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Phlox Seedlings - unhealthy looking yellowish green?

9 years ago

Received a whole bunch of phlox seedlings from a friend. Upon transplanting them from her growing containers to mine they are just looking...well..unhealthy.

They have a yellowish-pale green color to them. (sorry can't do pictures as my phone camera function has stopped working) Understandably some of the lower leaves didn't fare too well in the transport, and a few of the taller/flowered stems broke (i didn't even know they flowered so early in life!) so I snipped away dead/dying leaves, snipped off broken stems down to the base and also removed any stems that appeared exceptionally weak so as to allow the plant to spend it's energy on better areas.

Unfortunately, they still look weirdly not right. some have died out all together, so I snipped them back in hopes that maybe the roots will just start a new stem.

I tried googling "phlox seedling" "starter phlox" "phlox plugs" etc...but all I could find where images of nice green plants. When I do a search for the "yellowed" color it just comes up with info on yellow-flower phlox...nothing on the actual plant being this color.

My friend is now on a cruise and then a few days traveling and will not be home for another 10 days or so..so I can't ask her about it.

Any info would be great. Is there something I should do? are they doomed? is this normal? or normal after transplant and just give them some more time? your help is definitely appreciated!!

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Comments (4)

lilsprout
9 years ago
They will be just fine, all normal what you are seeing :) Phlox are VERY hardy. Is there a reason you put in pots vs the ground?

Either way....Just make sure to keep watered in and next year you will have beautiful plants!

This post was edited by lilsprout on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 11:43
logixsti
Original Author
9 years ago
*whew* thanks! I was a little worried.

Out of curiosity..with these. do I cut them back for winter? or since they are so small do I just leave them be? I guess I'll keep them outside (so much easier!) I'm just unsure about winter preparation.

While I'm asking...How about the large garden phlox I have? do those get cut back at all for winter? I seem to be finding mixed answers on it.

as for not planting them yet - I am actually just not sure where I want them (LOL) or even if I am going to be keeping them all ...I may just toss some to ebay buyers next summer when I think they are big enough to do okay with going in the mail and get to people looking good and healthy (I've gotten some terrible looking Phlox myself so I dont want to do that to anyone)

I just got a bunch of larger plants on sale at Lowes (gaura, Russian Sage, Lavender, a 2 VERY big Salvia Furman's red bushes) for between $1.50-$6 each..nothing smaller than a 1.7 gallon nursery pot! So I am reconfiguring a bit to get them in where I want them (I have seeds for all of them but for so cheap for a full plant I'll forget about the seeds now) so until next summer when I get a better idea of what the heck I'm doing with all this stuff I have pretty much all of the smaller plants of my collection in nursery pots and smaller plastic starter-type trays (not to the amusement of my significant other who says our front yard & driveway now look like a nursery haha)
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lilsprout
9 years ago
You did good by cutting all the ugly/broken foliage off, that's all they'll need. Yes there are mixed opinions on cutting back in the fall. I don't myself as I have found they are less prone to powdery mildew if left alone. Of course if it is a rainy humid summer like this one... Nothing helps, it was a bad year for phlox.

Have you ever tried selling on Craigslist? Not sure if that interests you, but it would save you on shipping and time.

Good for you on your good buys! Gotta love those sales.

Your driveway sounds like what the call a "pot ghetto"...luckily mine are all planted...until my fall shipment arrives ;)

Santarosagardens has a great sale online now if you want to add to your collection lol.

Good luck and happy planting!!
logixsti
Original Author
9 years ago
oh great..just what I need is more enticement to buy! haha.

I haven't sold any plants yet as this is my first year gardening in this house but I'm pretty sure next year I'll have plenty to spare. craigslist could def be a good idea! Thanks!

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