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Echinacea Problem...Help Needed

16 years ago

This problem has happened both last year and this year. I have loads of coneflowers planted in the front and the side yards...and this only happens in the front bed.

Last year I planted Kim's Knee High...6 plants. 1 survived. I stuck in 6 Twilight and moved the Kim. 5 have survived.

Symptoms...plants come up. Green. Good shape. Getting buds. Some stalks on one (or more in the case of Kim's) plant begin to wilt as if they were underwatered. (They were not) Soon the wilt turns to a brown stalk and shrivels up and dies. The buds have continued to try to pink up. Soon more stalks get the same way on the same plant until almost or all of the plant is a shriveled, dry, brown mess. A girlfriend said she had the same problem and put Diazinon Granules (which I would be loathe to use) and slug bait granules around her's this year and they are fine. I see no evidence of insect infestation OR slug/grub problems.

NEW SYMPTOM: 2 of the 5 remaining Echinaceas that are in bloom or in bud have suddently lost a few buds. They are simply laying in the mulch aside of the plant and are removed from the plant as neatly as if a scissors or knife had cut them off. I immediately suspected my grandsons having experienced this with my son (My peonies' buds had black ants and his solution to ant removal was to cut off the offending buds) but they deny having any responsibility. Again, I do not see any signs of insects.

Anybody have any ideas???

Thanks!

Robin

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Comments (6)

entling
16 years ago
For Symptom #2 I have a guess - critters! Either rabbit or squirrel, they cut off the blossoms for some unknown reason. Try a hot pepper wax spray or something like Plantskydd. That should solve that problem.
highalttransplant
16 years ago
That happened to one of my echinacea 'Sundown's last week, but we don't have any rabbits or squirrels in this area, so I am pretty sure it was deer. That same night they ate quite a few buds on my daylilly plants, which they like almost as much as my tulips : (

I have a problem with a couple of mine in one flower bed where the leaves turn almost black. I keep pulling off the affected leaves, but it seems to spread anyway. I've looked at pictures of powdery mildew, but this doesn't look like that. Maybe I can post a pic. of one of the leaves. One of the plants is still putting out new leaves, the other one seems to be putting all of its energy into blooming.
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Wow lots of interesting stuff here! I think there are multiple issues here, and, since the health of the plants isn't great, I would deal with all possible problems rather than hunt down one specific one. If it were me I would do the following, since doing them would fix any of the most likely problems that you may be having. I would change the mix to a free draining one. I would check the roots, and pot into a container that is only a little larger than the rootball. I would put them in a partially sunny position after the repot until they get used to their new mix and pot. I would then move to a sunny location once things started to settle. I would make sure the room had plenty of humidity with gravel trays or a humidity. I would make sure the room was warm, and provide bottom heat to the pots if possible. I would inspect for bugs. Mites and scale seem the most prolific - possibly mites in your case. Webbing is a telltale sign, and sometimes hard to spot, but not always present. I would treat with Toni's spray regardless (she can tell you the ingredients, or you can search previous posts.) If you do spot bugs, use Toni's spray or a suitable one for fruiting plants from a garden centre. I would water these (after the repot) only when the new medium was closer to dry than damp. In a new medium you won't have to worry so much over watering - if it is the right medium it is unlikely you will overwater unless you go nuts with it. Fertilize only very lightly until the tree is back to health, then feed with a high nitrogen feed every couple of weeks. Citrus bounce back, but they take time. These are not by any means the be all and end all of things you should do, they are merely what I personally would do :) Danny
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Good luck to blueheronretreat. He can also make lots of Echinacea tea. It is made from the root. I know what you mean McPeg. I am also nuts about plants. I have a small greenhouse by the house. There is no more room in the "inn". I like to go and pull my plants by the hair, so I can transplant. I am itching to get my fingers back into the soil.
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rsmallen
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks...rabbits are probably the culprit. We have a TON of them in the development !!
Robin
ctopher_mi
16 years ago
Are you sure this spot is dry enough to grow Echinacea? They tend to prefer sandy, well-draining soil and rarely need supplemental watering, usually just the occasional rain is adequate. The symptoms of too much moisture are similar yet worse than not enough water, and that's kind of what it sounds like here. Also, make sure the mulch isn't too thick as it could be holding moisture around the stems.

Check the soil. If it is wet or holds moisture, you might want to try something different here.
rsmallen
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks ctopher. I've considered that as well. And it's possible....I had some new transplants next to them....teeny things...so did the lazy hose watering thing instead of buckets consequently everything got wet. It's only 1 of 6 plants though...and they would all have been overwatered. Still, when I pulled it out last evening finally it came off at the roots...in other words, no root ball came up with the plant. And it was DRY. So I suspect overwater or root rot...or overwatering causing root rot!

Robin
Donna
16 years ago
I have had the blackened stem problems in the past, and believe it was due to poor drainage. If your soil stays loose, over-watering is less likely to cause problems with Echinacea by my experience.

#2: I agree. I sure sounds like critters of some kind. Heaven help us all!

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