Yep -- possible -- I believe they are state fair. They were given to me a while ago this summer so not real tight on the variety. The stems are green - the spots are brown. The picture may not have given a true color due to the lighting of the day. Thanks.

Hello again, Pv,

" The stems are green - the spots are brown. "

The stems look very not-green in your photo.

" I believe they are state fair. "

State Fair is a very old tetraploid zinnia. I grew them once to see if being tetraploid would make them immune to Powdery Mildew. It didn't, so I lost interest in them and stuck with the usual diploid zinnias because they are inter-crossable. Those dark spots look a bit purplish. Maybe that photo's colors are somehow "off".

ZM

The problem with image accuracy on pc's is that true colors are often difficult to achieve. Much variation on my pc to your pc could account for it. In real life, the spots are brown.

I think the grasshopper theory of yours may be the culprit. I have never seen grasshoppers in this yard before and I have never had brown spots on my zinnias. Maybe...thanks again.

I have brown spots on my zinnias every year. They're not on all my zinnias, but a portion of my zinnias have brown spots on them pretty much each year.

:)

Dee

Hello Pv and also Dee,

Actually, purplish-colored spots, such as appear in the big photo above, are fairly common in the various spot diseases that afflict zinnia leaves. Since the spots here do not have white or yellow centers, fungal diseases are eliminated and bacterial leaf spot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. zinniae) is strongly suggested as the causal agent of leaf spot on these zinnias. The symptoms of bacterial leaf spot infection on zinnias are purplish spots that usually remain small but can become angular in shape but do not develop the white or yellow centers typical of fungal infections. The purplish color of the spots in the photo is probably a realistic depiction.

Spray zinnia plants weekly with a copper fungicide following periods of leaf wetness to reduce bacterial disease incidence. Copper fungicides are effective against many bacterial plant diseases.

ZM

Thanks ZM! Too busy (and too late in the season) to do that now, but I will file that away for next season. I'm never without zinnias in my garden!

:)

Dee

Thank you Zen -- I don't recall such a marking on all the year's I've been growing zinnias. I do believe it's the grasshopper group. What happens to them in the winter? I am assuming death due to cold but they must regenerate somehow given a new season the following year.

Hi Pv,

" What happens to them in the winter? I am assuming death due to cold but they must regenerate somehow given a new season the following year. "

You are correct. Here in Kansas, where we have cold Winters (it can and has gone below zero at night) adult grasshoppers freeze to death, and that is typical of cold Winters. In the Fall the adult female grasshoppers lay eggs in a hole in the ground and they survive the Winter as eggs underground. I think in much warmer climates, like Florida and south Texas, adult grasshoppers could routinely survive the Winter.

In my opinion, those purple bacterial "tracks" on your zinnia plant could have been caused by that grasshopper walking with some live bacteria on his or her feet.

ZM

sure could be. Thanks.