Deformed Stems on Milkweed Plants

[wandas313]

I have struggled to get my milkweed growing this year. We had too much rain to begin with and once the plants began to finally start growing, I began the battle with aphids and red spider mites. I've noticed though that quite a few of my plants have really small stems where they emerge from the dirt. The plant grows mostly healthy from there but once they get some size they are falling over and some of them eventually die. I was wondering if anyone knows what causes this deformation in the plant and how I can prevent it.

[Mona Miller]

Which species are you growing? Common, swamp, ?

If it is common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca):
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plan ... ?code=B480
Info on Common Milkweed.

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plan ... =Asclepias syriaca
Problems Associated with Asclepias syriaca

[wandas313]

I"m growing Asclepias curassavica . I think next year I will try a different species as I've read these are not native to GA. but yet I've grown them for years and they do well.

[Mona Miller]

http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search& ... rch=Search
There is a huge milkweed community. Some are what I call "feeder" and other "eaters". The feeders eat or nectar the milkweed, the eaters eat those that feed on the milkweed.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/39895
This milkweed weevil is attacking my tropical mikweed. This may account for your milkweed problem.

[NickiM]

Plants that are in soil without adequate drainage will grow the way you describe. They look fine for awhile, then they wither and curl down from the top. I had to build a raised bed of concrete blocks and mix a lot of sand into the soil in order to grow a.incarnata. I found an variety of a.tuberosa that grows well in clay from a company called High Country Gardens. They sell a lot of native desert, prarie, and mountain plants also, including one called Prarie Catch Fly (the stems are sticky, hence the name) that has fiery red flowers that hummingbirds love.