Can you help me troubleshoot my violas please (pic attached)?
by
Lenore
+4
I planted 12-16 violas this past spring and they were beautiful. This week they started (only some) browning and getting leggy/branchy. I can't imagine pruning or trimming them, so tedious. What can I do? I attached a photo.
Looks like too much water to me
I'm not a very good gardener although I do enjoy it, but my suggestion would be to prune them and do so at least every two weeks early in the morning until they are full enough to please you, and then just let them grow on their own for a while. I read that plants tend to get "leggy" when over fertilized or fed, they also look a little iron deficient. I am probably wrong though since I am not familiar with that particular plant. Best wishes.
Here's a qiuck Q & A that might help you:
https://garden.org/frogs/view/27544/
They need to be dead- headed and pinched back to create a bushy plant. To deadhead you simply pinch off the entire flower that has past bloomed to prevent your plant from spending it's energy producing seeds.
Is it hot where you live this summer? Violas prefer cooler spring-like weather and will wither in hotter conditions.
Move them (and the soil beneath them) to shaded place. Pinch back as per above and water daily in heat. Maybe they will recover and when it gets cooler can be ready to bloom again. Put by a petunia or something to give it a lil shade for a bit.