Hello everyone, I checked all my plants (seedlings and named varieties) and found many have some problem.

First, a new cultivar I bought shows brown/yellow spots on a leaf. The hybrydizer told me it's "rust" (@sooby what should I do!) and I don't need to do anything because it happens on old leaves when they get broken or ruined as from slugs damage... here are the pics.




Then, some plants show signs of spring sickness.. or streak leaf?



And finally, one of my seedlings had the central leaves really floppy, as soon as I touched them they fell apart and show signs of rot? The plant looks healty.


Many thanks in advance for reading,

You don't have rust.

Thanks Judy, this thing about rust is almost a joke now, Sue told me many say rust to indicate a generic problem and this man always says "rust!". But I think something is happening and I need help to understand!

It's not rust. The picture above the floppy central leaves has spring sickness (I think you had that last year too?). The floppy central leaves detaching may be related to spring sickness or may not, we're not always sure. I've seen it happen here several times.

Can anything be done about the spring sickness?

Thanks Sue, I had spring sickness the past year but this year many plants are affected. The ones which were sick the past year are still sick now, and others seems to be attacked as well. I am having poor growth on several, too many for my liking. Little Show stopper is always been a fast growing and luscious plant but the fans are tiny, stunted, and dry.

Like Pat, I'm asking if something can be done. I know several fungicide can be used but these are not for commercial use because a license is needed to buy them (daconil, for example).

There's nothing we know of that can help much. If we ever find out the contributing factors then it would be easier to target the problem. We also don't know exactly when the damage starts other than that it is while the shoots are still underground (so it is not related to fluctuating temperature after the new shoots have emerged in spring as you will often hear suggested).

One AHS member did have some limited success with both fungicides and insecticides. We suspect there is a pest (possibly, but not necessarily limited to, bulb mites) and a fungal component (possibly the leaf streak fungus). If you look at the base of the detached central leaves where they are rotten with a magnifying lens you may see bulb mites. Or you may see something that is probably secondary, like fly larvae.

The best I can suggest for now is if they haven't been fertilized, give them some soluble fertilizer which may help them grow out of it faster. Some people cut off the affected fans just above the ground and then the new growth often comes out normally.

Thanks again Sue.
I already fertilized with a long lasting granular fertilizer. Should I try with the liquid too? Wouldn't it be too much?
I cut the plants (each of them) almost to the ground in late autumn, so this is new growth for everyone.

I see some signs that recall leaf streak, I was checking pictures on AHS site.

I'm so sad because it look worst than the past year and I'm afraid something is spreading everywhere!

I wouldn't fertilize again then, just make sure they have enough water.

If you cut them to the ground in late autumn, when did these new shoots emerge?

What some people do is cut off the new shoots once they see spring sickness because they don't like the look of the gnarly fans, but it's not something you need to do, they will most likely recover on their own.

I remember when I first got into daylilies it seemed like spring sickness was everywhere. As the clumps get bigger you will probably notice it less. It's very common. I expect to start seeing it here in a couple of weeks or so.

The shoots emerged in late february.
I don't like the fact that the plants have a really poor growth. No new fans, poor blooming (the past year one of the sick plants gave a couple of ugly blooms and nothing more). They are smaller than the others.

Like, Sooby, I just ignore spring sickness, and let the plants recover on their own. It is unsightly, but thankfully, the plants recover.

I also ignore spring sickness. As soon as the weather warms up it goes away.

cybersix said:The shoots emerged in late february.
I don't like the fact that the plants have a really poor growth. No new fans, poor blooming (the past year one of the sick plants gave a couple of ugly blooms and nothing more). They are smaller than the others.

It can happen that more severely affected fans stay stunted for longer than usual and don't recover much if at all during the year. I had one clump that never used to grow out of being stunted until I moved it somewhere else in the garden and now it grows well and flowers. It's sometimes hard to say exactly what weird spring things are connected to spring sickness and what are not when you don't see the saw-toothed edges and bending.

Are you seeing it more on deciduous dormant daylilies than sevs and evs?

I see it on EVs.
This year Little Show Stopper is stunted too and has poor growth, it's a SEV but always acted like an EV here.
The plant with the rotten leaves in the center is a seedling that proved to be deciduous (dormant).

A couple of picture to show how smaller the plants affected are in respect to others.

In the middle, Lightning Strikes.


here, the poor and never growing Little Show Stopper. The past year it was marvellous and big.


I also have Caracas Candle showing severe twisting, one fan is twisting and dividing into two fans. It's an EV too. But no denting or browning on leaves.

'Little Show Stopper' does look rather unhappy in that picture above.

sooby said:'Little Show Stopper' does look rather unhappy in that picture above.

Yes.. it does.
This is what it looked like the past year

A short update.
I used a fungicide (one never used before) mixed with an acaricide (is this a word??? ) on the sick plants. Some look like they are getting better.

Little show stopper had no beneficial effect, I forgot that I divided it and changed its place in the garden at the end of the past summer, I don't know if it can be part of the problem. The new spot is just 10 inches right of where it was before.

The seedling with rotten inner leaves is still alive, I was afraid it was about to die. I cut all the foliage and see that below a certain point the center is good, and it's growing again at a good pace.

I found the same problem on other three registered cultivars but it seems the damage was circumscribed in just one spot so the inner leaves broke but they still grow.

There are little gray snails (the ones with their own home attached) inside some plants and it seems I can't get rid of them. Slug poison seems to have no effect in them, and they hide very well inside. Any idea?
Thanks!

Diatomaceous earth will aid in control of snails and slugs. It's sharp edges lacerate their bodies causing them to die. Sprinkle it liberally around heavy infestations but don't over do it. There is some concern that heavy applications may have negative effects upon beneficial soil microorganisms.

You could try a container of beer next to the plant. Any shallow container, such as the lid from a jar, will work. I also have used small yogurt containers filled with beer buried in the soil up to the rim near the plant. I know slugs are attracted to the beer, not sure about your variety of snail, but worth a try.

Virginia, thanks for your suggestion. These little snails seem to live on the plants, never saw one around, I don't really know if they touch the ground. It's worth a try even if it's very expensive.

Valerie, thanks to you as well. I knew abou the beer but never thought of using it for these snails. It seems they are everywhere, every plan has chewed leaves!