Zinnias wilting and drying

13 years ago

Hello All,

My Zinnias were bright and beautiful till four days ago. Below is the description of the chain of events that led to the current wilting and drying status of my zinnia plants.

Three days ago: Looked like the Zinnia plants suffered from sun-stroke. There leaves and flowers were slightly wilted. Some of the leaves were crispy (green but dry and brittle). When I watered the plants, within an hour all the plants looked mostly happy. I changed the place of the container to a spot where there would be some shade in the afternoon.

The-day-before-yesterday: Zinnia container was out in the new location for the whole day but when I checked on them in the evening, their leaves and flowers were wilted again. I watered them well and soon (within an hour or so), most of the plants had resurrected themselves. I deadheaded some stalks and removed some pale/dry leaves. Then I transplanted the zinnias to a self-watering container to make sure that they don't wilt due to lack of water.

Yesterday: Slightly wilted plants with somewhat burnt/browned leaves. I therefore, cut the leaves that I felt were not going to grow back. Some of the leaves at the bottom of the plant looked rotten as well (may be due to over-watering on the previous day?). I read about zinnia diseases online and felt that it could also be powdery mildew or blight that might be affecting the plant. I did some more pruning and set the plant back in a sunny spot. The plants looked sparse but still seemed to have enough leaves.

Today: Wilting and drying plants - the plants look almost dead.

I am attaching a current picture of the zinnia plants.

Has anyone been in a similar situation with zinnias? Did your plant grow back?

Thanks for any advise that you can give!

Best Regards,
Auriga

Featured Answer

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

13 years ago

tip it out of the pot.. and find out how congested the root mass is ...

if the media can not hold enough water... for the entire day ... because there are so many roots in the pot.. there MIGHT be your water issue ... a failure of your potting medium ...

cant tell how big the pot is...

was it fresh media this year.. or old ...

and how many plants were in the pot... hard to tell since you already whacked it down ...

and why are you messing with pots???? versus mother earth .... you might be making it a lot harder than it ought to be.. but i suspect its your housing type.. and you have no option ...

many purchased pots.. are forced for immediate gratification .. meaning a lot of plants jammed into a rather small pot ... and sometimes.. just too many ... for the amount of media there ...

more info please ...

ken

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Comments (8)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
13 years ago
Zinnias are true annuals, very short-lived. This sounds like way too much of an ordeal for zinnia plants to handle, the drying, the moving, the repotting, then the self-watering (which really means sure-to-overwater) pot probably finished off the weakened plants. Looks like the Jasmine is ready to be the star of this pot.

In TX, you should still have plenty of time to grow more zinnias from seed, if you can find the seeds at this point. I have the best luck when they are scattered on the ground, and live their lives undisturbed. You may find some viable seeds on the flowers you have there. Zinnia flowers don't need to turn brown and crispy to have ready seeds.
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gz08
10 years ago
I have a similar problem with mine, because I planted it in the ground which is constantly moist, and it started to wilt and I have had to water it daily so it doesnt continue to die. It is most likely disturbed too much after transplanting and needs time to grow. Typically what happens is the plant may die back but then produces new growths from the base which then grow into new plants. Its what happened to me last year with my Lavender Gem Zinnias.
donna_in_sask
10 years ago
^That's the problem...overwatering leads to root rot, which wilts the plant and you think it needs water...
Andrea Diaz
9 years ago
Same thing happened to me! Well my zinnias we're in a pot that was to small ,they were big and beautiful but I decided to transplant them to bigger pot they were doing good that day an the next morning but at afternoon they were dead exactly like the picture you put.. .I wonder why they died they were so beautiful!!
zen_man
9 years ago
Andrea,

Zinnias can survive in small pots.
But they need to be re-potted to pots that allow a root volume comparable to the above ground plant size. My guess is you accidentally broke or damaged the stem or the main taproot when you re-potted them.

ZM
Billie Griffith
6 years ago
My zinnia’s was was nice and pretty out in full sun and then we moved them cause they got bigger then we thought they would. Well anyways they now wilt up at night and they are pretty as ever in the morning. I don’t know what we did wrong. But they are still out in the full sun just moved to a different spit. Anyone have any ideas?
zen_man
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Hi Billie,

" I don’t know what we did wrong. But they are still out in the full sun just moved to a different spot. Anyone have any ideas? "

Well, I take it that you transplanted them from one in-ground spot to another in-ground spot. In which case, there would have been considerable unavoidable pruning of their root systems. Zinnia root systems tend to get bigger than their above-ground bushes outdoors where there are no underground barriers. If you are watering and fertilizing them, they are quickly adding to their root systems. I feed my zinnias with Miracle-Gro soluble Tomato Food. The Tomato Food is a fairly complete formula, and has an extra amount of Magnesium (a component of Chlorophyll). I grow and breed zinnias as a hobby, and I have obtained some interesting variations on the zinnia flower form.

My "secret" is to hand-pollinate hybrids between hybrids.

ZM (not associated with any product mentioned)