I am going to try growing a plant of Impatiens balsamina indoors this winter. If successful, I will rejoice in the white spotted flowers and hopefully the plant will not melt from downy mildew disease.

Those are pretty! I used to grow them many years ago .. I think I might start again - they would make a nice background for window boxes.

Thank you, Anne. Do your plants not get the Impatiens Downy Mildew disease?

I haven't grown them in a long while but I don't recall ever having a problem like that.

I've been seeing a few more locally so not sure what's happening with the proble. I am growing some to try again this year.

My mother grew these when I was a child. It was exciting to pop the ripe pods. I have seed that my mother saved for me from last year and I also ordered some from Diane's Seeds.

It is a recent disease that has plagued the horticulture world.

I will try growing them outdoors this summer, too.

Thankfully I've never encountered it to my knowledge.

I had it in impatiens walleriana once about 3 or 4 years ago. I grow the balsamina every year (they reseed) and I haven't seen it in them. By late summer though, they do tend to turn kind of gray and it usually looks like powdery mildew but not downey mildew.

Karen

I found the pictures of my I. walleriana with downey mildew. It was the summer of 2012.



Karen

It's been about 5 years, but when I lived in an old Victorian house with a big porch, I used to have flower boxes on each side of the steps with impatiens in. One did great, the other one died. At that time I wasn't away of what the problem was though. Thought it strange, being so close that only one was affected.

Oops got the disease wrong, sorry.

It is rampant in my area. Past two years. Very sad and frustrating.

It has been a problem in my area too, many suppliers stopped carrying Impatiens walleriana last year because of it. Apparently I. balsamina can get it too, but according to this article not as badly but it can allow the disease to carry over:

http://www.greenhousegrower.co...

I was totally unaware of this disease! What a bummer!

The reputable nurseries in my area will not carry I. walleriana. But there were a few of those parking lot pop up stands that sold them last year. They had signs that they would guarantee the plants for 30 days. Crazy because it was about 30 days before you would notice they got the mildew. And frustrating because they are just allowing the disease to perpetuate.

I did read, I think in Garden Gate Magazine, they have come out with a resistant variety.

I myself will just wait several years and see if it cycles out.

I wonder if watering the plant with a dilute systemic fungicide would keep it at bay.

I didn't think there was a cure for the downey mildew. I haven't grown the walleriana since mine had the disease in 2012. But I don't know if I could ever get rid of the balsamina: they reseed like crazy every year. I haven't planted them in probably 6 or 8 years but I get hundreds of volunteers every year. Those usually look diseased by late summer but I'm pretty sure it's powdery mildew. I've tried treating them with GreenCure and they got better.

Karen

I am also trying out growing impatiens from seed this year, but they are Sultani Hybrida Mix put out by Ed Hume Seeds. I found a link with some remedies for downy mildew that look pretty simple - baking soda and neem oil are a couple of recommendations. I have also seen some videos about white mold forming on seedling soil when planting seed starts and he sprinkled cinnamon on top of his seed mix after planting the seeds. I am trying that with most of my seeds this year, that and bottom watering. Here's the link:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/n...

I have only ever grown the I. Walleriana from seed, but they did especially well last year. I used them to border the front of a few beds. As I understand it, you don't have to worry about the downy mildew if growing from seed at home. The seed doesn't carry it, the spores are in soils etc. I have certainly never had an issue with the home grown plants.

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