Is this powdery Mildew

[jspash]

This seems like a busy thread! I'm a looong time lurker and decided to finally sign up because I have a bit of a problem.

Take a look: https://imgur.com/a/xaEiCg4

Click on the images to zoom in. It's a 2 year old Japanese honeysuckle with what I "think" might be powdery mildew. But I'm in the UK and it's still quite cold here. And I thought powdery mildew needed warm weather.

When I first put it in it was about 6 inches tall and tripled in height in a few weeks. But then the leaves started to look like they do in the photo. Then they turned yellow and fell off.

This year it came back quite nicely, but now I'm seeing signs of the dreaded "something" happening again.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

[nickdub]

Yep powdery mildew alright - all honeysuckles are prone to it if grown in dry conditions - they are really woodland plants and grow best in conditions like those on the edge of woodland eg damp shade for the roots and sun available higher up. Unless you can give your plant the conditions it prefers I'd suggesting passing it on as a present to another gardener and buying something different to grow in the conditions you have - happy to make some suggestions for alternatives.

[Jungle Jane]

Spraying with milky water can help the leaves a bit with powdery mildew. Can you give it water & mulch around the roots or add some large stones to keep the roots in the shade. Try a few things good luck sorting it out & welcome to the forum I lurked for ages too

[Babru]

It's very early in the season for mildew outdoors. I think your honeysuckle must be seriously unhappy with its growing conditions. I'm with nickdub, you might like to consider moving it somewhere more suitable.

I had a honeysuckle in a too-sunny position once, and it got both mildew and regular and prolonged aphid infestation, both signs of stress. Is yours badly hit by aphids too jspash?

[toomanytommytoes]

Potassium bicarbonate works well against mildew, you can find it on eBay. Milk also works but needs strong sunlight to be most effective.

[jspash]

No aphids. It seems like mildew. Over 75% of the foliage is now gone. The only leaves remaining are the ones on very long hanging tendrils. I suppose the spores couldn't get to them.

Oh well.

With any luck my clematis cuttings (cardinal wyszynski) will survive and I'll just have to remove the honeysuckle. Maybe try it in a different spot.

Thanks everyone!

[nickdub]

On the up side honeysuckles are much tougher than they look - if you can give it a spot with conditions it prefers then it'll probably romp away. If you do plant clematis in the same general area try to get some big stones like paving slabs to cover their roots - they'll tolerate a bit drier conditions than a honeysuckle but also like cool damp soil.

other climbers which might suit your space better include jasminum officinale and passion flower.