A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Clematis Wilt

Hi everyone,

I have a Clematis that is about 3 years old now. Every year it grows up healthy and then wilts--at least 3 times in one year. It usually gets from 3 to 5 blossoms on the whole plant. Last year I finally determined it had Clematis wilt so I used a systemic on it. That seemed to help to a degree but I still had the problem. This year it has grown up and has hundreds of buds on it and I thought it would be OK. Lo and behold, part of it is starting to die just like always.

I would like to replace it and I'm wondering if it will be OK to put a new clematis in the same place? Is the disease contagious or in the soil?

I'd cut it down to the base, treat it with sulfur and throw away all pieces of the cut plant and some of the surrounding soil. The fungus is probably on the soil by now. You might be able to save the plant yet.

I agree with Tamara,,

Sorry to hear about your wilty clematis...i'm located east of buffalo and had every problem possible with clematis. I was told by a wise old gardener taht clematis like a warm head but col feet. Also, they don't like to be fussed over with rich soil or fertilizer. I followed this advice much to my shagrin and by golly that clematis is full of foloage and flowers. Now if I could only figure out how to get my wisteria to flower...