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leaves shriveled up!

17 years ago

Please help! I found a number of irregular holes in many of my garden perennials (as well as in some of the flower petals). Not knowing what was causing this, I sprayed all the leaves of each plant with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and water. All plants seem ok except for the 3 beautiful bleeding hearts which I just planted this year. The day after I sprayed - the leaves on the bleeding heart planted were all wilted and shriveled. Have I killed the plant forever or will it come back next year? Also, should I cut it down to the crown now or just remove the leaves or what? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

Comments (4)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
There are a number of plants that are sensitive to soap sprays, home-made or commercial insecticidal soaps. Dicentra (bleeding heart) is just one of many. A label on a commercial brand would have likely listed the 'do not spray' plants, but you take your chances when making home brews.
chryscraft
Original Author
17 years ago
Now that I have learned that from experience, what does the future hold for my bleeding heart plants? Will they come back next year? Should I remove the leaves? Should I cut it down to the crown of the plant?
What is the best thing to do?

Appreciate all advice!
Thank you
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
I'm afraid that I can't speak to what you should do with your plant at this point. I've never lived in a climate where I could grow Dicentra.

However, I will tell you that a healthy, established plant should be able to take this kind of treatment come back eventually. I cannot tell you if you should cut it back at this time of the year. Hopefully, someone else will jump in and help out!
botanybob
17 years ago
If your Dicentra was well established, it should put out new leaves and do fine. You may not see them until next year, but maybe some growth this year. The soap only burns what it comes in contact with and the roots are OK. It shouldn't make any difference whether you remove the leaves or not, it is merely cosmetic cleanup at this point.

Holes in leaves are usually caused by chewing insects, like grasshoppers and caterpillars, or slugs. Soap sprays are effective on smaller, soft-bodied insects like aphids and mites. The lesson I see in this experience is you need to diagnose first, then treat. Applying a treatment without understanding the problem is unlikely to provide any benefit, and sometimes causes other problems. Soap is fairly benign and only causes temporary injury. What really gets me going is when people spray strong pesticides without knowing what the problem is.

If you need help figuring out a plant problem, you can get help from your county extension office, nurseries, and garden clubs. Critters chewing holes in leaves usually are pretty easy to spot, although sometimes they feed at night and you have to go hunting with a flashlight.

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