Cardinal Fan Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Every year for over 20 years I have had beautiful inpatients on my deck. About 2 weeks ago it looks like something ate the blooms off of them. Now there are no flowers at all and they look terrible. I put some slug and snail stuff in them, but they are ruined. What could it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Have just the flowers been picked off or are the leaves being eaten as well? If the leaves are being nibbled it is probably caterpillars or slugs. Any slime trails around? Squirrels and birds will pick off the flowers. Squirrels will bite of the tops of the plant and will often leave it on the ground. Deer and rabbits also like impatience but they do more damage than you seem to be describing. Deer or notorious for eating the buds off roses and daylilies. Do you have a cat? Japanese beetles will also destroy flowers but I'm not sure that they like impatience and you would surely see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 If you have mites on the impatiens you won't see any obvious evidence but the leaves will yellow and just fall off. It's getting pretty late in the season (unless we don't get a frost) but if they're not too far gone then give them a dose of fish emulsion and spray with an all purpose insect spray. Be sure to get the bottoms of the leaves too. You might see enough improvement to enjoy them for a few more weeks. There's also a Downey Mildew that can make them into skeletons of what they were. Impatiens can be a pain to grow and will succumb to a host of things if they have any sort of stressor. http://www.ballpublishing.com/growertalks/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=18921 I have to do my gorgeous basket of Million Bells (another thing that likes to die in August) that Valley Rainbow is kind of famous for (12 kinds in one big basket) because I've let them go too dry too many times and forgot to feed them at the beginning of August. If I take care of them now I'll be they get beautiful again before they're done for the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Most insecticidal sprays do not kill mites because they are not insects. You will need a miticide or a soap or oil which smothers them. Mites are darned hard to get rid of. Better hope it is a critter eating your flowers. You can at least move the pot or see if throwing a piece of netting over it helps. Slugs are indeed bad this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borninabarn Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I have had what they call a"Humming Bird Moth" eating the flowers off mine ...they come out at night an only seem to eat the flowers...if you check them out on line it won't say they eat the flowers....but....I have watched them do it for the last two years...they also like my petunias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIM307 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 My impatients had a similar thing happen this year. In fact, I just pulled them last night. They looked too sickly to leave them in my beds. I thought slugs at first too, but the leaves weren't really eaten, just gone. I had a lot of spindly stems left. I first noticed the flowers were gone after a big thunderstorm a few weeks ago and they just went down hill from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilb3314 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I usually have them in my porch boxes and they do well, but mine did nothing but die this year also, just thought too much heat and not enough water, but maybe there is something else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Fan Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Thanks for all the help! I have never in 20 years had a problem with my impatients. 5 flower boxes full and all that is left is strangling stems. A couple of them do look like skeletons, but most of them are just flowereless, but the leaves remained. Can't be deer or rabbits because the deck is up too high. I have seen slugs and Japenese beetles this year on my deck. What's up with this summer any way? This is by far the worst year ever for all my flowers, the petunias didn't get real full, all my flowers did poorly and I always have had beautiful flowers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I have had what they call a"Humming Bird Moth" eating the flowers off mine ...they come out at night an only seem to eat the flowers...if you check them out on line it won't say they eat the flowers....but....I have watched them do it for the last two years...they also like my petunias. I don't think this is what you mean? http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/hummingbird_moth.htm Can you describe what is actually chewing on your plants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 A lot of the impatiens that came out of greenhouses this year had Downey Mildew plus other diseases. That's what I mentioned before. Grow your own and keep the plants healthier. Do any of these pictures look like your plants? http://www.google.com/search?q=Impatiens+Downy+Mildew&hl=en&sa=X&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=JFAuUJm3OfLM6QGBhoH4Dw&ved=0CFMQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=595 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIM307 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 That's exactly what mine look like, especially this pictures without the visible white mildew. I went to a local greenhouse this year. I normally get mine from the Brockway FFA kids but their greenhouse wasn't open the weekend I wanted to plant. Lesson learned. I'm heading back to the kids next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The hot weather has caused a proliferation of problems that we rarely see in the garden. We're getting insects and bugs that we rarely see. Powdery mildew has been a problem with the bee balm and phlox this year because of the dry weather. I've had a number of people call me with that problem. The best thing that you can probably do for powdery mildew is keep the plants well watered, hose down the leaves and make sure that you have good air circulation. Planting mildew proof varieties where they exist is also a good idea. Downy mildew, on the other hand, is encouraged by damp cool conditions. It usually isn't a problem in hot dry weather.It is water born so anything you can do to keep the plant dry will discourage it. Water only in the morning so the leaves can dry our and thin the plants for good air circulation. The bad news with downy mildew is that it overwinters in the soil so you might want to get some new soil for your pots. Powdery mildew is airborne and overwinters in living tissue. Impatiens are susceptiblel to both so unless you know which you have treatment is next to impossible although fungicides will help, just not the same one for each. Telling the difference without a microscope is probably difficult. I believe that you are more likely to see powdery mildew in the New Guinea impatiens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Fan Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 My impatients had a similar thing happen this year. In fact, I just pulled them last night. They looked too sickly to leave them in my beds. I thought slugs at first too, but the leaves weren't really eaten, just gone. I had a lot of spindly stems left. I first noticed the flowers were gone after a big thunderstorm a few weeks ago and they just went down hill from there. Yes!!! Right after the storm, they went down hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Fan Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 I looked in the flower boxes today and there is a whitish moldy looking webbing covering the dirt by the impatients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Webbing may mean Spider Mites but that would be on the backs of the leaves. Do you have a good magnifying glass? http://www.ehow.com/how_6054527_control-spider-mites-impatiens.html Near the soil? Check this out: http://www.negreenhouseupdate.info/index.php/diseases/860-impatiens-rhizoctonia-web-blight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Fan Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 I will check tomorrow, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 White webbing on the soil is often mycellium, the vegetative body of a fungus. They are most common under wet conditions in soil with a high organic content. They don't hurt the plant but they may indicate that you are over watering. While I have seen spider mite webbing on the soil in house plants that are badly infested it is unusual. The webbing from spider mites is fairly insubstantial and you aren't going to find it on the soil and not on the plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borninabarn Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I don't think this is what you mean? http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/hummingbird_moth.htm Can you describe what is actually chewing on your plants? Hummingbird Moth's....I watch them All the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Do you see the caterpillers from this insect chewing on the plants at night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Humming bird moths are so charming that I think I'd be willing to sacrifice a few plants to them. We've got tons of them sipping away at the evening primrose at night. Wish I was good enough with a camera to get a picture. The caterpillars were very fond on the bedstraw that grew wild in my herb garden. Most of it has been weeded out now so I'm not sure what they are eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 They are in my front garden all the time and they don't even fly away when I move to within a foot of them. They just go on drinking nectar from the same flowers that the Hummingbirds do. Years ago I found one dead sitting on a cast iron skillet that I had put out on the deck to dry thoroughly and gave it to a couple of girls who were making an insect collection. I think one of them works in the Entomology Lab at Penn State now. It gave me a chance to really look it over closely. I always thought they resembled flying lobsters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourthwardmommy Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Every time I see this thread I read it "bare implants" lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I won't even tell you about some of the things I misread! I read this one as "impatience". Thought someone was in a hurry for ripe tomatoes or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 http://extension.psu.edu/greenindustry/news/2012/alert-whats-up-with-the-impatiens-this-year?utm_campaign=Green+Industry+News&utm_medium=email&utm_source=http://extension.psu.edu/greenindustry/news/newsletter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickylh1 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Every time I see this thread I read it "bare implants" lol I thought it said Bare INPATIENTS !....... ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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