SOME PROBLEMS WITH IMPATIENS ARE EASY TO STEM

Sometimes, no matter what you do — fertilize properly, water just enough — your impatiens just don’t survive. Their leaves are eaten. The stems are attacked and the plant crashes to the ground. Or the leaves turn yellow and fall off.

It’s a fact of life in our humid climate that pests are going to want to munch on these colorful plants. Here’s help from the experts in dealing with potential problems.

Problem: The leaves have irregular holes in the middle or at the edges of the leaves. You never see any insects, but there are shiny slime trails on the plant.

Diagnosis: You’ve got snails that are feeding at night.

Solution: Sprinkle snail bait pellets on the ground to encourage the snails to eat the bait rather than your impatiens. Or sink shallow containers filled with beer near the plants.

Problem: Seedlings rot and stems collapse at ground level.

Diagnosis: Your plants have a fungal disease (aka damping off) that eats through the stem at the soil line.

Solution: Your impatiens should be planted in well-drained soil. Do not crowd plants. Water them early enough in the day so they dry out and don’t go to bed wet.

Problem: The shoots are eaten through at the soil level and the plant falls over. When you dig in the soil, you see gray-brown to black critters that form a C-shape.

Diagnosis: You’ve got cutworms, large caterpillars that are about 2 inches long and -inch wide.

Solution: Treat with Sevin or Dipel. Remove weeds. Till the soil around the plants. As a preventative, cut 3- to 4-inch tall collars from tar paper or plastic and stick them into the ground about 1 to 2 inches. They should be 1 to 2 inches away from the plant.

Problem: Leaves become yellow or silverish. A web of fine silky stuff may cover them.

Diagnosis: You’ve got sap-sucking spider mites, tiny insects that are diffi-cult to see without a magnifying glass.

Solution: Wash the plants with a mild detergent and rinse with water or use an insecticidal soap. When the weather turns hotter, it’s better to pull the plants and install summer flowers.

SOURCES: Gene Joyner, extension agent with the Palm Beach County Extension Service; The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Gardener’s Desk Reference; Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening; Complete Guide to Florida Gardening.