Hello I live in North Vancouver and am container gardening on a South West facing apartment balcony. I recently purchased acanthus mollis and planted it along with euphorbia and coral bells in a large wooden planter I had drilled 4 small holes for drainage, things were looking good for one and a half weeks Acanthus looks terrible for last 2 days Dropping leaves Holes in center leaves Examined with magnifying glass and a couple bugs with wings, maybe an aphid or two but not infested and I don't think these are common pests for AC and would not create the holes Plants around it seem fine It was watered once per week since purchase Thank you for any advice
Update: there may be centipeds or millipedes ( not sure of the difference) in the planter. I just found some in a nearby planter while cleaning it out...are these harmful to acanthus? Thank you
Update 2 I went out at night with flashlight to inspect, there were no critters such as slugs or caterpillar I dug it up today and noticed roots were in a tight spiraling mess... They looked healthy though. So maybe issue was that it was pot bound when I planted it and I didn't separate roots enough I also subsequent read that it needs really dry soil so I replanted it in a container with better drainage Hopefully it will survive I am trying to gain confidence in the garden and killing an invasive species that everyone calls "Hardy" causes me despair lol! Still not sure why the leaves look chewed up with holes
Acanthus mollis is not a suitable container plant because it grows so aggressively. See: How to Grow and Care for Bear's Breeches
Update on white water acanthus mollis Things are going well! I replanted in a better draining container and let it dry out in case it was a wet feet situation. There was no improvement with that so I watered today and now it has completely perked up! So I think it was root bound and too dry and maybe I'm over reacting about holes in leaves Here is where I got the idea to plant this in a container Whitewater Acanthus (Acanthus 'Whitewater') in Vancouver Victoria Burnaby Penticton Coquitlam British Columbia BC at GardenWorks
I'm sure your Acanthus will be fine for a year or two. Did you see on the GardenWorks link that it spreads to 4 feet wide? There is also mention that it can be grown in containers but you have to wonder what size container would be adequate to keep such a lusty plant happy. Having seen this beauty in action, I know that it can expand indefinitely and, in my opinion, not a good choice for most containers. Then, on the other hand, it's a scary plant to place in an open garden.
