Why Is My Echinacea Not Sprouting Leaves?

Care

• Although once established, echinacea plants are low maintenance and easy to care for, many times gardeners experience problems because of too much care. Echinacea plants thrive when soil is loamy and moist, but the plant is drought tolerant and too much water, or water-logged soil, will cause the plant to slow or stop growing, producing no leaves. Water echinacea once a week during dry periods. As a perennial, echinacea will show little growth the first year after planting, but thrive and bloom during the second year of growth, which is why the plant should be planted in your garden in the fall or late summer, not spring or early summer.

Environment

• The environment you plant your echinacea in can affect how well it grows and produces leaves. Echinacea thrive in full sun, tolerates partial shade, but will simply exist in full shade and not show signs of growing or developing new leaves. The plant also does not grow well as a container plant because, over time, it should grow to heights of four feet, and a container cannot provide adequate root growth. Gardeners in areas with high concentrations of salt in the soil will also be unsuccessful in growing echinacea plants, which have a sensitivity to salt.

Pests

• Insects that attack a echinacea plant will soon place the plant in a stressful state. When an echinacea plant is under stress, it is in a survival state, not growth, and will cease producing new leaves. Common insects that attack echinacea, particularly the echinacea leaves, are aphids, sweet potato whiteflies and Japanese beetles. These pests can quickly suck the nutrients from echinacea leaves. Tender, new leaves are particularly attractive to these pests and it may appear your echinacea is not sprouting new leaves when in reality the pests are damaging the new leaves. Insecticidal soap can eliminate these insects, plus trimming off and disposing of damaged foliage away from your garden.

Disease

• Like insects and pests, diseases infecting your echinacea plant will put the plant into a stress state, stopping growth and leaf development. Carefully examine your echinacea plant to determine whether it is pests or a disease that is attacking your plant. Powdery mildew is a common disease that affects echinacea plants that grow in crowded conditions, limiting sufficient air flow and moisture evaporation. Over-watering can also result in stem rot on echinacea plants. Under-watering benefits this plant more than too much water. Both these diseases can limit, if not stop, new leaf growth.