What's Eating on our Impatiens

Some of our impatiens have either insect damage or a fungus.....anyone have any ideas? it is on all the White Impatiens we got from WallyWorld.

Michael Hewitt, Hampstead, NC

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1670467&a=31754740&p=71753076

That looks like black spot probably due to cool soil temperatures and saturated soils (too wet and poorly draining).

Impatiens do well in moist soil, but need well draining soil. Also too cool temperatures, especially in spring when soil is much cooler than air temperatures, it can be lethal to the impatiens.

The impatiens will very likely die. You might try spraying with a common fungicide like Daconil 2787 to see if you can control any further disease development.

It is probably just as cheap to buy new impatiens.

When buying, try to plant in well draining soil. Loosen the rootball before planting and keep them well watered (not stressed) for the first few weeks. Make sure the soil drains well and that it is not very cold when planting.

Thanks kd for the reminder about soil temperature. We always wait for the soil to warm up and others think we're nuts. When planted in cool soil impatiens and tomatoes never do their best. It's much more comforting to be more assured of growth when planted in 55 to 60 degree soil temperatures, not air temperatures. People tend to confuse the two.