Sedum plant under attack, see picture

Girly_girl

I bought a couple of sedum plants about 3 weeks ago. One week later I noticed one of the plants didn't look so good but I thought maybe something happened when I brought them home in the trunk in my car. Now I see the condition of the plant is a lot worse and seems to be under attack. What caused this and how do I treat this? How do I prevent this from happening in the future since I have quite a few of those in the garden.

creeper

I wish I could help you with this one. A guess would say too much water or not enough air circulation, but I have always had great luck with massive sedums. I hope its not some sort of fungus thats producing that rot.

Steve may know. He will come along eventually

Girly_girl

I just wanted to add that all sedums had the same amount of water and sun and were all in the same spot.
I have another question for you.. do you water at night or in the morning? I used to in the evenings but I read that many plants can have some kind of fungus from watering at night so now I water very early morning.

creeper

I try to water in mornings if at all. Usually the most I can manage is the annuals. It has to be a very hot and dry spell before I bother with the perennials.
The sedums and hostas and evergreen shrubs are the most neglected plants in my garden.

sdsester

It is hard to tell whether you have a problem from overwatering or from a fungus. You mentioned you had them in the trunk? You could have baked them if they were in there long in this heat.

Best to get rid of any suspect plants or take them back for a credit. I know real nurseries stand behind their plant materials and would want to know if they had a disease problem hiding. I don't shop in box stores but think they take plants back as well?

As for watering. It is never wise to water later in the day then there is enough time for leaves and other plant parts to dry out before sundown. Fungi and insects love darkness and damp vegetation to do their egg laying thing and establish spores. The best time is just pre-dawn.

If you are not willing to get up at 3 or 4 to water think about installing a drip system with timer. It has lots of advantages including being really good for your plants. Drip irrigation is not expensive and will pay for itself fairly quickly. Just to start you will water only where you want to and in gallons per hournot gallons per minute like with a garden hose or conventional sprinklers.

Also remember to watch out for fungi that can hide in the soil and get splashed on to plants when sent airborne by pressurized water dislodging them. This is another advantage of drip irrigation. It will not splatter.

By the way, I had pretty good luck starting sedum plants from cuttings. If you have a species you like you might give it a shot?

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creeper

Pre dawn watering may be good advice for southern folks, but probably not necessary in Quebec. Even in this heat wave our evenings and nights cool off significantly. Things don't start to get steamy until 11 am or so

sdsester

I have been to Montreal many times. It does get dark still? Hard to tell what it is like outside down in the tunnels.

Things like moth species and others love moist leaves to lay eggs and they only work at night. Again, anywhere, avoid watering late in the day unless you have to do so. Why tempt fate? There is no sunlight to evaporate water at night and could even be a dew point to aggravate things?

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creeper

All good points, but you will never see ME up at 3 or 4 in the morning watering a garden regardless of how beloved, nor will I invest in a irrigation system with a growing season as short as ours