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Weird spots making flowers slimy #712939

Asked August 13, 2020, 2:13 PM EDT

So out of nowhere I have this slimy substance appearing on my petunia flowers. It seems to be clear with teeny black dots and it’s like it is liquefying my flowers. It’s pretty gross. I tried pulling off the affected blooms but there was more on the remaining blooms today. What is it? What should I do? I tried spraying the plant, but it rained soon after. I’m also having something similar with my pink/red vinca on the other side of the deck. The flowers are rotting but no black spots here. It’s just odd. All of my other flowers appear fine. I’ve been very good about dead-heading my plants so I’m just at a loss as to what is happening here.

Harford County Maryland

Expert Response

This is likely secondary decay setting-in to the spent flowers, like Botrytis - https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/petal-blight-botrytis. All you can do is to keep deadheading as promptly as possible and avoid wetting the foliage when watering (or do so early in the day otherwise). Of course, there is nothing you can do about rain, and now that we've started receiving more regular rains and morning dew, this is likely why the problem has become prominent. Fungicides are not going to be helpful - only sanitation and routine plant grooming for air circulation and removing spent flowers and leaves.

Miri
Answered by the Home & Garden Information Center's Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturists Replied August 14, 2020, 10:08 AM EDT

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