Hi grny28, I am going to refer to The Ortho Problem Solver, seventh edition on this, because I am no expert on Petunias (zinnias are my "thing"). The book's coverage on Petunia problems starts on page 262 and continues onto page 264. It has articles on Gray Mold (everywhere in the US), Smog Damage (limited to relatively small coastal areas), Caterpillars, Cutworm Damage, and the last article on Crown and Root Rot (everywhere in the US) seems the most likely culprit. Crown and Root Rot is caused by Phytophthora (I don't think you can say that without spitting a little), a fungus that lives in the soil. It initially attacks the roots or stem at or just below the soil level. The dark dry decay of the lower stem tissue and roots reduces the flow of water to the leaves and flowers, causing the petunia to wilt and die. Crown and Root Rot is common in heavy poorly drained wet soils. The fungus (Phytophthora) is spread by contaminated soil, transplants, and tools. The solution is to remove and destroy infected plants and all the soil within 6 inches of their roots. How do you destroy soil? Well, I guess you could throw it into an incinerator, but I would just put it a plastic bag and send it to the landfill with the rest of the garbage. To prevent a recurrence of Crown and Root Rot, you should improve your soil drainage and drench it with a fungicide containing Captan. That's what the Ortho book says. Repeat the drench monthly during the growing season and let the soil dry out between waterings. I try to avoid problems of this sort with my zinnias by adding a lot of sand to my garden soil to create a sandy loam, and I add Perlite to my indoor growing medium to increase its drainage. "They were planted in larger containers along with other plants that are fine, What are the chances of a disease from so many different nurseries?" Many plants aren't susceptible to Phytophthora, and the problem is in your soil or growing medium, and not at the different nurseries. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

I agree with Sandy. It depends upon which Callas you're trying to grow in the pond (or bog). I have the Z. aethiopica (common calla), and one of my books states that those aren't the ones which die back every year, only to reappear with the rains in autumn. However, mine do, indeed, have that characteristic. They're planted right in the ground, in full shade. The bed gets flooded every time it rains, and I give them supplemental water until the really hot weather hits here in late spring/early summer, then I just let them rest a while. I then tried one of the Z. rehmanii, and it rotted while receiving regular water in a pot with drain holes. Of course, a lot of it also probably depends on temperatures and zones. :D Brenda

Good advice from many regarding watering. Excess water and too much fertilizer are common problems with growers who are trying hard to take good care of their plants. Tomatoes do better with some neglect. Also, do NOT bury 80% of any healthy looking transplant. I have no idea why that was suggested. Instead set it into the soil so the first set of healthy leaves is about an inch above the soil surface. Deep burying is used as a remedy for very leggy plants grown with poor lighting. I cannot imagine a Bush Celebrity getting very leggy unless it was grown under terrible conditions. You would not want to buy such a plant. If you replace yours, set it into the planting hole only a little deeper than it is growing in the pot. And don't baby it :)

TLBean, the only kind of begonias I've rooted are angel wings, so I can't speak to the particular begonias you're attempting to root. But I've rooted cuttings of many different kinds of plants, and in general, the cutting needs a way to uptake water. Some plants can uptake water through a cut stem, but many cannot do it efficiently enough or long enough to root. So they need to be able to absorb moisture through their leaves; hence the need for a humid environment. When I root plants that don't root easily in water, I put them in an aquarium. I like clear plastic drinking cups with holes poked in the bottom because I can see when rooting happens without disturbing the cutting. The soil needs to be damp but not dripping wet. I have a lid with a light over the top and gravel in the bottom of the aquarium. I put water in the bottom of the aquarium no deeper than the gravel. I also use a reptile cage heating pad (they get warm but not too hot - around 75-80 deg. which is perfect for cuttings) and place it under the aquarium for bottom heat. Obviously, the cups with the cuttings sit on top of the gravel. Since the water is just below the gravel level, the cuttings aren't sitting in water, but the water evaporates and provides the moist environment they need. I have the aquarium light on a timer for 14 hours a day and the heating pad is on all the time. I've had great success with this set-up. It provides constant moisture and heat, which cuttings generally need for rooting, as well as light. The more light your cutting gets, the more energy it will have and the better it will root. The aquarium is a controlled environment, whereas if you enclosed your cuttings in plastic and placed them out in the sun on a warm day, they'd probably cook. BTW, I always clean the aquarium with soap and bleach, as well as soaking the gravel in soap and bleach (rinse it of course before using) before setting up the cuttings. Cuttings are very susceptible to pathogens so everything needs to be very sanitary. And cuttings can take a month or two to root, so just when you think nothing is happening - voila! You start seeing some roots! Good luck! Deanna