Echinacea Leaves Crinkled + Plants Dying
Guy Manchester
Posts: 8
I got some echinacea plug plants last year which I planted and which seemed to grow ok, although they didn't flower before dying back and going underground for winter. This spring they dutifully all reappeared but their growth seems to be quite stunted and the leaves are all crinkled. One of them has even completely died back again and I'm fearful the same fate will befall the others.
I have a "control sample" as it were - two of the same plants in multipurpose compost in pots - whose leaves are fine and who are generally looking to be in the pink of good health, which is heightening my fears for the ones in the flower beds.
I've tried enlisting the help of the google machine to solve my problem to no avail - except to confirm that the plants don't seem to bear the hallmarks of any of the common diseases that might afflict echi's. I'm therefore thinking it might be something to do with the soil or something in the soil?
The attached photo is the healthiest of them.
Posts
When did the leaves come up? Do you think they might have been affected by the cold snap a few days ago? I've seen some funny damage to foliage this year, probably because the warm spell in early April promoted lush growth followed by a sudden cold spell.
I think it may be a mite of some sort. When you unfurl the leaves are there little critters inside them?
I'd be surprised if it was the cold as I live in Bristol and have a very sheltered garden - it certainly didnt get below zero here in the recent cold snap and my sweet peas weathered the cold spell ok. Plus, if it were the cold that probably would have affected the two I have in pots as badly I imagine.
I can't see any critters on them at all but I'll give them a squirt of the "critter be gone" stuff. I definitley do suffer from critters here, the aforementioned sweet peas made it through winter and were looking like they were about to romp away in early March before a hoard of green fly descended on them and very nearly finished them off!
How weird. It looks like something is affecting the actual plant leaf growth. Did you put a weed and feed nearby? Did you fertilize? Is it near the edge of your property where some chemical might have got into the soil and seeped through from a neighbor?
Green fly damage, but bird or something may have eaten them by now.
The echinaceas are mixed in with other perennials and a few bulbs, none of which are similarly affected so I can't see it being a chemical or weed killer. The aquilegia are positively thriving in amongst them in fact, and the foxgloves seem pretty healthy too. I haven't been fertilising as I thought they were like cornflowers and foxgloves and prefer low nutrient soil? I've gone in with some fertiliser now anyway!
It has been very dry here for weeks now and although I've been watering the bed daily it's still not going to be the same as a good long drenching from above so I'm wondering if they maybe have shallow roots that don't reach down to the water table? I've been watering them more since starting this post anyway - see if that helps. My other thought is that I know I've seen a few Vine Weevil larva in the soil - might they be selective about what roots they target and hone in on the echi's roots?
Aphids, midges or mites, take your pick - literally pick them off rather than spray - it should send up new shoots.