Knowledgebase

Black spots on daisy petals #752642

Asked May 27, 2021, 10:22 PM EDT

Hello!! I bought a potted perennial daisy plant from Lowe's a few weeks back. It had LOTS of closed buds and one that was semi open. I planted it in full sun, gave it a good watering, and, one by one, the closed buds opened offering the most beautiful daisies!! Then, all of a sudden, the leaves developed dark spots. They aren't bugs as they won't come off the leaves. And the blooms that we so pretty? Most of them wilted. Badly. What could have caused this? How cani fix it?

Washington County Maryland

Expert Response

We really cannot say what would have caused this without seeing photos of the plant and the symptoms. Four-lined plant bug nymphs are active at this time of year and their feeding produces small black dots that can coalesce and cause blackening and browning of some foliage. You can see photos on our website:  https://extension.umd.edu/resource/plant-bugs-flowers

But again, we cannot say for sure without seeing the symptoms. If you still have the plants and there are sections of them showing new symptoms (not already dead) please send us photos and we would be happy to take a look at what's going on.

Christa

Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied May 28, 2021, 12:33 PM EDT
Hello!!  Attached are some photos I hope will help.  They literally went from one flower starting to open, to a beautiful full bunch of flowers, to brown spots on the petals, to this, in the space of 7 days. 

Is there any chance of saving them?  

image



The Question Asker Replied May 30, 2021, 12:51 PM EDT

We can see what looks like some chewing damage on the petals (on the bottom flower in your photo). This could be slug or beetle chewing -- we cannot say for sure. The foliage looks good and we can see new buds coming up. Our recommendation is to prune out the spent flowers and discard them. Be sure to keep up with watering during dry periods so that your plant establishes a good root system. Continue to monitor your plant as new buds form and let us know if you see unusual symptoms on the next set of flowers. 

Christa

Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied June 01, 2021, 10:40 AM EDT

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