early botrytis signs, buds only--what to do?

14 years ago

Hi!

A peony that I planted last year has shot back up out of the ground--it had three beautiful tall, thick stalks with leaves starting up at the tops and no signs of distress anywhere--except the buds. One bud looks plump and ready to go; the other two have crumbled to black dust and are gone.

I know this must be botrytis--although it's odd that it's confined so strictly to the buds; everything else looks fantastic. But this is the same way it started last year.

Question: I know I should remove damaged foliage. How much should I cut off? Dare I nip the tops of the two stalks with the bad buds? Do I take the whole stalks (don't know if I'd have the guts to)?

Last year I spent the whole summer removing leaves slowly and watching my poor plant battle this thing. No flowers.

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Comments (5)

anuparaj
14 years ago
I have the exact same problem. I thought it was because I planted the plans to deep.
Nancy
14 years ago
I've had the problem on young peonies, I think they just have to be mature enough to support buds. I did find info at this site that has some suggestions-planting too deep is one cause.
Anuparaj, if you think they are planted too deep, you might be able to just take some of the soil off the top. August or September is the recommended time to dig peonies in my area, but I've done it carefully in June & they bloomed the following season. I think the site says peonies hate to be moved, I really haven't had that problem unless I divide too small or the peony is very young. I usually have blooms the following season after moving. When getting a new peony, it has taken up to 3 or 4 years to bloom, but that was back when I bought small weak peonies from box stores. They look great now.
I tried to make the link clickable, but GW doesn't seem to accept it as a real link? Maybe you can copy & paste? Hope it works for you
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/flower/why-your-peony-buds-but-never-flowers.htm
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maifleur01
14 years ago
Next time you want to link check right below the message box. Copy and past link in the Optional Link URL box then give it a name as it will not post without one.

In addition peonies really don't care if they are moved ever so often but they are not a plant to move every season the way some gardeners want to do. Peonies do however not reach a mature stage until about 5 years. Some take longer, some shorter depending on type.

A side note about coral colored peonies is that they should be planted in a perminate spot. You can dig and divide all you want to but any root pieces could grow eyes and full roots. There is no guarantee that you can remove all of the root pieces.
singpretty
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow--thanks for the replies! I must have been totally off-base. Last year when the buds shriveled and then the leaves browned throughout the summer I chalked it all up to botrytis--but now I see that there may be more than one factor in play here.

Right now the peony is right at the edge of an evergreen tree's shadow. Sounds like I'd better look into getting it somewhere sunnier... right?

Thanks again!
amulet
14 years ago
I would only cut off the affected parts that have blackened or wilted and maybe a bit below that, as it becomes obvious there is something wrong. That way the plant can still use the uninfected foliage to store food in the roots.

Shade could be a problem in your case, but it wouldn't cause the foliage or buds to blacken or wilt. That's definitely a disease. The peony plants I have in the shade (that need to be moved) generally don't increase in size year over year, and some don't produce flower buds or produce buds that never grow or mature. So it is possible you could have a combination of problems.