Unexpected bedding plant failures

[poundcoin]

I don't normally do much with bedding plants , always stuck to a few begonias and some geraniums as the slugs don't like them .

This year I've bought a few extras but some of what I always thought were easier to grow have failed , despite regular watering .
Used a granular feed (copy of Miracle Grow ) but in some tubs the white Alyssum has virtually died off and in others the blue Lobelia is struggling .
Whether it was the slug pellets I spread around earlier in the spring they didn't like not sure .

Also had a near failure with a fuschia but that was probably my fault as the tub wasn't draining properly and the earlier rains made it a bit boggy . Busy Lizzies also seem to be struggling .

Petunias , Geraniums , Begonias and Osteospermums all doing fine , many in the same tubs as above .

Anyone else had similar failures ?

[bungeejumper]

It's been a funny old year. Nature's just like that, I think. But most of our bedding plants have done well - have you perchance overdone the Miracle Gro?

I've certainly had my share of mysteries this year. Like Monty Don on Gardener's World, I had almost nothing from two sowings of carrots and parsnips, and my mangetout never made it beyond 15 inches in height, with loads of them dying despite being ideally placed and watered. I just don't get it. OTOH, my outdoor tomatoes are nearly ready, and my climbing French beans are cropping so heavily that we're slowly subsiding in a green tide of veg. It's an ill wind. (And no, I'm not talking about the bean effect. )

BJ

[Nimrod103]

I don't normally do much with bedding plants , always stuck to a few begonias and some geraniums as the slugs don't like them .

This year I've bought a few extras but some of what I always thought were easier to grow have failed , despite regular watering .
Used a granular feed (copy of Miracle Grow ) but in some tubs the white Alyssum has virtually died off and in others the blue Lobelia is struggling .
Whether it was the slug pellets I spread around earlier in the spring they didn't like not sure .

Also had a near failure with a fuschia but that was probably my fault as the tub wasn't draining properly and the earlier rains made it a bit boggy . Busy Lizzies also seem to be struggling .

Petunias , Geraniums , Begonias and Osteospermums all doing fine , many in the same tubs as above .

Anyone else had similar failures ?

I'm quite suspicious of the seed quality - I do wonder if seed companies cut corners by selling old or duff seed in some years.
Saying that, your list of successes (Petunias, Geraniums, Begonias and Osteospermums) are all plants which which thrive in hot dry sunny conditions, which migh suggest that the soil has just been too hot and dry.
The only bedding I have grown from seed this year is cosmos, and it is taking a long time to get into flower, don't know why. I am growing mangetout for the first time, and they are doing well, although a bit stringy which I guess is due to drought.

[Dod101]

I don't normally do much with bedding plants , always stuck to a few begonias and some geraniums as the slugs don't like them .

This year I've bought a few extras but some of what I always thought were easier to grow have failed , despite regular watering .
Used a granular feed (copy of Miracle Grow ) but in some tubs the white Alyssum has virtually died off and in others the blue Lobelia is struggling .
Whether it was the slug pellets I spread around earlier in the spring they didn't like not sure .

Also had a near failure with a fuschia but that was probably my fault as the tub wasn't draining properly and the earlier rains made it a bit boggy . Busy Lizzies also seem to be struggling .

Petunias , Geraniums , Begonias and Osteospermums all doing fine , many in the same tubs as above .

Anyone else had similar failures ?

Nowadays I grow virtually no bedding plants from seed but I am not sure if you bought them as plugs or not. I never have had any problems with plug plants and this year I have a lot and it has been unusually hot and sunny. I suspect maybe over watering or over feeding, although for a year or three a few years back busy lizzies were in short supply in Scotland at least, caused I was told by some virus. I have not bought any since. That may be your problem.

I do not start using Miracle Grow or the like until about now. I always give the plants a month or six weeks to settle down and in any case, decent compost will have sufficient nutrients for at least that time I would have thought.

Dod

[bungeejumper]

for a year or three a few years back busy lizzies were in short supply in Scotland at least, caused I was told by some virus. I have not bought any since. That may be your problem.

A particular variant of downy mildew, which pretty well killed off the entire global trade in new guinea hybrids for 7 years or more. I gather that some new resistant strains have now been bred, though? They're called Imara, I think. Might be worth googling for?

BJ

[Dod101]

Actually I was thinking of the standard impatiens (what I would call busy lizzies) This year I bought some New Guinea Hybrids (prefer them anyway) and they are doing very well. We had problems getting either the standard impatiens or the new guinea hybrids for some years.

Dod

[poundcoin]

Nowadays I grow virtually no bedding plants from seed but I am not sure if you bought them as plugs or not......
I do not start using Miracle Grow or the like until about now. I always give the plants a month or six weeks to settle down and in any case, decent compost will have sufficient nutrients for at least that time I would have thought.

Dod

Thanks Dod ,

I gave up trying to grow bedding from seed , so all these plants are garden centre / supermarket plants in the usual multi trays .
Compost was all new but I did mix in Miracle Grow stuff in with it when planting out . Maybe it was too much for some of these plants .

[stewamax]

Although not a bedding plant per se, I have a large number of Hebes. All have thrived this year - except for all a small-leaved variety that all went brown and died off!