Rosemary bush problem - Ask Extension
My rosemary bush is uniformly covered with white spots, but apparently NOT the powdery mold type. I’ve attached top and bottom views of a single lea...
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Rosemary bush problem #859570
Asked February 21, 2024, 1:30 PM EST
My rosemary bush is uniformly covered with white spots, but apparently NOT the powdery mold type. I’ve attached top and bottom views of a single leaf. Every leaf on the bush looks like this
Orange County North Carolina
Expert Response
This is a phenomenon called stippling. It is caused by insect feeding on chlorophyll. Typically, it won't hurt the plant, but it looks bad. The rosemary can still be used for culinary work.
Things like leafhoppers, spidermites, lacewings, algeids, and aphids are candidates.
They can be treated with neem oil, capsaicin or pyrethrum or cabaryl. If treating, make sure plant is not in bloom...If it is, wait until it is no long in bloom before treating because they products will kill pollinators.
Hope this helps.
r/Mart