Recently planted this Rhapsody clematis. It was doing fine then just wilted. I'm afraid it may have gotten too much water. What should I do to save it? Should I try to dig it up and pot it? Or should I cut it back and leave it in the ground? I don't want to lose this beauty from Brushwood.
is your soil very heavy-like clay or does it drain well? If you think it is not draining enough, you should dig it up, dig your hole out about 2 feet across or so and refill it with some compost mixed into your soil or add some potting soil to loosen the dirt. I would not cut it off yet, sometimes they resprout along the vine even if the leaves have fell off.
I had it happen with Lemon Chiffon, which wasn't even newly planted, and cut the affected stems to the ground.
Why not write to Dan and attach a photo and ask his advice? Then you could let the rest of us know what to do and maybe what could have caused it. I wish you good luck with the outcome.
Thanks to both of you for your replies. I wouldn't have thought about writing to Dan, but that's a great idea. I'll let you know what I find out.
So, I wrote Dan and he recommended I dig it up, cut it back and put it in a pot with high quality potting soil. He asked me to send pictures of the roots while I had it out. When he received my pictures, he said the roots did not look bad, not much growth, but not a lot of rot, and there were several buds at the crown ready to grow. He suggested I consider a dip of diluted bleach or hydrogen peroxide. What a relief, and what a fantastic resource he is! I can not praise him enough for his prompt and informative responses. We emailed back and forth 3 times, and he replied to my messages within hours each time.
Dan is a treasure and I'm so glad he helped you.
Did you use the diluted bleach or the hydrogen peroxide? Just curious. Thanks.
I had that happen to some of mine this year. just a stem or two that all of a sudden wilted. I cut them back and the rest of the plant did fine. Good luck.
Same here.
Ok, now I'm really getting frustrated. I lost my first chatty, or should I say long-winded, reply when I fat-fingered my keyboard just as I was finishing it. Then I lost my succinct reply when I took a break before finishing it.
I used bleach (1 tsp to 1 gal of water) for 1 minute then rinsed it well. Dan said I could use 1 part peroxide to 10 parts water, irrigate it well and not have to remove it from the pot. .
I had the same thing happen to my new Carnaby, so I treated it at the same time. Those babies will spend the summer, or longer, in Pirl's famous self-watering pots from Walmart.
My gorgeous Candida that has been in the ground 3 years suffered wilt, but fortunately I had one healthy stem with buds that was not affected.
We've had heavy rain recently for at least 3 weeks. Would that be causing the wilt? The three affected clematises are in 3 different locations.
Last year I lost a stem on Candida Lanuginosa but this year it was fine and I hadn't given it any treatment. There are major disputes as to what causes it (as well as total wilt). I have never had it happen to more than one in any area and find that so curious. I'll do some checking as to the causes and report back if I find anything of value.
I'm guessing, if they'll spend the summer in pots, that they are young plants. A huge root system would be too crowded in even the largest self-watering pots sold here. Remember to check the water level in those pots!
