Dianthus caryophyllus
Growing calendar
Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.
Guides
- Growing Carnation Seedlings On: Pinching, Light and Hardening Off
- How to Care for Carnations: Disbudding, Support and Steady Warmth
- Why Carnation Buds Split and How to Get Clean Single Blooms
- Carnations Through the Year: Season by Season Jobs
- Carnation Problems: Rust, Mildew, Stem Rot and What to Scrap
- How to Propagate Carnations from Cuttings and Layers
Common problems
Start from what you can see on the plant.
Pests and diseases (36)
Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.
Fusarium Wilt
Disease
Lower leaves wilt during the day and recover morning and evening, and this cycle repeats as the plant dies back. Cutting the stem reveals characteristic browning of the vascular tissue.
Powdery Mildew
Disease
White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.
Late Blight
Disease
Dark green water-soaked lesions appear on the leaves and expand quickly into brown dead tissue. White mold forms on the underside and at the lesion edge, and dark brown lesions spread to stems and fruit.
Brown Leaf Spot
Disease
Small light brown to gray-brown spots form on the leaves and enlarge into irregular lesions. When they merge the whole leaf dies and plant vigor drops sharply.
Sclerotinia Rot
Disease
The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.
Citrus Melanose
Disease
Tiny dark brown specks are scattered over fruit and leaves, sometimes clustering into tear-streaks or a sandpaper texture. Heavy infection makes the rind rough and badly cuts appearance value.
Crown Gall
Disease
Irregular galls form at the crown and on the roots, gradually enlarging and turning woody. They block the flow of water and nutrients, so the plant loses vigor and may die.
Rust
Disease
Small raised orange-yellow to red-brown pustules form on both leaf surfaces, then rupture and release powdery spores. Heavy infection yellows the leaves and kills them early.
Southern Blight
Disease
The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.
Anthracnose
Disease
Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.
Root Rot
Disease
Fine roots rot brown to blackish brown, growth stops and the lower leaves yellow. The plant wilts easily in the daytime and eventually dies outright.
Root-knot Nematode
Pest
The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.
Gray Mold
Disease
Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.
Bacterial Spot
Disease
Small water-soaked spots appear on the leaves, later turning brown with yellowing around them. Fruit develops water-soaked or scabby spots from which rot spreads.
Leaf Spot
Disease
Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.
Downy Mildew
Disease
Pale yellow to yellow-brown angular lesions form on the upper leaf surface with a gray-purple mold in the matching spot underneath. Lesions merge, the leaves die back and the plant declines early.