Most of my coneflowers look quite sickly and abnormal - I suspect it is Aster Yellows. I am thinking I should dig them up and destroy them???
Mottled yellow and green foliage
Is this Aster Yellows?
Not the best picture but distorted odd leaves
Odd stunted plant
Weird flowers
I'm sure sorry to tell you but it sure looks like it to me......the first two pictures I wasn't sure but the weird flowers are the proof, witches brooms they call them....a dead giveaway for aster yellows......So sorry you have it but destroying the plant is a the smart move, and keep an eye on your others.....I've lost 17 so far this year.....I had a bad outbreak of it two years ago too....
Paul from Alabama
plexippus.....for what it's worth I just dug up and threw away a bunch of my coneflowers just now, some of them over 3 1/2 feet tall and other than a few aster yellows signs like witches brooms and yellowed, veined leaves, most of them looked really nice, full of flowers but when the aster yellows starts raging the flowers will start slowing down and all the subsequent flowers will show signs of the disease .....3 Harvest Moons, 7 Twilights, 5 Sundowns, 2 Sunrises, and one echinacea purpurea....I thought the disease would slow down or not be as bad this year but it looks like it as bad as two years ago when I lost'em all....if you have the chance let me know how the disease progresses up your way, if you lose anymore or that one you destroyed stopped it from spreading.....Again good luck to you.....
Paul from Alabama
Paul,
Is this soil born or transmitted by insects or viral? If it is viral, then wouldn't it be passed from the parent flower through the seeds? (I'm not even sure that makes sense with plants)
NOT soil borne......It's spread by leaf hoppers from plant to plant as they chew there way around. The 'vector' as they say is the leaf hoppers, the disease or organism is spread by them.
http://web.mac.com/sinai/Site/2007.html
Paul from Alabama
Hi Paul,
I dug up a few of the plants yesterday, I knew I needed too but I really didn't want too. There are a few more plants that look like they may have it - distorted leaves and flowers - I plan to dig those out tomorrow. Looks like only one is unaffected,so far.... I had my coneflowers mixed together and I don't remember who was where but in the end I will have lost Harvest Moons, Sundown, White Swan, and Magnus. I am really worried about it being transmitted to my Rudbekias and Asters so I am going to keep a close eye on them. I'll update later in the season if it was spread to anything else. This is really sad, the coneflowers were some of my favorites and there will be an empty space to fill in.
Barb
Is there some way to eliminate the leaf hoppers before damage? A taste or smell that they don't like?
Not that I know of pennefeather.......Just google 'aster yellows' and there's several good articles on it....All sites I've seen say the same thing, for home gardeners there's not anything you can do, chemical wise......
Paul from Alabama
Is it possible to put some type of cheesecloth or veiling on top of the clump to discourage them from landing there? How about insecticidal soap? I just have one cllump and they're sort of hidden, but probably not to the insects!!!
A few years ago I dug up every clump of my coneflowers in Ohio, and then bought two small plants last year of 'Pixie Meadowbrite' when I moved to NC. None of my coneflowesrs moved with me from Ohio.
Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karin, I don't see why not, the insecticidal soap wouldn't hurt it that's for sure and could only help if not for aster yellows some other pest you might encounter in your garden.....Tell you the truth I've never used any kind of insecticide or fungicide on anything ever, well I take that back, one time I used something called Green Cure for mildew on my bee balm and phlox.....
Paul from Alabama
I was moving some items in the garage today and noticed that I had a bottle of Schultz insecticidal soap. On the front of it, leafhoppers are listed as one of the insects that it controls. While it may not help the coneflowers already afflicated with aster yellow, this may be beneficial in stopping it from spreading.
I just thought I would post this here , also on page one of the forum . Just seeing how some of you deal with this while I do..
Well first of all I will say I know there is suppose to be no cure , and Antibiotic treatments are being tried by research professionals
Well to begin with not wanting to throw my Coneflowers and dealing with a microbe I decided to argue some to see if I could learn something ,( going the hard way seems to be it with me. lol )
I lost most of the original blooms and stems this season but have been trying Ammonia x Listerine to destroy a microbe , First I did Cider x spoiled Fruit juice Be careful when you mix this with Ammonia x Listerine as it odors like manure being sprayed on crop fields , Those of you that live in the country or near commercial growing fields are well aware of what I am talking about , (odor is overpowering )
And should disclaim as to anyone that might try something like this remember,, this is only an experiment and this is the web (you know , me too lol)
Well the first pic early this season , in the background blooms you can see the yellow's disease developing .
Aeriation to older stems and the microbe hollows out the bloom stems , from solid stem cutting back and keeping air around the plant is where I have been starting my treatment program ..
It seems usually about half way up the bloom stem is where the disease attacks the plant with vigor , so Ammonia as an osmotic with an Antimicrobial would be the place to start
This is in progress and if there is any interest I will post more results as time goes along ,
Last pic is a bloom today after a little more than a week of the spray program no symptoms on bloom , only very few on the plant ..
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I should add that the formula sprayed also "rotted off or through" infected larger stems , so it seems it may function .. ( from note to self).
And thank you for reading this ,,
Read more: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1329197/#ixzz2bpO5BrO8