Echinacea Problem...Help Needed

19 years ago

This problem has happened both last year and this year. I have loads of coneflowers planted in the front and the side yards...and this only happens in the front bed.

Last year I planted Kim's Knee High...6 plants. 1 survived. I stuck in 6 Twilight and moved the Kim. 5 have survived.

Symptoms...plants come up. Green. Good shape. Getting buds. Some stalks on one (or more in the case of Kim's) plant begin to wilt as if they were underwatered. (They were not) Soon the wilt turns to a brown stalk and shrivels up and dies. The buds have continued to try to pink up. Soon more stalks get the same way on the same plant until almost or all of the plant is a shriveled, dry, brown mess. A girlfriend said she had the same problem and put Diazinon Granules (which I would be loathe to use) and slug bait granules around her's this year and they are fine. I see no evidence of insect infestation OR slug/grub problems.

NEW SYMPTOM: 2 of the 5 remaining Echinaceas that are in bloom or in bud have suddently lost a few buds. They are simply laying in the mulch aside of the plant and are removed from the plant as neatly as if a scissors or knife had cut them off. I immediately suspected my grandsons having experienced this with my son (My peonies' buds had black ants and his solution to ant removal was to cut off the offending buds) but they deny having any responsibility. Again, I do not see any signs of insects.

Anybody have any ideas???

Thanks!

Robin

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Comments (6)

entling
19 years ago
For Symptom #2 I have a guess - critters! Either rabbit or squirrel, they cut off the blossoms for some unknown reason. Try a hot pepper wax spray or something like Plantskydd. That should solve that problem.
highalttransplant
19 years ago
That happened to one of my echinacea 'Sundown's last week, but we don't have any rabbits or squirrels in this area, so I am pretty sure it was deer. That same night they ate quite a few buds on my daylilly plants, which they like almost as much as my tulips : (

I have a problem with a couple of mine in one flower bed where the leaves turn almost black. I keep pulling off the affected leaves, but it seems to spread anyway. I've looked at pictures of powdery mildew, but this doesn't look like that. Maybe I can post a pic. of one of the leaves. One of the plants is still putting out new leaves, the other one seems to be putting all of its energy into blooming.
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rsmallen
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks...rabbits are probably the culprit. We have a TON of them in the development !!
Robin
ctopher_mi
19 years ago
Are you sure this spot is dry enough to grow Echinacea? They tend to prefer sandy, well-draining soil and rarely need supplemental watering, usually just the occasional rain is adequate. The symptoms of too much moisture are similar yet worse than not enough water, and that's kind of what it sounds like here. Also, make sure the mulch isn't too thick as it could be holding moisture around the stems.

Check the soil. If it is wet or holds moisture, you might want to try something different here.
rsmallen
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks ctopher. I've considered that as well. And it's possible....I had some new transplants next to them....teeny things...so did the lazy hose watering thing instead of buckets consequently everything got wet. It's only 1 of 6 plants though...and they would all have been overwatered. Still, when I pulled it out last evening finally it came off at the roots...in other words, no root ball came up with the plant. And it was DRY. So I suspect overwater or root rot...or overwatering causing root rot!

Robin
Donna
19 years ago
I have had the blackened stem problems in the past, and believe it was due to poor drainage. If your soil stays loose, over-watering is less likely to cause problems with Echinacea by my experience.

#2: I agree. I sure sounds like critters of some kind. Heaven help us all!