Clematis pests ...please help?

I have two clematises, one is old ... about 25 yrs old and the other I bought 2 years ago. The problem I am having is that they grow like crazy but then start to have webbing and what looks like little browny - black bug droppings and the leaves. Soon to follow are the tips of the leaves turning brown, followed by the whole leave dying and turning black. It seems to then to affect the rest of the area until nothing is left hardly at all. I know something is attacking them but I don't know what and how to stop it. I have bought a pesticide from a trusted gardening place, but it is not stopping the issue. It isn't wilting......as these pest attack the newest shoots at the very top of the plant. Please please someone help my beautiful clematis to bloom and reach their full potentcial.

Clematis pests ...please help?
It is possible, from your description, that you are encountering Clematis wilt. Clematis wilt starts at the top of the plant. Sometimes the top leaves will show brown/black spots. The droppings may just be the fruiting bodies of the disease as it progresses. The disease will then spread quickly down the plant. Leaves %26amp; stems collapse and become blackened. The disease is soil borne, so treatment requires addressing your soil and pruning affected stems back to healthy tissue. Remember to clean your pruning tools between each cut when prunning infected plants. Use a 10% bleach solution or 75% alcohol soultion and dry your pruners before use.





Here is the Royal Horticultural Society's description of Clematis wilt (as an aid in the identification of your problem) and its control: http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles070...
Reply:The black sounds like it could be a fungus, which often attacks as a secondary problem, onto plants weakened after being attacked by something else first.





I'd check your pesticide, to see what it protects your plants from. Aphids are a potential source of problems with clematis, and most pesticides treat against these - though sometimes resistance builds up.





Could you have slugs or snails eating the juicy tips?





Keep your clematis well watered, they like cool moist roots, and are shallow rooted. I'd give them a feed too, as they have suffered a setback.





Washing up liquid will also kill aphids and other bugs, so I'd try a mild dilution of this, sprayed when the sun isn't shining.