What are red spots on lilly pilly leaves?

[deeeff]

hello, approximately one month ago a couple of the plants in my Lilly Lilly pilly hedge started having there leaves drop off from mostly the external and highest leaves. 

I suspected a caterpillar attack as this has happened before and sprayed the products with success ultra. 

The leaves have continued to drop since and seemingly even more plants appear afflicted, almost all of the plants (aside from the very healthy deep green ones) leaves are covered in red dots. What is also odd is that there is new growth emerging despite the plants seemingly unhealthy state. The tips of plants seem to be browning and dropping leaves which spreads from the tip towards the trunk but new shoots sometimes emerge elsewhere.

I can’t seem to find anything similar to this problem on the internet, the plants are the goodbye neighbours acmena smiithi variety. I have attached some pictures for reference. Any help would be much appreciated 

 

 

 

[EricL]

Hello @deeeff 

Thanks for sharing your question regarding your lilly pilly. I propose using Yates 200ml Liquid Copper Fungicide. It is a broad-spectrum fungicide, that is suitable for use on fruit, vegetables and ornamentals, for controlling leaf curl, leaf spots, blights, downy mildew and many more fungal diseases. Think of it as a deterrent to future infections.

Since we are still in the winter, it would not be a good time to fertilize your plant. I can only recommend keeping the bottom of your plant tidy and free of dead leaves to reduce the possibility of spreading the fungus. 

Let me call on our plant guru @Noelle if she has any other recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let me know.

Eric

[Noelle]

Hi @deeeff 

I have to agree with Eric that it looks very like a fungal disease problem.  Follow the advice he's given and that should assist greatly.