Wilting verbena

amylouisestevenson

I planted a few verbena last week but they look like they are wilting today. I do have one verbena plant in the middle of them that I planted a few months ago and looks healthy and fine. Is it water it you think or something else? I thought I had watered them enough? Thanks 

Fairygirl

A tall plant like that can struggle a bit when newly planted if the conditions are dry. If they don't perk up, you could cut them back a good bit to enable them to recover more easily. It's hard for them to take up enough moisture to support a lot of top growth. They would grow away quickly at this time of year.  

They're pretty tough plants though, so I wouldn't worry too much - just keep watering until you see a change. A good amount of water, then wait a few days before doing it again. 

If you do cut them back, you can use the material as cuttings to produce new plants. They're very easy from cuttings  

amylouisestevenson

Thank you thatbis really helpful! How would you suggest I go about doing new cuttings and of I trimmed them down does it matter where I cut them? 

Fairygirl

If you cut back, do it to a decent set of leaves or leaf joint. New growth will come from that.

For cuttings, you need a piece of about six inches or more to start with. Tidy that up by trimming off the bottom of the stem to a leaf joint, and removing any leaves, just leaving a couple at the top. You can cut those back by half if they're very long. The aim is to have something about four or five inches in total. Push that into a pot of gritty compost - you'll get three or four in a four inch pot or similar. They're best sited around the edge of the pot too - it helps them drain well, and the pot sides are warmer, which helps them root.

Water them and just put them somewhere reasonably sheltered, but out of the elements. Excessive heat and/or water is to be avoided so that they don't get stressed. They should root quite quickly at this time of year, and once they have roots coming through the bottom of the pot, you can separate them and pot them up individually. Just keep them ticking over  till next year when you can plant them out.

amylouisestevenson

Thank you that's been invaluable!