What IS this killing my plants????

teejay2039

13 years ago

Planted 6 May Night Salvias last year, 2 groups of 3. The all bloomed beautifully this year, and I cut them back about a month ago. Now they're dying. Attached pic of leaf is from plant that is actively dying. some type of fungus? Wilt? The other pic is what the dead one looks like.

It only took a week to kill the plant.... leaves turn brown/copper at bottom, and dry up. I *thought* at first they weren't getting enough water (soaker hose in that bed) but watering isn't helping. Then I thought maybe I cut them back too far and sent them into shock? They should have recovered if that were the case, though. This bed runs the entire length of the front of the house, and I have other plants in there..... some are unaffected (knock-out rose bush is next to the salvias but seems fine) but others seem to have the same thing..... (rudbeckia planted last year has stunted growth, malformed/small blooms, black splotches on leaves). I also have 2 white salvia that are showing early signs of same thing: leaves turning brown at bottom, drying up.....

Can anyone tell me what this is and how to correct it??

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Comments (13)

taz6122
13 years ago
If the soil is moist then do not water. What do the roots of the dead plants look like?
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, now that i pulled it out of the ground, i see it has new growth at the base..... roots look like..... roots. LOL Sorry, I'm new to having problems; usually i plop it in the ground and it grows. :)

HOWEVER, I *didn't* amend the soil in this bed (big mistake, I know) and there's a lot of clay. I just dug a hole big enough for the plant. (I'm thinking regardless of the reason for the decline,I need to rip all this out when it cools down, till it up again, amend, and replant.)

I took several pics, trying to upload them.
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teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
base of dead plant

Here is a link that might be useful: base of dead plant
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
dyinbg #2

Here is a link that might be useful: dying #2
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
rudbeckia planted last year

Here is a link that might be useful: rudbeckia's don't look any better either
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
#1 Rudbeckia..can't figure out how to make the larger image show up, but noticed this has white powder on leaves too....src>

#2 Dead/Fried plant.... roots look ok to me, not mushy or smelly, or disfigured src>

Base of dead plant with new growth??src>

Sedum doing the same thing:
#4 Sedum is doig same thing; lower leaves turning yellow then brown.... this was pretty full a month ago, now stems are weak and falling off around plant...src>

Salvia just starting to show signs of...whatever it is that's killing them.... src>
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
The more I think about this, I'm beginning to think it's the fact that I didn't amend the soil, and the clay is preventing them from getting enough water and they're shriveling up. Does that make sense?

When i dug the dead one up, i checked the others and the leaves are literally *crackling* when you touch them, they're so dry. And this is AFTER I left the soaker hose on low, for a full 9-10 hours in this bed overnight on Thursday, coz I forgot to shut it off when i went to work that nite. :( I have a few annuals in the very front of this bed (and the ground slopes slightly downward from the front of the house to the flower bed) that are doing fine...maybe because they have such shallow roots and can utilize the water??

And I *have* noticed when i turn on the soaker, that it doesn't take long at all for the water to start running out the front of the bed.... when it *should* be going down *into* the bed..... another clay issue??
jean001
13 years ago
Well, even though I can't see your images, I'd suggest that the May Night received excess water and rotted the roots. Once roots die, the top wilts & browns just as if the ground is dry.

Don't know where you live, but hereabouts, where our summers our dry, I never watered my May Night after the first year.
taz6122
13 years ago
Your location might help but I agree with jean that it's root rot. That was the original point I was getting at. The clay soil is causing standing water which the roots are soaking in for too long. A soil amendment is in order. On top of amending the soil I use a rock bar to penetrate deep where I place each plant so that the roots will go even deeper than the ground had been worked.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
teejay, the only way you'll answer your questions about the behavior of your soil is to do some hands-on research (so to speak). You'll need to dig down into the area to see for yourself about water infiltration at the root level.

It wouldn't be out of the question for a soil to become water repellent, I've seen it many times. But clay soil is better known for its water holding capability.

I have very hard clay soil, and have no problems growing anything. Once you learn to work with the soil rather than against it, it's pretty easy.
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
Taz: sorry, i should have known id forget something..... LOL Zone 7a, mid-TN..... first floods, then droughts. :P

You're probably correct re: root rot... i have a tendency to over-compensate, and water plants a *lot*. Will be digging into the soil today, figured I might as well correct my mistake in not amending the soil b4 i go any further..... and have decided to ditch the landscape fabric, just don't like having to work around it and too hard to change the bed after it's down. It's been down for a few months so maybe it killed most of the weeds already. LOL!
teejay2039
Original Author
13 years ago
Taz: what is a rock bar?

Rhizo: hmm, that makes sense. I amended a small section last night and noticed the soils *was* pretty moist, even 6-8" down.....and all clay. Amendments to be started today....
taz6122
13 years ago
It's a steel bar used to break rocks. A necessity around here in AR if you're digging with hand tools. Mine is 6' and weighs somewhere around 30-35 pounds.