Not so busy lizzies

I suggest to my clients that they use Begonia sempevirens rather than Busy Lizzies nowadays. Though people should still use New Guinea Impatiens.

 

:( thats not good

 

loosing all ours last year I bought a couple of packets of seed before we found out about the virus.
I dont know weather to go with using them or not bother,or at least give them a years or so break and hope things have improved.

 

I agree with Daithplant, I grew 6 New Guinea bizzy lizzies last year and they were a great success. They were flowering up to 6weeks ago.

 

We lost all ours to the virus.

Does anyone know where it came from ?

 

It was found for the first time in the UK in 2003 and is likely to have arrived on imported commercial propagation material (seed or cuttings). Statutory action was at first undertaken by FERA against confirmed outbreaks of the disease, but this soon ceased.

After the wet summer of 2008, damage was much reduced by improved control practices at commercial nurseries. However in 2011 control failed, probably due to resistance to the commercial fungicides used. Infected plants were inadvertently sold widely. This led to the the most widespread outbreak of the disease so far, with many gardens, nurseries and local authority displays affected.

Outbreaks of downy mildew have been confined to Impatiens walleriana, the common bedding busy Lizzie. No cases have been found on New Guinea impatiens, Impatiens × hawkeri, or on the few species of Impatiens found growing in the wild in the UK including Himalayan balsam, Impatiens glandulifera.


Impatiens downy mildew / Royal Horticultural Society

 

I always thought mildew was a fungus, but it's being referred to as a virus ?

 

Very sad news , I know some on here regard BL's as a tad "comman ". But I think they were/are a great little flower, lovely colours and would grow anywhere. Collecting the exploding seeds was also great fun A few threads on here last year reported the mildew from Strongy in Dorset losing all their BL's up to Lytham and St Annes losing all their plantings in the parks. So no BL's for me this year . Did grow New Guinea Sunpatiens and they did really well from large plugs Do these plagues and pestilences tend to pass after a few years as resistant strains and controls are developed ?

 

I believe it`s a bacterial mildew which makes it viral. BUT, I`ve been wrong before.

 

Sorry.:WINK1:

 

Surely if it viral there is no cure other than destroying all know affected plants.
I'm sure the virus, (if it is one), could be cleaned up in a lab, but that is usually done on cultivars not seed grown plants, which I'm thinking most busy lizzies are.

But then I've been wrong before.:WINK1: