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putri_m

peonies suffering something!!help please!!

putri.m
13 years ago

I have a couple of peony bushes around my yard which are left behind by the previous owner of my house. I was very happy to find them growing and blooming exquisitely early this month. Unfortunately, the blooms started to turn brown and a couple of the buds would not sprout and turned brown instead. I water the plants daily in the evening and just recently gave it some miracle growth.The plants get morning to slightly afternoon sun. What do you think is wrong?

Please help, thanks!!!

Comments (8)

  • suel41452
    13 years ago

    Daily watering sounds excessive to me. Peonies only need an inch of water a week, including rainfall. They don't like "wet feet" in continuously soggy soil. When you water, take care not to wet the leaves, which leads to fungal infections. Watering in the morning is preferred so the leaves if dampened can dry in the sun during the day. At any rate, blooms will turn brown after several days since peony blooms don't last long.
    Buds turning brown may be due to blight. Several fungal diseases can cause problems for peonies. With Botrytis blight, flower buds turn brown and donÂt open. Foliage and stems become brown-spotted. So if you have or get symptoms on the foliage too, that's probably the cause. It's kind of like black spot on roses - usually doesn't kill the plant.

  • putri.m
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    If my plants happen to have botrytis blight how can i solve it?? Does it spread to other plants around it?
    Thanks!!

  • suel41452
    13 years ago

    Here's a link to info on botrytis blight & what to do if you have it:

    http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/450/450-602/450-602.html

    Occasionally my buds turn brown (without blight) & I don't really know why.

  • mecbagley_optonline_net
    12 years ago

    My peony plant has bloomed beautifully every year with little maintenance or watering. This year all the stems leading up to the buds have turned brown and are shriviling up & therefore the buds are not able to bloom. We have had a very harsh winter in NJ with alot of rain so far this spring. I know they don't need/like alot of water. Could this be the cause?

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    12 years ago

    You are having a fungus problem, made worse by your continuous wet weather. You can not turn around the damaged foliage, the best you can do is limit further damage and perhaps hold back next years. I would remove the damaged stems and put the material in your garbage to get it off your property. I would spray all plants that were affected with a Bordeaux mixture now and again in about 10 days. Sometimes as the plants grow bigger over the years, they end up being too close together and this causes poor air circulation and supports fungus and mildews. If this is also a problem with yours, you might think of next fall digging every other one and moving them to another site. Al

  • curios
    12 years ago

    almost all of my peonies are affected with white spot.
    thought it might be powdery mildew and sprayed with
    cornell mixture of milk and water. now suspect botrytus
    blight, however, they bloomed beautifully. did have some
    small buds that didn't open, but have that every year. if remove all stems and flowers now, will
    they return next year, or do they need leafage to provide
    nutrition for following year's growth? also, i run a
    green garden. is there a home remedy for botrytus that
    doesn't involve chemical spraying?

  • rj56
    12 years ago

    Same thing with my one peony. This has happened one other time. Didn't kill the plant, just robbed me of blooms. I trimmed the brown/black off and put it in the garbage. Will hope for better next year.

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    12 years ago

    curios you need the foliage to feed the plant through the summer. I don't know your definition of "chemicals" but a mixture of lime and copper is called Bordeaux mix and natural components of the earth, which I do not classify as "chemicals". Al

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