Impatiens--Downy Mildew

I think that is very unprofessional of Tesco , selling a plant which probably has an 80% chance of failing. To my knowledge all the big DIY sheds and GC's don't stock Busy Lizzies now. I think that is a good reason not to use Tesco , there are other and better supermarkets out there.

 

I am growing the New Guinea ones, I think there is still a chance that they could suffer mildew - but a far lesser risk. So far though, compared to the "normal" ones, the New Guineas have needed a bit more TLC. Seeds for the normal ones are still on sale, as are plug plants at Suttons - Fothergill's are selling "Dezire" F1's (look like the normal ones) as well as the New Guinea Divine mix. They haven't the usual number of choices/heights though.

About 5 years ago (or more) I remember buying the small plugs of multi-colour and pastel shades. The multi-colours did well but the pastels suddenly died off - which I now realise was mildew - so it has been about for a while.

S

 

I'm growing New Guinea BL's this year for the first time, the first batch of 75 is in five 15x cell trays, and the 2nd batch of about same number is about 4 - 6 weeks behind.

Do they benefit from pinching the growing points out?

Can you save seeds from them?

 

I've overwintered a couple of plants I bought last year, I could almost destroy them taking cuttings which root relatively easy , but I can buy new small plants for £1.50, so i dont think its worth the hassle.

 

I've found that NG BLs grow very well under lights so I'll be growing on some spares in the greenhouse to bring indoors for overwintering and taking cuttings from early 2015.

P.S. Reading around the web it appears some varieties will set seeds, but I couldn't find out which ones.

 

trying them this year, hope not a waste of my time and money.

 

I planted out about 70 plants into tubs and open ground this morning, and I'll be planting as many again into window boxes & hanging baskets.

It used to be a lot easier (& less expensive) before downy mildew, when all you needed to do was 'pop' some seed capsules into a plastic cup, dry seeds on newspaper, sow early spring and have hundreds of free plants every year.

As mentioned above, I'll be keeping some growing in a greenhouse, then overwintering with grow lights, and then going for extensive cutting propagation.

 

I see that I missed a bit of crucial info - that they will come indoors:

The 'spare' plants (not ones from outdoors that might be infected with all sorts of nasty stuff) will come indoors in Autumn and be kept temperature controlled by my Bio Green Thermo 2 http://www.jungleseeds.com/HardwareShop/Cables.htm and cooling fan http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002KTVFTE/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with the speed(noise) kept down with http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000292DO0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and under my biggest 1.2 x 0.6m growlights in my indoor box. Everything in there is on capillary matting.

(cost a small fortune for that lot, so have to make the most of it)

 

I just kept mine in the conservatory, min temp 10c.
No extra lighting.

 

well got 28 of them, for a pot, which hangs by the mail box, in perfect light, etc. and there has been nice rains etc. They have been there about 4 weeks now, no sign of real growth much. That bothers me. Everything else is growing like crazy.