problem with sunflower leaves.

13 years ago

i use miracle grow potting soil to grow all my plants in my container garden.

my 3 sunflowers are about 2 months old and over a foot tall (no head yet). their first set of leaves turned yellow and shrivled up yet they were moist. so i cut them off because i read somewhere it's normal and that's what u should do. but now, the second layer of leaves on all my sunflowers are turning yellow too. one of them has yellow leaf tips with brown spots. another has yellow specks all over the plant like tie dye. and the last sunflower, has the second set of leaves torn and slightly yellow, with one of the leaves having a brown dry spot.

i repotted them about 10 days ago into bigger pots. and according the package, miracle grow feeds plants up to 6 months. i water the plants every other day because to me the soil feels dry by then. theyre in direct sunlight and i don't see any any larva on the leaves. this morning i did see a brown spider on one of them. could it be spider mites?

thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

paulie_nyr94

7 years ago

This is happening to all my sunflowers too, ugh!

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Comments (8)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
13 years ago
It SOUNDS like over-watering - possibly over-fertilizing, or both. It could also be a fungal infection if you're fond of wetting the foliage when you water - especially if you water late in the day.

Let the soil dry to the point where it feels very dry deep in the containers - or if the containers are plastic/small, use weight as your guide. You're actually better off to wait until you see the first signs of wilting before you water than to over-water, though drought stress isn't good either - only not as bad as over-watering.

Tell us about your fertilizer program. With what product (specifically - include NPK %s), how concentrated, how often, applied to foliage?

Al
mangominttea
Original Author
13 years ago
i forgot to mention that i'm new at gardening. i don't know much about fertilizers. the miracle grow potting soil has some in it already. so, i didn't think i needed to add more for 6 months. in case of fungal disease, i have been spraying my plants with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water because i heard that helps. if i'm doing something wrong..please let me know.

btw, if i added organic fish emulsion to my flowers to perk them up, would that be overfertilizing? maybe the color could back to the leaves?
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laurcunningham
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minnie1lexi2
7 years ago
I have been gardening for nigh on 40 years but this year is only my 2nd year at trying to grow sunflowers. I'm having the same problem too. No creepy crawlies thank goodness. A lot of ants in my garden. Will they take nutrients from sunflowers?
garybeaumont_gw
7 years ago
Ants can sometimes mean you have an aphid problem. They like to eat the aphid secretions and will protect the aphids. But I do not remember aphids being a big problem with sunflowers.

Sunflowers need full sun and that could also be a reason for the yellowing of the lower leaves. Annual sunflowers are a weed in my area. A picture would help to see how the plant is doing by the size of the leaves. Also, where you are growing them and in what climate would help. In almost all of the mainland US sunflowers would not be getting enough sunlight or heat to be growing this time of year. I have not grown sunflowers in a long time but they did not seem to be a problem, as long as they were planted after the soil warmed up.
rmosch350
7 years ago
Looks like the same problem I'm having. What's causing mine is a worm. We recently have had leaf miners attack our citrus plants. Not sure if it's the same bug attacking the citrus, but similar damage.

The areas affected on the leaves will be soft. Inside the leaves you will probably see a few small worms.

On the citrus I have to spray with spinosad. On the sunflowers I'm removing the damaged portion of the leaves containing the bugs and destroying them.
Lisa Furan
6 years ago
My sunflowers are having dame problems I took one leaf off and I found worms in between layers of the burnt parts.