# Gardening...daisies/zinnias/chrysanthymums foliage dying from



## GeorgiaXplant (Sep 18, 2014)

the bottom up. This is something that has baffled me for years. I've tried using a fungicide on them, but apparently that's not the problem because it didn't work. They still bloom, but the foliage is ugly!

Has anybody else had this problem? And if so, what did you do about it?


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## JustBonee (Sep 18, 2014)

Could be there are critters that you don't see that can tunnel underground and do a lot of damage to plant root systems ... moles, voles, gophers. ... especially where it's been hot weather and a place that gets watered a lot. 

I recently dug up a pile of dirt, where I had a healthy bush (now suddenly dead) and discovered baby field mice burrowed inside. UGK.. I thought they were voles .. they all do damage to plants and flowers.
With Fall coming, I'm putting poison out in all the suspicious places. .. being careful to place it where cats/squirrels can't get to the poison. 
I do this every year because I live by a large drainage bayou ditch, and mice and rats are looking for a winter home. And I could be dealing with these other critters too..


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## GeorgiaXplant (Sep 18, 2014)

We have moles/voles and they drive us around the bend! But would they only bother these kinds of plants? I remember that when we lived out West and in the UP of Michigan, we had the same problem with the foliage. There are also some daisies planted in a different part of the garden...about 20 yards away from the one with dying foliage and still blooming...there haven't been any moles with that one, but its foliage is dying, too. 

The only zinnias that look okay so far are the ones in pots. And come to think of it, we've had the problem with tomato plants, as well. The fruit isn't disturbed at all and keeps on growing/ripening but the foliage dries up...happens whether they're planted in the ground or grown in pots.

I saw a product in Home Depot called something like "Mole Away" and have seriously considered buying some just to relieve us of the mole problem.


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## JustBonee (Sep 18, 2014)

:shrug:  ... a person can go crazy trying to figure it all out  ... 

Mole Away ? - I might have to get that too.   I'm trying to put a vegetable garden in soon, and really don't need added problems.. 

I've heard that adding netting into the ground when planting the root ball of a plant can discourage underground life.  ??


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## GeorgiaXplant (Sep 18, 2014)

Bonnie, I tried netting when planting bulbs a couple of years ago, top and bottom. The critters ate through it!!!!


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