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Petunias stems are hollow and wilted. What could be causing this?

2 years ago

I noticed some petunias leaves were wilted even after watering, and when I cut the wilted branch back it was almost completely hollow, as if something had eaten it from the inside. I looked around and noticed one more petunia and one angelonia showing the same symptoms, but on all of the plants there were only 1 or 2 branches affected. They all look healthy otherwise.

I tried squeezing the stems and looking at the base of the plants, but couldn't find any bugs or larvae. I also google "hollow stems" and couldn't find anything useful. Since I have no idea what is going on, I started spraying them with neem oil regularly but I'd really like to stop this from spreading.

Any ideas what could be the cause?

Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
where are you;.. big city name ...

it looks like a very old tired annual plant.. that is ready to go down for winter ... if so.. based on your location... it just time to pull it out and throw it in the compost pile ...

if you grow them as perennials.. let us know.. and give us a pic of the whole plant ... maybe we can intuit something else ...

ken
Mauricio
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Hi, I'm sorry I didn't include more information. I'm in Brazil, so it's spring here. The plant looks perfectly fine except for those specific branches. What worries me is that today I found another one that is hollow and looking dead as well, so maybe whatever it is, is still there.

I also noticed today that there were several dead black insects on the leaves (I'm assuming that they died from the neem oil application) that looked like tiny flies.
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There's definitely a water-transport issue going on here. Is the soil moist in both the containers and the ground? Yes Grab one of the poorest ones and pull it, then have a look at the roots and lower stem. Look for nubbles along the roots or cankers on the stem. no nubbles or cankers Then take a sharp knife and slice the stem down to the pith right at the soil line. You're looking for brown or black coloration either in the wood or in the pith, hollow stems, or anything else that doesn't look like fresh green healthy plant. all looks green from the inside. The problems appear to go from the outside in. Also check the brown tops. Is it kind of a purplish-brown, or black, or real dirt-brown? Are the new leaves distorted at all? New leaves look absolutely healthy. When I put on my strongest glasses (I have several different pairs from different eye exams over the years) I saw that there appeared to be very tiny holes being made in the leaves that were browning, but not yet crispy. Then I saw tiny, tiny green insects. So would they be the culprets or are they just taking advantage of a sick plant? I feel lousy about this. I usually stand guard over my plants and check them several times every day. But we've had to be out of town a lot these past few months. Thank you for your help.
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windberry zone5a BCCanada
2 years ago
To me your plant looks healthy, the branches probably got broken when transporting. You can do real damage to the plant by overuse of neem oil.
getgoing100_7b_nj
2 years ago
it's Verticillium or Fusarium wilt. Unfortunately it is caused by a fungi that can persist in the potting mix. Sterilizing the mix and starting with uninfected plants (starting from seed yourself in sterile mix?) is the only solution or planting varieties that are resistant. My petunias, snapdragons, torenia pansies and a bunch of other annuals routinely succumb to these fungal infections no matter how hard I try. The roots often look healthy but the stems are hollow, cutting back does not revive the plants; if there are more than one plant in the pot, eventually they all succumb but not at the same time. Not all stems/branches wilt at the same time but once infected the plant will eventually die. Some infections are brought on by warmer weather, others can happen even in cooler weather. The fungi infect the plant through injured roots so the only way to prevent is to reduce or eliminate these fungi from the potting mix, which is easier said than done once they find their way into your garden. I. am probably going to give up on those that repeatedly get infected year after year.

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