Heuchera & Physalis - dead?

Hello,

I planted some physalis and heuchera in pots last spring, expecting them to be perennial. They both spread nicely and have a good display all summer, before dying back in late autumn.

I presumed this was just part of their growth cycle and they'd show fresh shoots in spring, but there is still no sign from any of my pots, and having done a bit of a search online I'm reading that heuchera are evergreen, rather than just perennial - so it sounds like the dying back isn't part of the growth cycle after all?

Have I lost them? If so does anyone know what the possible reasons might be? Everything else in my garden seems to be doing fine so not sure why these 2 should have suffered - they've had roughly the same sun/water/temps as everything else.

Should I have covered them with fleece over the frosty periods perhaps? Or might there be some pest at work?

Thanks,

Andy

 

We've had heuchera die in pots after vine weevil have lunched on the roots. Have you checked the roots for damage ?

 

Andy, lift your heucheras. (I think Andrews is right....vine weevil grubs love heucheras). You can prob gently pull them and they will easily lift from the soil if vine weevils are present.

All is not necessarily lost though. You can recover plants if enough root remains....lift them, wash them and replant in fresh compost.

I make a point of checking heucheras in autumn and in spring using the “pull” method. I divide them regularly too to maintain vigour and to supply more plants.

In pots in future try using John innes compost instead of mpc....vine weevils love mpc. I also then top dress with grit...this usually deters weevils from laying their eggs there

 

Right, thanks for the pointers.

I haven't, but I will this weekend.

There is nothing to pull - when I cleared all the old, dead foliage away a couple of weeks back there was nothing underneath. So I guess this doesn't bode well for rescuing them. But I'll dig out the roots and see what I find, and wash and re-pot if there's anything that looks salvageable.

Will take on board your points about John Innes and pulling in autumn and spring in future.

Do we think vine weevil might also have been at the physalis?

Thanks.

 

Possibly AndyS.

 

Both of your plants should normally survive albeit, as members have said the roots have been eaten away. Don't give up. First and foremost. Plants in pots or even larger containers are so often victims of vine weevils.

I am not saying that his will work but its worth a try. Salvge the remains of the plant. Cut off top growth. Replant in fresh compost, just keeping tke top of the node level or above the compost. Water bu submerssion and let drain. Check now and then and lightly moisten the compost. Do no use any feeds etc. I do not intend to get into the scienes of plant biology but in simple terms. Whatever plant including grafted stock such as roses etc. That kind if nobbly part,the node, that bump between the roots and the leaves. This is the life-source memory band etc. If this can be coaxed back to life, then you will get your plant back.

 

As the attached pics show, there's not really anything to speak of in terms of top growth...I think they might have had it :-(

Will dig out carefully this weekend though and, if there is any root/node evident will follow your resurrection guidance. Thanks for the tips.

 

Spread out the compost on a sheet of plastic for the birds to sift through for the weevil larvae AndyS.

 

Well, I went through it and the compost was alive with larvae - no sign of any roots left at all!

On the plus side I only had the 1 Heuchera, so it's not like I've lost much, and all the Physalis are now bouncing back strong, so the weevils obvs don't fancy those as much.

Thanks for all the help :-)

 

Weevils love heucheras AndyS.
However, once you know this you can grow them well......Use a weevil control (biological control or chemical (I prefer bio control) or dig them up every year, wash the roots and replant in fresh compost. You can divide them at the same time to make fresh plants. A mulch of grit too helps prevent weevils settling there. A John innes compost too is less attractive to weevils than mpc so use this.
Weevils do seem to have favourite host plants....heucheras, primula, fuchsias for example ...so you can economically target these plants for treatment in the future

 

Yes they are notorious for attacking Heucheras, all the ones I have ever had in pots have been ' got at '. I have been lucky though and have caught them before they died, after soaking and washing the roots well I then planted them directly into the borders and since then I have not had anymore problems. In my experience potted plants seem more vulnerable to VW.