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v1rt

911 call from my ng impatiens(pics)

v1rt
14 years ago

I need help very badly. It's my first time to own an impatiens annual. I purchased it last week. It was really beautiful at the time of purchase. However, today, the green leaves are turning red and some are brown like what you see on pic. Other leaves are drooping.

Right now, it's still on the plastic pot. I just put it on my urn. It's in front of the house which is facing east. So it gets morning sun until maybe 12 or 1pm.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Comments (7)

  • MrImpatiens
    14 years ago

    My guess would be too much sun. They look as though they are burning. The leaves turning red is normal will they get lots of light. If your plant was in a very shaded area at the nursery the leaves will adapt for that but when put in too light they will burn. The older leaves look as though they are the only ones affected and these would have been used to the shade and would be the first to burn as they have a larger surface area to be affected.

  • v1rt
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    When I saw it at Home Depot, it was directly underneath a 5 level shelf. So light was indirect. Do you think it's getting too much sun or could it be that the old leaves are not use too it? If latter, I can keep it at the same location and see how the new leaves are going to perform.

    Should I remove them from plastic pot and put them directly to my urn? Also, is water on the leaves and flowers bad for this plant? I noticed something the other day when the water dried. My guess is that the water acted like a magnifying glass then it burned it.

    Thanks!

  • v1rt
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I forgot to ask, is it true that we don't need to deadhead impatiens, they just keep on blooming?

  • oilpainter
    14 years ago

    No you don't need to deadhead impatiens. Yes water on leaves of any plant in the hot sun will cause damage like yours but with impatiens it is more so.

    The same as you sunburn easier when wet, so do plants. That's why gardeners always say water in early morning or early evening so the plants don't sunburn. Early evening so the plants have a chance to dry off before nightfall when wet plants can cause fungal diseases.

    As for removing it from the pot--as long as the pot has drainage holes it's Ok.

  • mona2
    14 years ago

    Looks like you have yours in a pretty bright spot in direct sun. I bought the same exact kind and it says no direct sun. I planted mine under a birch tree which gets shade most of the day except for a short time in the morning and I am noticing that the older blooms seem to be getting scorched looking, not as bad as yours but enough to where it leads me to believe it is still getting more direct sun than it would like. You might consider removing the dead leaves and flowers and moving it to a shady spot. Hope that helps.

  • v1rt
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    The paper said 4-6 hours of sun so I followed it. I put it in my porch which gets morning sun but also gets shade from the column. The gardener from HD told me that they should not receive direct sun. I was able to return it few days ago.

    Yes mona, you are correct. It should be put on a shady spot.

    Thanks everyone!

  • rokal
    14 years ago

    v1rtu0s1ty,

    It looks like your plant got sunburned. It was most likely caused by insufficiently hardening off before setting out in full sun. NG Impatiens can usually handle full sun for me in zone 6b.

    Regards,
    Rokal