A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems wilting and dying primroses

Something is eating (?) the roots off my primroses.

These plants are 4 years old and have been doing very well until the last week or so when the leaves started wilting ... I thought I'd loosen the soil and water heavily, but when I disturbed the top soil, the plant(s) moved .. no roots, just the crown and some straggely remains of roots. I looked through the soil expecting grubs but found only earthworms.

Any suggestions on what to look for to identify the culprit and what to use to get rid of it/them.

It could be any number of reasons and each would have a different mode of attack to change the problem.
Nematodes: Very hard to diagnose, and usually blame is set else where.
Cultural practices (too much working the soil near the plant)
Mechanical problems (such as infrequent or over and under watering)
Grubs: Which could have disappeared and become beetles.
Cutworms: Did the plants just fall away with little tissue holding them at the crown?
Could even be your soil is too compacted or acidic: Is there moss moving into the area?

Just a couple of things to look for. Hope they help :)

See also info about Pests and disorders of Primula spp.at:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/flowers/primrose.html

I'm opting for nematodes ... none of the other issues seem to exist ..

Soil is loose and drains well, lots of leaf litter, no moss, leaves are well attached to the crown .. but no roots..

and if that fails, I'll suspect root virus, as the link suggests, .

thanks Mike and papito..

Try companion planting with CHRYSANTHEMUMS [C. coccineum] to kill bad nematodes.