I noticed this week that my (new this year) Irrisistable (sp?) Echinacea had several wilting flower stems, which appeared blackened and dried out at the section that was wilted. I've attached a photo that shows the wilting and blackened stems. Does anyone know what might have caused this? I've never seen this before on my Echinaceas (or anything else for that matter).
Thanks!!
Jennifer
i have to ask did you recently fertilize the plants .I have did that before and got too much fertilizer on them and that is precisely what they looked like once with a commercial fertilizer and another time with some alfalfa pellets .. they all did comeback tho..
Grits,
Thanks for the reply. No, I haven't fertilized them with anything. The soil in that bed is almost 'too good' so I haven't applied any fertilizer this year. They are a bit crowded with several tall annuals growing around them...I'm wondering if it might be a 'too low light' or not enough air circulation?
I only grow one variety or more correctly one variety and a couple of others that to me look to be the very same ..I grow the regular Purple Coneflower and It is very tough but will not tolerate wet feet and does not seem to require a very good soil ..There is a native strain that grows here in SE Oklahoma and I see that one in some poor ,rocky soil and at othere times in nice bottumland
Help! Two of my coneflower plants have upper leaves that are rolled and almost seem stuck together! Whats my problem? It's been very rainy here.
Sounds like aphids.
Jennifer, did you ever find the answer as to why your Echinacea did that? I had a clump of Echinacea tennesseensis, the native Tennessee Coneflower that had been fine for several years and then this year, it did the same thing. The other clumps are fine.
Cville,
No I never did get an answer to it. The clump bounced back and doubled in size this year.
Jennifer
I'm glad to hear that. I hope the same things happens with mine. :)
Mine are doing that also , two of five of the purple native ,, Whitefly , black ticks , or the little brown bug that looks like a miniature walking stick is my guess a mild fungus mold they leave behind ...
Blasted sapsuckers !!!!
This message was edited Jul 12, 2013 12:55 AM
Juhur7,
That is what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure. You're probably right, and hopefully yours will bounce back too.
Jennifer
Here's some additional info I found while researching.
http://www.ehow.com/info_8321147_echinacea-plant-wilting.html
Thanks for the link, Cville_Gardener. I also lost a clump of Echinacea tennesseensis recently. I'll look again to see if I can tell anything. I'm thinking/hoping too much water. That's easier for me to accept. But I have also noticed wilted stems on plants and I need to think about stem borers or sclerotinia blight.
You're welcome. My wilted clump did not bounce back although new clumps near it seem to be okay - at least for the time being. It may have just been one of those things that happens with plants.
