Bonkers Conkers :(

[LilyRose]

Hi all, have any of you grown trees from conkers?
I have grown quite a few over the years but have noticed that they are ALL smitten with brown blotches on the leaves. They don't look particularly healthy, although a couple of them are over 20' tall now!
Leaves dying and dropping already (first week in July).
Is this because they are grown from conkers? Other local trees look fine.
Some of mine are in the ground, young ones are in pots, but every one is affected.

Help!

[Scarlet]

It's the horse chestnut leaf mining moth. I don't think you can get rid of it completely but you can reduce the numbers by collecting the fallen leaves and burning them.
I have two huge, very old trees that house natterer bats, to keep mine going I try to collect and burn as many as possible, not an easy job.

[Scarlet]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=533

[LilyRose]

Thank you Scarlet.
The link shows exactly the same symptoms as my trees.

I will have to get busy burning leaves soon...

[Glutton4...]

Aaah, what a useful thread. Yet again, something I've been meaning to look into, and had forgotten.

Looks like I'll be raking up quite a lot, this autumn. But at least it's paid work!

[Scarlet]

I think you can also bin bag them for a year, making sure they are tied up well to stop the over wintering pupae getting out of the bag. But it's surprising how many bags you can fill.