Peony Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

Paeonia lactiflora

Growing calendar

Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow / plantGrowingFlowering

Guides

Common problems

Start from what you can see on the plant.

Wilting Yellow leaves Leaves dying White powder Leaf spots Fruit problems

Pests and diseases (28)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

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.

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-lesion Nematode

Pest

Elongated blackish brown necrotic lesions form on the root surface and fine roots rot away. Above ground the stand is uneven and plants stay small with pale foliage.

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.

Ring Rot

Disease

The bark of branches and trunk becomes rough and warty, serving as the inoculum source. Fruit develops round brown lesions that soften and rot in concentric rings.

ScabRound Leaf SpotLeaf StripeTwig BlightCrown BlightCrown RotRoot Black SpotPlant-parasitic NematodesWhite Root RotFusarium Wilt and Damping-offBud BlightStem BlightLeaf BlotchFoliar NematodeAscochyta Blight

Written byYasuGrowing vegetables and fruit in Chiba, Japan, and building Gadenin. Corrections are welcome. 15 years of growing.