Aubergine leaf problem

[bazzaboy]

Aubergine seedlings (from a reputable online company) arrived with leaves in a sorry state. Can anyone tell me the cause, please? They might revive but is it safe to put them alongside other greenhouse plants or is there a risk of transmission? Thanks…..

[quanglewangle]

Not seen anything like this and my knowledge of plant of plant pathology is limited. Looks fungus-y, maybe Cercospora leaf spot but that's no more than a Google Lens aided guess.

Fire a picture off the the supplier and ask for replacement. Not an unreasonable request.

[Snoop Puss]

If you were to remove all of the damaged leaves (they probably aren't doing much photosynthesising if any), would you have a fair amount of decent leaves left? If not, I agree with QW: get in touch with the supplier and ask for a refund or replacement plants. If you have a garden centre or nursery nearby, see if you can buy plants there.

If you think it's going to take too long to get replacements (from garden centre or supplier) and there are enough decent leaves, put in pots and leave somewhere not in greenhouse to see if they revive. I doubt they would be a threat to healthy plants, but a greenhouse environment is likely to be too hot and humid for them to survive in their current condition.

[bazzaboy]

If you were to remove all of the damaged leaves (they probably aren't doing much photosynthesising if any), would you have a fair amount of decent leaves left?

Hi SP, If I removed all the damaged leaves they wouldn't have any leaves, they've all got it to a greater or lesser extent. No problem with getting a refund, I'm more interested in the cause. These business companies tend to adopt a policy of "Never complain, never explain" so they'll refund but won't say (or probably Customer Service staff won't know) what the problem was. It's no great worry as I have a couple of healthy home-grown ones (ironically I included them on a pre-Xmas 2021 order as an insurance policy because my attempts sometimes fail but this year it's t'other way round!) I've been doing a Quanglewrangle type Google search (thanks for Cercospora tip, I'll Wiki that one), the closest I've found is could it be the aftermath of red spider mite which has been cleared up but has left its mark? I can't see any eggs but how large is a red spider mite egg lol? Boiled, fried or poached? bb.

[quanglewangle]

Given they arrived infected I would say it's a fair bet they were dispatched infected. Symptoms can develop quickly but not that quickly. This points to a QA dispatch inspection issue. Excuse will be covid/staff absence/brexit blah blah.

Plant supply business can be quite complex - I am sure some "suppliers" are simply brokers who pass on the order some large anonymous outfit who slap the "supplier's" branding on and dispatch. Fresh food supply works like this.
This is why you won't get any sense out of the supplier.

[Snoop Puss]

The cause could be mould spores already on the plants before dispatch or damage to cells due to bashing or rattling during transport. I've never seen spider mite damage on aubergines (famous last words...), so I couldn't comment on that.

I guess you've got nothing to lose: remove the worst of the leaves, if not all, pot the plants up and see what happens. There will be a bit of photosynthesis going on thanks to the stems and you might get new leaves develop at the leaf nodes to start them off again. Whether you get much of a crop after the stress is another matter, but you might get enough to make it worthwhile.

[bazzaboy]

Given they arrived infected I would say it's a fair bet they were dispatched infected. Symptoms can develop quickly but not that quickly. This points to a QA dispatch inspection issue. Excuse will be covid/staff absence/brexit blah blah.

Plant supply business can be quite complex - I am sure some "suppliers" are simply brokers who pass on the order some large anonymous outfit who slap the "supplier's" branding on and dispatch. Fresh food supply works like this.
This is why you won't get any sense out of the supplier.

Yes, I agree QW with your points, thanks. I don't think in this instance it's brokers/other suppliers but I have met up with that circumstance in other instances and it's a complex biz! I also looked up Cercospora, wow that's some fungus, gets everywhere.....As the article concluded, "there is still much to learn about the species...." but I couldn't find any explicit reference to aubergines. All in a day's gardening......

[quanglewangle]

When searching keep in mind that the cousins call aubergine eggplant.

See:

https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdiseas...pora-leaf-spot

And this one has pix somewhat like yours...
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/eggplant/infos
Towards the bottom of the article

[bazzaboy]

The cause could be mould spores already on the plants before dispatch or damage to cells due to bashing or rattling during transport. I've never seen spider mite damage on aubergines (famous last words...), so I couldn't comment on that.

I guess you've got nothing to lose: remove the worst of the leaves, if not all, pot the plants up and see what happens. There will be a bit of photosynthesis going on thanks to the stems and you might get new leaves develop at the leaf nodes to start them off again. Whether you get much of a crop after the stress is another matter, but you might get enough to make it worthwhile.

Lol Famous Last Words..... I was just thinking they were doubtless grown in polytunnels and spider mite seems to like that environment.... I don't think it's developed during transit as that was speedy (1-2 days max). Yes I'll remove the worst leaves and see what happens, I'll chance them next to my "highly superior" specimens lol, and if something nasty transfers it will be a lesson learned. The problem is usually aphids, I know how to deal with them (and get out my pea-shooter!) Has RHS declared aphids a non-pest yet? I know ladybirds and ants like them but, sorry, they're a pest to me and I don't think aubergines think much of them either..... But now black blobs, haven't met that one before. All in a day's gardening, thanks for your thoughts. bb.