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spring sickness questions...

sue_in_nova_scotia

16 years ago

Alas...I have spring sickness...I had no idea at first what was wrong..assumed frost damage and that they would snap out of it...I think there are a total of 4 affected...I have 3 questions.. 1)will they die ?(sob) 2. If they survive will they be like this forever more year after year? or may they be perfectly fine next year? 3. Does it affect all size clumps of just smaller newly planted clumps...all mine affected were purchased mail order last year.

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Comments (4)

caliloo
16 years ago
As a newbie that survived the trauma of seeing some o my babies with spring sickness, I can pass along the wisdom that was imparted to me by the fine people here.

1. No they won't die
2. They quite possibly will look perfectly normal after this year
3. I have no idea. The only ones that it affected in my garden were all second year seedlings. None of the older clumps or purchased plants were affected at all.

And just to put another fear aside, I've been told that the plant should still bloom normally.

As I mentioned, I am a newbie, so I hope I paid attention and related the information correctly. I'm sure the experienced folks will jump in and correct/add to my post.

Good luck and don't panic!

Alexa
jkunkel
16 years ago
The above info is correct. I don't think the spring sickness will affect the size of the clump. In fact not all of the fans in a clump may have the SS. Some do and some don't. Mine had a few fans with the ss this year and have grown out of it for the most part and are putting up scapes now. Its just kind of ugly for a while. Next year you may not have any, or even have different clumps with affected fans. No one really knows why it happens, but it is not fatal to your plants. BTW I have learned all of this and more from the great people on this forum too! Jessica
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sweatin_in_ga
16 years ago
Just a short follow-up that might make you smile. I had quite a bit of spring sickness this year and all of them have outgrown it and most are blooming well or have completed blooming. I had one seedling in particular that was planted last spring that I almost pulled up six weeks ago and threw away because it looked so bad. It was easily the most severely affected plant - - gnarled and twisted. While all the other seedlings from the same cross were growing a large single fan or coming up with a a second one, this plant just had foliage pointing in all directions - - up, down, and twisting around - - you couldn't even tell how many fans there were. However, in the last 3-4 weeks, it finally settled down and is growing correctly. However, I can now recognize 4-5 fans and it is putting up 4 scapes!. Its much later than its siblings, but it will easily out produce the 'normal' in terms of number of fans and number of blooms. Just give your plants some more time and they will be fine.
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sue_in_nova_scotia
Original Author
16 years ago
I was quite worried there...phew...the clumps that are affected for me are second years...they only have a couple fans and those fans are crawling on the ground...i will let them be and try and see it as a 'phase'...they will grow out of.
Thanks everyone

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