My flowers ;(~

[hillsdown]

Something happened to my Tidal Wave Petunias , I have no clue. :???: The only thing different is that we got hail the other night but have never seen them speckle like this especially just the one pot . Any thoughts are very much appreciated .
Thank you

these are the spots that just showed up tonight, they were not there earlier today.

Then this is the other pot beside them same plant but no speckles .

 

[upfrombottom]

They kinda look like my bluejeans after I wash clothes.

 

[Beefy]

whatdya do, pressure wash the porch with some bleach?

 

[hillsdown]

Didn't do anything to them. :( Could an animals urine do this ,as I heard a very strange sound last night around 3am and it sounded like it was coming from around our deck. Almost like a squawking screechy squeal, but not an owl or a fox. Totally confused, I sure hope they do not die on me now .

Btw I think something is eating my begonias too.

 

[Beefy]

naw something is chewing on your petunia flowers. snails or slugs or maybe some insect or worm.

 

[hillsdown]

No slugs here that I have seen .
What about ants ,our ants are horrible and I use DE where I can but lately it seems they are immune to them . What can I spray my flowers with that will not hurt the hummers or the bees ? Thanks Beefy .

 

[Beefy]

i dont really know. sometimes i have petunias taht get sun scorched and they look like that old faded flower near the top middle. these spots look more concise like something just ate the pigment off of the flower and then moved to a new spot and fed whereas a fertilizer burn wouldnt be as "spotty". also, i notice that the spotted petunia leaves appear to have some webs on it and the normal one doesnt, although petunias are naturally a little fuzzy anyway. those might be aphid webs, and the spots may be where ladybugs ate the aphids/eggs?

 

[Beefy]

you better put out a few cans of beer just in case it is slugs and just ignore any thumps or belches you might hear in the night..

 

[hillsdown]

you better put out a few cans of beer just in case it is slugs and just ignore any thumps or belches you might hear in the night..

:lol:

Will do . :tiphat:

 

[alisonb]

Perhaps thrips or google 'jumping genes - petunias'??

 

[hillsdown]

Perhaps thrips or google 'jumping genes - petunias'??

Thanks Alison, I googled it. Strange if that is it as I bought 5 trays of them and only the 5 plants in this one pot have the spots. I coated them and my begonias with Ant Out as I lost another begonia over night. Will see if that helps, irks me as begonias are $5.00 a plant and I have lost 4 now :( Bad enough our season is so short and now I am losing them half way through .

 

[TexasBred]

HD check out this link. Looks like your flowers. Click on the pic and enlarge it.

http://myfolia.com/journals/106917-the- ... a?from=rss

 

[hillsdown]

HD check out this link. Looks like your flowers. Click on the pic and enlarge it.

http://myfolia.com/journals/106917-the- ... a?from=rss

That is them TB , but no one was blowing bubbles here lol.

 

[wbvs58]

I like the look of the speckled ones, it gives a bit of contrast.
Ken

 

[Gale Seddon]

How curious...have you tried removing the speckled blossoms and seeing if the new ones are also speckled? Know any master gardeners up your way? If I see one of those people at the farmer's market this Saturday, I'll try to remember and ask.

 

[hillsdown]

How curious...have you tried removing the speckled blossoms and seeing if the new ones are also speckled? Know any master gardeners up your way? If I see one of those people at the farmer's market this Saturday, I'll try to remember and ask.

Thanks Gale i would appreciate that. :)

I stopped worrying about them when they didn't die, as now most of my pots have some speckled in them as well. Right now I am just glad the rain and now all the hail hasn't pummeled the flowers thus far.

 

[Gale Seddon]

hillsdown, I checked with the master gardeners at the farmer's market. Of course, they'd like to have a sample (which they would send to VA Tech, who is VERY thorough in their responses). I said that probably wasn't possible.

They had three thoughts:
1) A fungus of some sort?
2) Wave petunias are a 'fairly' new variety and this might be their means of reverting back somehow; I have seen this happen with phlox, which always seems to turn out purple.
3) They didn't think bubble juice would be responsible for this.

If you have any university nearby or access to master gardeners, you could call or perhaps send photos, maybe they could help diagnose the problem.

Got a tiny brainstorm just now and found this:

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortis ... ptunia.htm

Wish I had a definitive answer for you!

 

[hillsdown]

hillsdown, I checked with the master gardeners at the farmer's market. Of course, they'd like to have a sample (which they would send to VA Tech, who is VERY thorough in their responses). I said that probably wasn't possible.

They had three thoughts:
1) A fungus of some sort?
2) Wave petunias are a 'fairly' new variety and this might be their means of reverting back somehow; I have seen this happen with phlox, which always seems to turn out purple.
3) They didn't think bubble juice would be responsible for this.

If you have any university nearby or access to master gardeners, you could call or perhaps send photos, maybe they could help diagnose the problem.

Got a tiny brainstorm just now and found this:

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortis ... ptunia.htm

Wish I had a definitive answer for you!

WOW thanks Gale for all of that . I added your last link to my favorites.
The petunias are now all solid in color again, very strange. You know with all the rain we have had I really was considering acid rain maybe having an adverse effect on them. :(

They sure are spreading out though , more that ever .They usually look like that in mid August and I was at least 3 weeks late planting them. What a crazy year ,I guess crazy things have too happen too then. If they spot again I will take them in to a horticulturist so we all can get an answer. Thanks again so much for you help ,really appreciate it . ALL of you that have responded ... :tiphat:

 

[LutherC]

Your flowers are so beautiful. I especially love the intense color of them. Yesterday I found cheap flowers with the same color online which I will definitely order. I hope that I will get them tomorrow and if I have them I will post a picture here. It is the first time that I order flowers online. Has anyone here already tried it?

 

[hillsdown]

Thank you Luther , they have really filled out since the pics. I don't really mind spending all that money for flowers ,as it makes the winters much more endurable . Wish our summers were a little longer though.

We also trimmed those Juniper bushes right down last summer ,and they are back even bigger than before.

Btw if Beefy is reading this, we do have slugs I found them eating my swiss chard a few days ago :( Good thing we usually have beer on hand :lol: