wilting frit

[Diane Clement]

What's gone wrong here?  The leaves have sort of shrivelled and the plant has flopped.  Investigation shows that the bulb is still firm.
Is it due to fungus, too wet or too cold??  Is there such a thing as Fritillaria wilt?  Is there any hope?

[Gerry Webster]

What's gone wrong here?  The leaves have sort of shrivelled and the plant has flopped.  Investigation shows that the bulb is still firm.
Is it due to fungus, too wet or too cold??  Is there such a thing as Fritillaria wilt?  Is there any hope?

Diane - see posts 152 - 154 in Fritillaria - Bulbs General.
Probably a fungus; it appears so; all is not lost.

Edit: Tony Willis tells me that the supplier of Viresco & Humate still exists - John McLaughlan Horticulture, 50a Market Place, Thirsk, N. Yorkshire Y07, 1LH.

[Maggi Young]

This is the link, Diane.... http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2987.msg85010;topicseen#msg85010


There were a lot of frit deaths some years ago now in England which drove many growers to distraction..... I'm sure there must be an article somewhere....  Frit. Group site, maybe?
I know John Richards' Diary has made mention of the frit complaint fairly recently, but I think it was simply a passing reference to the problem.

[Gerry Webster]

Diane - if you don't have a copy of the Frit Journal (no3) which contains Bob Wallis' article on 'wilt' I can send you scans as JPEGs.  Let me know.

[Diane Clement]

Thanks for this.  I had looked at the previous postings but hadn't made the connection in my addled brain.  I'll look into the Viresco website as I have a couple of other pots showing symptoms.  So what causes it?  or what encourages it, should I say - in cultivation terms - incorrect watering?  or are certain species more prone?  I would be grateful to see the article Gerry, I wasn't in the Frit group in the early days.

[Tony Willis]

Diane

I have spoken to John Mclaughlin at Viresco only today (he still runs the company) and if you telephone they will send you a catalogue which is better than the web.The relative page is 20 which contains an offer of the necessary products which can then be ordered by telephone.These are not all available via the website.They are very helpful.

I am having an awful problem with it this year which seems the worst ever.

www.viresco-uk.com/

tel no 01845 525585

[Diane Clement]

Thanks Tony for all this help.  This forum is fantastic for the shared wealth of knowledge and advice. 

The catalogue is on line here:
http://www.viresco-uk.com/Downloads/Horticultural_Products_2008.pdf

[Hans A.]

Hello Diane - please see post 151 in Fritillaria - Bulbs General. 
A very skilled bulbgrower told me some time ago about "Zwiebelmilbe" = "Onion Mite" which when I remember right was Rhizoglyphus. This mites can sit inside the bulb and harm it seriosly - subsequently follows a fungus infection. Susceptible are Onco and Reticulata Iris but especially Fritillaria in the greenhouse (less in the open)- a treatment seems to be extremly complicate (if possible) maybe by heat. 

[Diane Clement]

Hello Diane - please see post 151 in Fritillaria - Bulbs General. 
A very skilled bulbgrower told me some time ago about "Zwiebelmilbe" = "Onion Mite" which when I remember right was Rhizoglyphus. This mites can sit inside the bulb and harm it seriosly - subsequently follows a fungus infection. Susceptible are Onco and Reticulata Iris but especially Fritillaria in the greenhouse (less in the open)- a treatment seems to be extremly complicate (if possible) maybe by heat. 

Hello Hans
Are you saying this is a different problem from the keeling over disease, or that it is the same thing, but the mite is the cause of the fungal infection?  Have you had trouble with it?  Your growing conditions are so different from mine, I can't imagine the same cause of the problem.  Have you tried the Viresco treatment at all?  It seems worth a try. 

[Hans A.]

Diane – I am not a specialist in this kind of animals either I know which relation exactly exists between mites and fungus, but I had a similar problem with an Onco. I had received it from Germany but finally it died without finding out the reason. A fungicide treatment did not help (it did not even show any fungus on the rhizome).
Mentioning this to Michael Kammerlander he pointed me to bulb mites (Rhizoglyphus). This mites love a wide range of bulbs but especially Fritillarias in greenhouses. Until now I had no more negative experience with this mites, I have not seen any of them (loupe should be enough) and I do not know if  this is the reason of your wilting Frits – but they seem to be widespread. Hope somebody of this forum can make a comment on this. 
An interesting link: http://floriculture.osu.edu/archive/dec00/blbmite.html

[Lesley Cox]

Wouldn't you just know it? These little nasties attack oncos as well as frits etc. As if the oncos didn't have enough cultivation problems anyway.

[Gerry Webster]

Hans - the possibility of wilt being caused by a mite is  an interesting suggestion. You state that plants grown outside may be less susceptible. All my frits are grown in open frames but many suffered from wilt this year, far more than in recent times.   

Although the Viresco + Humate treatment seems to be effective with frits  it's not at all clear why it works (when it does).   Bob Wallis suggested  that the beneficial fungi in Viresco  effectively competed with, & outgrew,  the harmful ones but this was a speculative explanation & I don't know of any systematic investigations on frits.

The very little I have been able to discover about the bulb mite suggests that it damages the outer tunic of bulbs which might permit the ingress of fungi.  Nevertheless, if a fungus is responsible, it is curious that fungicides are  ineffective.