I have 11 phlox paniculata plants growing in pots for a month or so since
they were delivered as smallish bare-rooted plants. In most ways they appear
to be doing well. Most are now about a foot high or nearly so. I was planning
to plant them in the garden but now I'm not so sure. Two small plants look
normal but the other 9 which are bigger all have this strange phenomenon- the
leaves are all crinkled. In other words the leaves undulate- the overall
outside dimensions of the leaves reman the same, so the leaves retain the
usual outline and shape. But its as if there has been more leaf growth within
that outline and so the surface is undulating/crinkled as that extra growth
has to go somewhere. I'm more confident with houseplants and if this was a
pelargonium or a begonia I'd say- that's a virus- and I'd dispose of them. I
certainly don't want to plant these out in the garden until I'm certain this
isn't a virus or other transmissible problem. If I let loose a phlox virus in
the soil and could never plant phlox there in the future that would not be a
good outcome! Any ideas on what is causing this, and whether I need to get
rid of the plants?

I also have some small non-hardy trailing fuchsias, also in pots, now
situated a few feet away that on close inspection have a similar problem-
crinkling of the leaves- but more uneven- but only around the top few leaves,
and which are beset with greenfly, also around the tops. The top leaves
actuallu look rather deformed by this. These only went outdoors a couple of
weeks ago prior to which I did not notice a problem, but that doesn't mean
there wasn't one. With these I thought the unusual crinkled appaearance might
just be the result of greenfly predation on the growing tips. But now that
I've noticed the phlox have a similar look all over I'm wondering if there
might be somethng that has passed from one to the other. Maybe I should just
trash them all (phlox and fuchsias) and be safe! I have too many young plants
to deal with at the moment so I don't NEED to save these and wouldn't want to
if it is unwise in such circumstances.

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

I haven't a lot of time, apologies for any inaccuracies -first thoughts.
Aphid damage gives a lot of plants a crinkly appearance-I notice it in
outdoor fuchsias and indoors in
I don't think a virus infection could be transferred from phlox to fuchsias.
Phlox related to or part of the brasicca family might suffer from molydenum
defiiency which causes whiptail and this could result from their having
spent too long in a peat based compost.
They should recover in an average garden soil in the UK-Mo deficiency is
mainly seen in cauliflowers in this country, where it is countered by adding
lime.It happens to be a serious problem in NewZealand South Island where
large areas have been treated to enable native tussock grasses to be
replaced by more nutritious European species.
I wouldn't recommend adding lime to a flower border, an average soils should
do the trick and the problem should go away.
Regards

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 13:17:14 +0100, david taylor wrote
(in message ):

I haven't a lot of time, apologies for any inaccuracies -first thoughts.
Aphid damage gives a lot of plants a crinkly appearance-I notice it in
outdoor fuchsias and indoors in
I don't think a virus infection could be transferred from phlox to fuchsias.
Phlox related to or part of the brasicca family might suffer from molydenum
defiiency which causes whiptail and this could result from their having
spent too long in a peat based compost.
They should recover in an average garden soil in the UK-Mo deficiency is
mainly seen in cauliflowers in this country, where it is countered by adding
lime.It happens to be a serious problem in NewZealand South Island where
large areas have been treated to enable native tussock grasses to be
replaced by more nutritious European species.
I wouldn't recommend adding lime to a flower border, an average soils should
do the trick and the problem should go away.
Regards


Thanks for that. I took another look this evg- the phlox upper leaves seem in
some cases to be looking quite deformed now, which is a new development,
since before the crinkling was pretty uniform and symmetrical. Prior to
reading the above I was all set to trash them but since they are sitting
there in peat-based compost as described above I think maybe I'll repot them
in something bigger in garden soil (or john innes) and see if that helps. The
way they look at the moment I'm reluctant to put them into the ground! BTW
the phlox and the fuchsias seem to be converging in appearance, looking more
and more like each other with their asymmetrical crinkling and (now)
twisting.... However the fuchsias in question are all now somewhat
under-potted for their size; hmmm.

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

In article m, VX
writes
I'll repot them
in something bigger in garden soil (or john innes) and see if that helps.

I wouldn't do that. I have a friend who is a plant pathologist and he
identified the same virus in my phlox. The only thing you can do is to
take the whole lot up and burn them. He advised that they should not be
composted. Also don't plant phlox in the same soil. HTH

--
Judith Lea