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?? Why are the stems splitting on my phlox - PIX

12 years ago

During my usual "cleaning out" of one of my beds, I noticed that behind my volcano phlox their stems were splitting. The plants from the front look healthy although there are some yellowing of the leaves near the bottom that can be seen from the front. Would this be from too much moisture? What do you think you all?

General view of bed.

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2 views of stems behind the plants

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
any history of fertilization..

glorious lawn.. is that fertilized with spray ... weedkiller.. etc ....

more info please ..

ken
Lauril Rohde
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, I have lightly fertilized it with Petersons once this spring and just a few days ago. The lawn does well as my husband put several inches of good earth down before he seeded it. He also fertilizes maybe twice a year. This is only one small bed in our back. If you would be interested in seeing a lot of glorious pix, let me know [and also how I could do it]. We have I think about 30 beds in all.
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The change in the leaf stems give them a higher surface area to volume ratio, which would make them more efficient at expelling and evaporating water. It would do this either to rid itelf of harmful ammounts of water, or to cool the plant, or a combination of both. However, leaves (foiliage) woud be naturally more efficient at these tasks than stems. So maybe something on the leaves like naturally occurring wax, or a build-up of sprays and dust, could be blocking the leaves from efficiently evaporating. Maybe hosing them down good with a light soap (quickly-you don't want to soak them if they are alteady too wet.) Good luck, and remember that new squash plants grow very quickly (from seed) and may be your easiest way out of this problem. -Terry This post was edited by terry_neoh on Thu, May 1, 14 at 6:12
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Variegated Plants will very often throw green foliage. Cut it off. It's more vigorous than the variegated (because the green leaves have more chlorophyll) and will take over if not removed. It's not unusual for a variegated plant to have solid cream (or white, etc.) stems and leaves as well as variegated ones (and solid green). These solid cream ones are usually weaker (far less chlorophyll), so are seldom successful as cuttings. So, all that being said....cut off the solid green ones and leave all the rest. If the ......deer (I'm on the rampage right now, myself, so will not get into any adjectives.) will leave it be, it should be okay.
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As Dave and others have said, daily watering shouldn't be necessary. It is common for squash leaves to lose their turgidity and 'wilt' in hot weather. Usually, by the next morning they pick themselves back up and look healthy. Insect damage will make this condition worse. The Squash Vine Borer is the worst culprit, and even squash bugs can exacerbate squash's natural tendency to wilt. If they are still wilted in the very early morning, after they have absorbed the dew (assuming there's dew in such a hot climate,) then they may indeed be thirsty. However, try not to let them go that long. Try to follow the 1" of water (plus a half an inch for every 10 degrees over 80) per week rule. Because of the large surface area of their leaves, squash can usually handle a bit more, but give them that extra by regular deep waterings. Daily waterings can encourage the squash roots to stay at the hottest part of the soil... the surface. Deep waterings encourage the roots down following the water. Weekly (or slightly more often in very hot, very dry or sandy places), deep waterings train the roots to find the cooler, moist soils below.
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marquest
12 years ago
The same thing happened to my phlox this year. I do not fertilize the lawn or use weed killer. Since we are both in Pa I think it is weather related. We had a strange Spring and Summer.
Marie Tulin
12 years ago
What's the weather pattern been? It reminds me of cracked tomatoes,which happens when things have been dry then there's alot of rain/water. The stems looked lke they got woody, then swelled and cracked.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
yeah.. best GUESS i have.. is that .. since all the damage is within the first 6 inches ...

some weather phenom occurred.. way back when... that caused it ...

as to what.. who knows .. a multiplicity of guesses:

frosted at planting or just after growth began
drought
something due to the fert
excess rain [and therein lies the problem.. rain and drought in the same equation]

frankly.. i figure its just going to be one of those mysteries that is never really answered ... all i can say is that something.. in its CULTURE ... its growing conditions ... was off this spring.. not enough to cause a problem as to bloom and vigor [since they look nice] .... but enough to make a pleasant conversation ...

you may never see it again ...

ken
Lauril Rohde
Original Author
12 years ago
I think you may be right about he weather. Guess I will go with what you said, Ken. Just let it go. As you said the blooms are still nice. In fact, more keep coming.

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