![]() ![]() Symptoms All aboveground portions of the plant are attacked. Cool temperatures, high humidity, and free water on plant surfaces favor the disease, as do close plant spacing and irrigation practices that keep plants wet for a longer time. Spores are produced throughout the growing season under a wide range of temperatures and humidity. ![]() Many plant viruses are vectored by small insects, check your plants carefully and treat any you find if you hope to save the non-symptomatic plants in your beds.Greenhouse Plants, Ornamental - Gray MoldĬause The fungus Botrytis cinerea is an opportunistic pathogen that easily invades weak, damaged, or senescent tissue such as cotyledons, young stems, and young leaves. If you suspect virus in your plants, use extra caution when pruning or working with the plants to slow the spread of disease. Unfortunately, petunia viruses cannot be cured. Viruses: Several viruses affect petunias, causing leaves to develop yellow spots, mosaics, halos, or bullseyes. In some areas, the soil can be heated enough through soil solarization to kill the fungal pathogen. There is no cure for verticillium wilt, so pull your plants and try again in pots. Verticillium Wilt: Verticillium wilt causes an overall decline in plant vigor, often causing older leaves to wilt before younger ones, or only part of a plant to die at first. Powdery mildew can be treated with neem oil, but you should also correct the conditions allowing this disease to get a foothold. Look for white, powdery spots of spores that spread or cover leaves and flowers completely. Powdery Mildew: Powdery mildew doesn’t need soaking wet conditions to thrive, but often appears where plants are spaced too tightly, obstructing airflow. Prune out any diseased sections of your plants and pick up fallen debris drying out the bed should prevent re-infestation. Again, this disease is favored by wet bedding conditions, so let up on the watering when it appears. Often, it’s easier to pull plants and start over early in the season.īotrytis Blight: Botrytis blight may cause spots or other discoloration on flowers and leaves that eventually sprout brown-grey spores. Correcting the drainage and watering less frequently is the only solution if an affected petunia can be saved at all. Leaves wilt despite regular watering and stems may begin to soften. Root, Stem, and Crown Rots: Root, stem, and crown rots commonly affect petunias planted in areas of poor drainage or that are chronically overwatered. Petunia Diseasesīelow are common diseases affecting petunia plants: Neem oil or insecticidal soap will knock them out in a few thorough weekly sprays. Thrips: Thrips can carry viruses to petunias and may cause leaves to turn papery or flowers to develop white spots, known as “color break.” They can be difficult to see, but look like very tiny, fat ants when running around on your plants. The best solution is to remove them by hand and drown them in a bucket of water daily, but if you can’t bring yourself to do it, sprays of Bacillus thuringiensis applied weekly should knock them out quickly. They’re easy to see if you pick through thick foliage. Spray your petunias with neem oil once a week until all signs of mites are gone.Ĭaterpillars: Caterpillars chew through foliage and buds, sometimes causing extensive damage in no time. Spider mites also leave thin webs behind where they feed. These cousins to the spider may cause leaves to curl, cup, or flowers to discolor and stiffen. Mites: Mites are nearly microscopic pests that suck the juices directly out of petunia cells. There are a number of pests of petunias that can affect these plants. Read carefully through the list of common petunia flower issues to learn how to treat petunias ailing from a variety of causes. These tough flowers tolerate a lot of abuse and neglect, though pests and diseases can create problems with growing petunias. Whether spilling out of baskets and boxes or filling the fronts of beds with their bright flowers, petunias make every space a little more merry. ![]()
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