivy leaves? We often overlook simple practices like removing dead leaves and stems, thinking that a day or two with them standing shouldn’t cause problems on our plants. 

However, cleanliness and sanitation should be a consistent part of what you do in your garden and greenhouse. Not only will they prevent infection among your ivy plants, but they can make the brown spots more manageable and more comfortable to eradicate. When you notice infected leaves with spots or even seemingly innocent debris, remove them from the area to slow down their spread among plants, and you can do this every spring before new growth develops. 

This practice is applicable regardless of the cause of brown spots, which the article will discuss later on. You can also destroy all your diseased ivy plants in the fall or prune their infected parts as part of your fall activities. Not only will this help treat the brown spots, but this will also prevent the disease as the plants dry better. 

Low air movement and consistently wet foliage are significant factors in the spread of the organisms that cause brown spots on ivy leaves. Overhead watering and overwatering are common culprits that you should be mindful of. Additionally, don’t let standing water on your plants and water early in the morning, so the plants are dry for the night. 

Fungicides

As this article will discuss later on, one of the potential causes of brown spots is fungi. Therefore, spraying with fungicides should treat your plants. The Missouri Botanical Garden recommends copper fungicides for ivy leaf spots because you can use it for treatment and prevention. 

How would you know if the brown spots on your ivy leaves are from fungi? The effectiveness of fungicides against brown spots will only be satisfying if what you’re eradicating is truly fungi. The brown spots on the leaves should have no red margins, and you might recognize that the plant itself has a speckled appearance, which all indicates that what you’re facing is from a fungal infection. 

It’s also worth discussing that you must give importance to the product’s directions when it comes to reapplications. Remember that fungicides are chemicals, so use registered products to protect yourself and the plants. Nonetheless, the fact that copper fungicides can be useful for fungal and bacterial pathogens already puts it as the best option for controlling brown spots on ivy leaves. 

What Are The Brown Spots On My Ivy Leaves?

Bacterial brown spots

The American Ivy Society mentioned two possible causes of brown spots on ivy leaves: bacteria and fungus. You can distinguish the two leaf spots by inspecting them closer. For example, a bacterial leaf spot starts as oily looking spots that can turn from light green to dark brown, which will crack as time goes on. 

They also have red or yellow margins in addition to cankers on the stems that will eventually kill the stems. Sadly, bacterial brown spots are trickier to control. Therefore, prevent the infection by ensuring dry foliage and a controlled environment that isn’t too warm and wet. 

Fungal brown spots

On the other hand, fungus leaf spots are tan to brown spots with their own dots, and the leaf edges will have brown margins. This will eventually progress until the entire leaf dies, so it’s crucial to eradicate the infected plants quickly since the spores that spread the fungus are the dots you’ve seen on the spots themselves. 

For fungal brown spots, the Texas Plant Disease handbook recommends picking off infected leaves and then burning them. You can then use fungicide according to its instructions until the spots are completely eradicated. 

Conclusion

Using a greenhouse will make maintenance and care easier for plants such as ivy. However, problems can still arise even with the most responsible gardener, so you should know how to treat brown spots on ivy leaves to be prepared. Cleanliness, sanitation, and fungicides are the best methods to treat these spots, and they even act as preventative measurements. 

You want to prevent them from happening and slow down the spread, so you have time to recover plants and protect those that do not have them yet. Additionally, it would help to know the difference between bacterial and fungal brown spots. A copper fungicide should work for either cause, and cleanliness and sanitation will also be your best protection from these organisms.