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Lupins have died
Hello there. I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for help please. My lupins were fantastic this year. It's the second year for them and this year they were massive. Beautiful large flowers and plenty of them. Once the flowers were finished the plant very rapidly turned brown and died. Is this normal? I'm worried they won't come back next year. Thanks
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It is not normal for them to go brown and die after flowering. Did you water them well during the dry periods? Feed them? Sounds as if the plant put all it's energy into producing the flowers and then collapsed, not good.
Timothy - not sure that is normal. The leaves normally stay green after flowering, and stay like that til autumn
did they go short of water in the recent hot spell?
Thank you for your responses. It was watered regularly between rain and regular watering. Also used miracle grow (soluble powder).......looks as though I may be starting from scratch next year.
Is over watering possible? Lupins are susceptible to crown rot
Our lupins became infested with a horrible white fly all over the stalks and seed heads so I had to cut them all back. It was horrendous. The leaves are still covered in this flaky white stuff. Does anyone know if this is normal? Should I cut it all back further? It didn't happen last year. No nearby plants were affected - i.e. roses, crocosmias, poppies etc, only the lupin.
Do you have a pic wake shine? It's not powdery mildew is it?
There is a lupin aphid wakeshine - never had it here but I've heard it wreaks havoc
worth a google to see if that is the culprit
I have just googled both - thanks Mark56 and Chicky! It was definitely Lupin Aphid!! And it has definitely wreaked havoc. I did not take photos because as soon as I saw it, I got to work chopping it all back. I did not have the time or energy to spray them and scrape them off etc. To be honest I think I may just dig the whole thing out and throw it away? I wonder if it only affects older plants, because the newly planted red lupin next to it was not affected but smaller. The one which was affected is very old and very big. Well not anymore because it's been cut down.
And the sticky substance now all over the leaves - I will try and take a photo, not sure what it is, I don't think it's powdery mildew. The leaves have also been damaged greatly by snails. So what do you think, shall I just dig this one out and chuck it? I will try taking a photo tomorrow.
Last edited: 02 July 2017 22:11:06
I live in Cornwall and our lupins are still blooming! However if yours have gone over they will probably self seed. Can you see seed pods on the plants?
I found the best way to get healthy lupins is to grow from seed, grow on in pots for the following year and plant out the year after.
I survived the lupin aphids last year & this season they are absolutely untouched