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Impatiens disease becomes hot topic
Plant pathologists say supply chain not affected; spring planting tips for homeowners who want to protect their flowers.
Wed, Apr 04 2012 at 3:37 PM
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INFIRM IMPATIENTS: Plant producers have been putting preventative programs in place to keep supply chains clean since last year’s discovery that a global disease affecting the common garden impatiens had appeared in U.S. landscapes. (Photo: Tom Oder)
With the arrival of the spring planting season in much of the country, the common garden impatiens is an uncommonly hot topic of conversation.
That’s because a disease that has plagued Impatiens walleriana for the past several years in England, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia was found in landscape plantings in the upper Midwest, the Northeast and coastal Southern California late last fall. Now infected plants have been discovered this year in residential and commercial landscapes in Florida.
The disease, impatiens downy mildew, is caused by a fungus-like microorganism called Plasmopara obducens. Warning signs of infection are stunted growth, off-color, light green leaves, leaf and flower drop, and, eventually, stem collapse, said Mary Hausbeck, a plant pathologist at Michigan State University.
“A tell-tale sign of the disease,” she said, “is a white, downy growth on the underside of the leaves.”
The disease is not new. “It showed up in a significant way in 2004 in the greenhouse industry,” Hausbeck said. “Prior to that, you have to go back a long way to find even a small report about it.” From 2006 until last year, it didn’t seem to be a big problem, she said.
Now, it’s a global problem and causing concern close to home in communities across the country.
After the disease started showing up in several regions in the United States in late August and early September last year, Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, one of the nation’s largest producers of plants for the U.S. horticultural trade, issued a nationwide alert.
“We wanted to make landscapers aware of the problem so they could pull any infected plants out of the ground before they collapsed,” said Colleen Warfield, corporate plant pathologist for Ball.
One of the mysteries about the disease is how it got to Florida. Plant pathologists aren’t sure, Warfield said.
It’s been suggested that “snowbirds” going to Florida homes for the winter could have unwittingly taken infected plants with them, she said. She also pointed out that the airborne spores could have hop-scotched their way to Florida on wind currents from infections in the Upper Midwest. “Spores of another downy mildew species have been projected to travel as much as 600 miles in 48 hours given the right environmental conditions,” Warfield said.
Regardless of how the fungus got to Florida and despite the possibility the airborne spores could drift from infected landscape plants to nearby commercial growing ranges, Warfield offered words of comfort to gardeners who will be looking for impatiens in nurseries this spring.
“There is no evidence the integrity of the supply chain has been affected,” she said.
That’s because plant producers have very rigorous management programs and U.S. suppliers and finish growers are now better informed and have been putting preventative programs in place since last year’s discovery that the disease had appeared in a significant way in landscapes in the United States, Warfield said.
Warfield emphasized that she does not believe any infected plants are knowingly being shipped for sale to either commercial landscape installers or to the general public.
Aaron Palmateer, an assistant professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida, agreed with Hausbeck.
“I was in two large production facilities in Miami-Dade County looking for diseased material to study in the lab,” Palmateer said. “But I didn’t see any. The only diseased material we found was in the landscape.”
“I don’t foresee any shortfall of clean plant material (of Impatiens walleriana) this year,” he added.
Hausbeck offered a similar forecast for Michigan’s bedding industry, saying she thinks growers there will have a good production year for Impatiens walleriana when spring planting season arrives. In some places it’s still too cold to plant. “The high here today is just 39 F,” she said recently from East Lansing, Michigan.
Warfield said it will help put gardeners’ minds at ease if they to understand a few characteristics about the disease. Those are:
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It is specific to Impatiens walleriana. It does not affect New Guinea impatiens or SunPatiens.
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The pathogen cannot infect other garden plants.
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There’s no evidence the pathogen is transmitted to the plant by infected seed.
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The pathogen also produces survival spores that can persist in the soil. They are released into the soil when infected leaves drop or stems collapse, which is one reason why it is important to promptly remove infected plants from landscape beds..
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Because of the possibility of survival spores in the soil, it’s a good idea to not plant impatiens walleriana in a bed this year where infected or suspicious-looking plants of impatiens walleriana were planted last year.
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Plant pathologists have no idea how long the survival spores could live in the soil. “Those spores could survive at least five to eight years in the soil based on studies of other downy mildews,” Warfield said.
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Geography plays a role in where the disease takes hold. “It doesn’t like hot temperatures or dry conditions,” Warfield said. Favorable conditions usually occur in early spring or late fall when temperatures drop at night and there is excessive moisture from rain or humidity. These are the conditions that existed in the upper Midwest when the disease was detected in the United States last fall, she said.
For those who grow Impatiens walleriana, Hausbeck suggested a simple precautionary step: “Keep garden tools visibly clean to the eye,” she urged. “Get the soil off. This is what harbors the survival spores.”
Garden sanitation steps she recommends include:
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Making potentially infected beds the last beds you work on during garden work days.
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Washing tools with a strong stream of water.
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Cleaning tools with soap and water and … cleaning them again.
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Disinfecting tools with a solution of 10 percent Chlorox and water (if you want to be extra careful).
Gardeners who suspect they have infected plants should put them in sealed bags and dispose of them through municipal trash collections. These plants should not be composted.
Gardeners should also not try to cure an infected plant, Palmateer advised. “The disease is too aggressive,” he said. “You have to throw diseased plants out.”
For those who might decide not to plant Impatiens walleriana this year, some alternative shade-loving plants that would also provide summer color are:
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Begonias
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Coleus
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New Guinea impatiens
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Torenia
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Iresine
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Alternanthera
Have other tips for growing impatiens? Leave us a note in the comments below.
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I live in Maryland & also lost all my impatiens. Someone said to spray them with soapy water, but it was too late to do that when I realized what was happening. They looked fine until early Sept.
Never had a problem before, always had them in pots in my shaded yard. Over 50 pots filled with impatiens, every one turned to just stems with no leaves. Don't know what I'll so next year! Hard to imagine a summer without these great flowers.
All of mine lost their leaves too…I never noticed the white powder fungus people have described. Some plants in pots seemed not to have the problem at first…they have all died and I love impatiens…plant them in the shade every year…This is the first time anything like this has happened. I'm so sad.
This happened in Virginia.
I lost all my impatiens this year in Northern Virginia, even those volunteers that came back from seed last year. Not particularly happy since this time of year is usually their prime!
I am wondering if it introduced in the black cedar mulch I bought at home depot - everywhere I put that mulch the plants died. I did not have enough for my back yard and they are all doing fine
I LIVE IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND LOST ALL MY PLANTS ON THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE HOUSE.POTTED PLANTS ON THE BACK PORCH SEEM LESS AFFECTED.
I live on Long Island and have lost over 300 in the last month. I thought I was doing something wrong, but now realize they all have the disease. I’ve been planting annually in the same areas on my property for over 25 years and every area was affected equally. I hope something can be developed to prevent the disease in the future.
At least now I know what caused the total collapse of all my impatiens within the last month (both self-sown and planted, in ground and in pots) once we started getting some rain after a month of high heat stress. Very sad to lose such a great source of late season color for the next 5-8 years.
This is a major problem--the best shade plant will not be seen for a long time. All of mine have become naked little stems too! These will be hard to replace for their hot shot of color all summer long.
I agree with you Ann--major problem. I always grow impatiens in a particular spot in the shade in my yard and will miss the beautiful colors this fall. Mine also have become naked little stems. Guess I need to pull them out and discard them and rake the soil out from where they were planted. I was so looking forward to their show this time of year (late August early Sept).
I have planted impatiens for twenty years in the shady area by my front porch. They were always beautiful. Last week, I noticed one end of the bed did not look well. I saw the white stuff on the underside of the leaves. Thanks for listing other choices. It looks like I will need that list for the next few years.
Southern CT, tons of impatiens, all dead at the beginning of August. Been growing them for years, this never happened before
I live in Eastern PA and also lost 12 flats of impatients. I bought 12 flats (from various places) because some of them starting wilting. I planted in May and by end of July they were all gone. Same thing happened to my sister who lives in South Jersey. First time in 16 years. I guess I will be planting begonias next year. They did very well.
I live in Michigan and we have lost all of our 20 flats of impatiens that we planted in the garden beds this year. I pulled them all out yesterday, but am wondering what to treat the soil with now. I read somewhere a fungicide, but not sure which brand to buy
Sure don't like what happened to all of my impatiens. But at least now I know why. Thanks for the info and alternative plant material suggestions.
For the last ten years I have planted 15 flats of impatiens mostly in shaded beds, several large deck pots and an elevated box above our waterfall. At this point all the impatiens on the ground and even the deck pots are gone with just few stringy stragglers left here and there. The box above the falls is still full and vibrant.
I purchased all my impatiens this year at Lowes. Sadly, I will definitely not plant any impatiens for a few years.
I live on Long Island, NY and have experienced trouble with impatiens for the last few years. Each year it got worse so this year I didn't bother to plant them. My community used to be ablaze with these lovely flowers - now things look pretty drab. Are they any fungicides that would help?
I always have beautiful impatients, pots full of them I plant about 6 flats a year and they are usually beautiful. This year I have hardly any flowers and the leaves are dropping. They made it through the drought with constant watering, but in the past weeks we have had a lot of rain. I'm wondering if the roots have rotted.
Mine too. look under the leaves. If it is white, it has the dreaded infection.
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