Help...lisianthus.

Bought these lisianthus and they looked great for the first week and then they started looking like this. Too much water, too little water, no enough fertilization????

here is another

Looks like a watering issue to me, I'm thinking too little water, but the symptoms of too much and too little are often pretty similar. Can you give us some info on what type of soil you have, how often have you been watering, have you been having a lot of rain lately, etc?

I have clay soil. There have been quick thunder storms once a week since I planted. I have tested the soil to see if it was moist enough but I guess I did not water these deeply enough after I planted???

Have you been watering them at all besides the thunderstorms? Plants that have been planted fairly recently need to be watered fairly frequently, even in clay soil. And if the thunderstorms have only been once a week and they've been quick and it's been hot and sunny in between, then I bet they're not getting enough. Or on the other hand, if you've been watering them a lot between thunderstorms then it could be too much water too! You should try sticking your finger down a couple inches into the soil and see what it feels like--if it's still moist then you shouldn't water yet, but if it feels pretty dry then give them a good drink.

It appears like symptoms of "transplant shock" to me.

Nat,

I have worked in garden centers and big box stores with plants for a long, long time, and I have yet to see a Lisianthus continue to thrive once it has been delivered by the growers. I don't know what it is, but the blooms just start rotting out and dropping off. It is a given!
The plants themselves start drooping and they look "wilted", but it is not (usually) lack of water, but too much water. I have yet to really find out WHAT their horticultural needs are outside of the grower's Greenhouses!

The only thing i can suggest is that you cut back all the bad stems and then let the plant re-grow in YOUR environment under YOUR conditions. Sometimes that works. (This same advice goes for Gloxinias.....)
I know Lisianthus like sun, good drainage and some support--as their stems are a bit on the weak side. I LOVE them and they are beautiful---BUT..........I will never buy this plant because of all these problems. They are NOT cheap!

I hope some of this helps. Please keep me updated.

Gita

This message was edited Jul 31, 2007 11:28 PM

Maybe it's a climate thing--I never had problems with mine at my old house, they continued to look great after I planted them. The time of year that you plant them really makes a difference though, if you plant them (or a lot of other things) in the summer, they're going to suffer like that for a while because the stress of transplanting plus the stress of hot summer sun beating down on them is a lot for plants to deal with.

That makes a alot of sense. I bought them 40% off and they looked great and I planted them in a sunny spot...watered every three days. Some are doing better with bit more watering with a bit of miracle grow. Some...just were to sad and appeared to have root rot. I have been able to salvage about 5 of the 8 I bought.

Maybe planting in the middle of summer on the sunniest side of my property was a bit too much stress.
Thanks for the tips...