Mildew on Michaelmas Daisies.

[alison]

I seem to have what I would call mildew on my michaelmas daisies and then as the plants have grown taller the leaves at the bottom of the plants have all died off leaving it very brown. What can I do for them? Both plants in the back garden have got this. They are in pots. The one in a pot in the front garden seems absolutely healthy with no problems. The back garden is much shadier. Would it help them to move them to the front garden anyway?

[alison]

I guess no one knows the answer to this. I will try on gardenweb

[kaz]

This is funny... I mean me attempting to provide advice on plants . Not sure if I'm right about this Alison, but I wouldn't move them to where you have the healthy plant because the spores from the infected daisies might contaminate your healthier ones.

[alison]

Thats a good point Kaz. (only kidding about the ) I hadn't thought about that. I was thinking of just moving it to get the sun or whatever the reason the other is doing better. Thankyou.
It is the first time I have grown them and last year they did fine, but it was late in the season when I got them so they didn't flower for long. When they first started getting the leaves this year they looked really healthy and so I didn't worry about the leaves when they first started to get this on them. I certainly never thought that they would die. Anyway I will try to sort them out as well as I can.

[jac1]

The BBC gardening site has this advice:
Problem solver
Many perennial asters, especially A. novi-belgii, have a tendency to succumb to mildew. To prevent this keep them well watered and apply a mulch around the base of the clump to retain moisture at the roots. Spray plants with a suitable fungicide at the first sign of disease
Personally, I leave mine alone as I don't use chemicals in the garden. Hope this helps.
Jacqui

[Tricia]

Hi Alison - I apply a fungicide to some of my squash and courgette plants as they almost always get mildew at some point. This year seems to be very early though - result of the wet May weather probably. Not having much of a flower garden - mostly shrubs and summer stuff like busy lizzies - I can't really say much about flowers with mildew. I do remember once growing hollyhocks and swearing never again as they looked awful wih mildew right up the stem!