Sunpatiens is the answer to all those who love impatiens and wish to see them bask in the sun!
Summary of key sunpatiens facts
Name – Sunpatiens ®
Scientific name – Impatiens hawkeri hybrid
Family – Balsaminaceae
Type – perennial indoors, annual outdoors
Exposure – sun and part sun
Soil – ordinary but not soggy
Height – about 16 inches (40 cm)
Flowering – May to September-October.
You’ll be able to decorate your beds, garden boxes and pots in the sun for many long months.
Planting and propagating sunpatiens
How to plant Sunpatiens from containers
The planting of Sunpatiens ® flowers purchased in nursery pots is performed in spring.
- Favor sun or part sun.
- The ground must drain well and have a lot of humus.
- Plant mulch will retain water and slowly convert to humus over the season.
- Plant several specimens together, spaced about 16 inches (40 cm) from the next to create a nice cover.
Then, mix your earth with flower plant soil mix and water often in summer to make the flower-bearing abundant.
Preparing cuttings from your sunpatiens ® plants
You can also prepare cuttings from your favorite sunpatiens ® plants if you want to keep the exact same properties. With cuttings, take care to ensure constant moisture or the blooming may be delayed or it might not bloom at all.
However, overwatering your cuttings will lead to elongated stems with less flowers. The best time to water is when the medium has dried up slightly, just enough to make the leaves sag or wilt a little bit. This shows that the plant is focusing its energy on root development which is important.
- Note: Since Sunpatiens is a variety protected by a plant patent, you should only make cuttings for personal use and not for financial gain.
Lastly, you can let a few flowers turn to seed and collect them for sowing in the following spring.
- Like all impatiens, Sunpatiens doesn’t produce a lot of seeds. When it does, seedlings may come out quite different from the parent plant because of cross-pollination by other impatiens.
- Seeds produced by the Sunpatiens are never true copies of the original. As such, they might turn out to be a new hybrid! Seed offspring aren’t included in the original patent.
How to grow Sunpatiens seeds
Sunpatiens seeds need light to germinate. Place them atop the soil mix without covering them up.
You can either sprinkle the seeds directly on the growing bed where they’ll sprout and grow, or start them as indoor seedlings 6 to 8 weeks prior to the last frost date in your area.
At that stage they’ll have grown enough to be transplanted without risk of dying off. For maximum success, check on how to minimize transplant shock.
- There hasn’t been any testing on Sunpatiens seeds to see if all parent characteristics transfer to children.
- It may be that hardiness, heat resistance, and blooming are different in children than they were in parents.
- Pay attention to how your sunpatiens seedlings develop to learn how they cope with heat, drought, or cold weather.
Caring for and pruning sunpatiens ®
Care for sunpatiens ® is child’s play and no pruning nor pinching is required.
- Water regularly in case of heat waves.
- Adding flower plant fertilizer will enhance the blooming but you’ll still have flowers if you don’t fertilize.
In pots or garden boxes, you can amplify the aesthetic appeal and stimulate budding of new flowers if you remove wilted flowers regularly.
Temperature range for Sunpatiens
- Possible growing within the 32°F – 117°F (0°C to 47°C) range.
- Thriving only within the 40°F – 95°F range, (5°C to 35°C), its comfort range.
Sunpatiens in the cold
The coldest temperature a Sunpatiens plant can survive is 32°F (0°C), and then only for a couple hours. This plant’s cells have lots of water and don’t have any coping against freezing. Cells burst when water inside them turns to ice. Even an hour at freezing temperature will result in damage to the plant.
- Parts of the plant damaged by ice or frost will be replaced by new growth when temperatures rise.
Sunpatiens in full heat
Very hot weather, above 100°F (37°C), will almost certainly result in wilting at the hottest hours. This will even happen if you provide constant water through drip irrigation.
- Irrigating or ensure proper moisture serves to help the plant survive in this heat.
- Blooming is impaired and flowers wilt much faster.
- As soon as temperatures go back to the comfort range, blooming will resume in full.
Impatiens naturally evolved as a shade plant. Although sunpatiens is derived from impatiens, it’s astounding to see this hybrid easily take on such full sun and hot temperatures!
Sunpatiens ® winter care
Don’t be surprised if your outdoor sunpatiens ® doesn’t come back from one year to the next because it fears the cold. It will survive winter only where the season is mild.
- But you can try growing sunpatiens in pots to bring inside your home during the coldest months.
- If the lowest temperatures in your area are just around freezing, try winterizing your sunpatiens ® in the hope of protecting them.
Uprooting your sunpatiens ® from the growing bed to containers is also possible.
- Dig the plant out carefully with as many roots as you can.
- Transfer to a pot with conventional soil mix.
- Trim the stems back by about one third (leaving two-thirds on the plant).
- Set the sunpatiens ® indoors near a window that provides a lot of sun.
When you grow the plants in pots, reduce watering to only once a fortnight or once a month during the winter dormant phase, as you would most house plants. If ever you’ve been giving your sunpatiens ® too much water, you might trigger root rot, so water only when the surface of the soil is dry.
Don’t add any fertilizer over the winter.
Diseases and enemies of sunpatiens ®
Pests on Sunpatiens
Although generally not so vulnerable to diseases and parasites, occasionally you’ll notice an invasion of red spider mites and aphids on your impatiens.
- Here is how to fend off red spider mites
- Here is how to fight aphids off
If holes appear on the leaves of your sunpatiens ®, be on the lookout for slugs because they love this type of plant and you must act fast. Shown here is the pumpkin beetle, which is quite harmless for sunpatiens.
If you notice leaves disappearing entirely, there might be a few caterpillars hiding below. Impatiens hawkeye moth is a caterpillar that favors plants of the Impatiens family. It is normally only active in SouthEast Asia, from India to the Philippines (including Australia and Indonesia).
- Learn about natural caterpillar control
Diseases that infect sunpatiens
Unlike common Impatiens, Sunpatiens ® lineage was selected and bred to resist downy mildew.
Sunpatiens ® rotting from the roots and stems
Allthough it comes from Impatiens varieties that were resistant to most types of diseases, the Sunpatiens ® plant may contract certain root rot fungus when growing conditions aren’t ideal.
- Poor soil drainage, constantly wet leaves, and high temperatures usually cause fungal infection.
Fungus such as Pythium and Rhizoctonia may develop on the sunpatiens due to poor drainage, contaminated soil, and wounds to the roots. To ensure this doesn’t happen, try the following:
- handle the young plant carefully when planting, especially when disentangling the roots.
- increase drainage in the soil with sand and organic material.
- planting in flower beds enriched with green manure has been correlated to higher resistance to Rhizoctonia.
- when planting in pots, use fresh, new soil mix for your Sunpatiens ®.
If ever the disease has already appeared, you can still control it:
- remove and destroy specimens with the worst symptoms.
- amend the soil to increase drainage (sand + organic matter)
- spray natural organic fungicides such as a garlic decoction or fermented horsetail tea, both excellent fungus repellents.
Read more on the topic of how to deal with rotting sunpatiens plants.
Learn more about sunpatiens ®
Being very ornamental thanks to its bursting colors, this perennial or annual blooms remarkably in flower beds and garden boxes.
- Care is simple and growth is quick.
- Resistance to warm weather is what makes this flower stand out.
There are three major types of sun impatiens
- Sunpatiens ‘Compact‘ – grows up to 2½ feet (75 cm) tall
- Sunpatiens ‘Spreading‘ – reaches heights of up to 3 feet (90 cm)
- Sunpatiens ‘Vigorous‘ – makes it over 3½ feet (105 cm) high
Where Sunpatiens comes from
This Impatiens hybrid was bred from ‘New Guinea’ Impatiens, which itself was already an improvement over common Impatiens as regards heat resistance.
Indeed, traditional Impatiens varieties would only thrive in the shade but wither away when temperatures increased. Thanks to a dense, fast-growing root system, Sunpatiens ® is able to resist high temperatures. However, it isn’t drought-resistant so regular watering is mandatory.
Why the “®”? Sunpatiens ® is a development of the Sakata Seed Corporation, which set the trademark name specifically for merchandising. This is the name most horticulture stores will sell the plant under, but the scientific name is Impatiens hawkeri hybrid.
This Japan-based company worked with Indonesian growers to breed the plant. They’re constantly adding new colors such as fire red, tropical rose, neon pink, magenta and more colors from the orange to purple range.
Smart tip about Sunpatiens ®
During the blooming, feel free to water your sunpatiens ® regularly but not too much to keep just the right moisture level.
Sunpatiens on social media
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Credits for images shared to Nature & Garden (all edits by Gaspard Lorthiois):
Sunpatiens ‘Shell Pink’ (also on social media) by F. D. Richards ★ under © CC BY-SA 2.0
Potted ‘Compact White’ Sunpatiens by Serres Fortier under © CC BY 2.0
Beetle on orange sunpatiens by coniferconifer ★ under © CC BY 2.0
I am propagating Sunpatiens from cuttings taken through the summer months. One thing I am never certain about is how much water the cuttings need. Too much water or too little water can give problems later on, like late blooming etc. I have recently purchased a water meter which shows you how wet, moist or dry the soil is, would I be correct in saying that it is best to keep the meter reading on moist to dry as the best option?
Hello again Richard! Yes, that would be exactly the right setting. To help keep moisture constant, you can do the following. Try only one or combine the techniques if you wish to experiment.
– avoid direct sunlight on your cuttings. This dries the soil out very fast, especially if set behind a window (a small greenhouse effect speeds the drying up there).
– try “bagging” your cuttings. This means taking your seedlings and putting them in large sealable freezing bags (Ziploc-like). Place your water meter in one bag to check if it isn’t too moist. If too wet, then open the bags up for a couple hours. Moisture will evaporate and you can seal and measure again. With this technique it’s very important to avoid direct sun, as the bags would quickly heat up like a greenhouse.
– if not bagging, compensate drying by resting your cuttings on a tray covered in clay pebbles. Keep them constantly wet. This won’t interfere with the rooting since the soil doesn’t touch it, but it will provide moisture all around the area which is perfect.
Hope this helps, Richard!
Hi Gaspard thanks for your reply.
All of my cuttings are in 3″and 5″ pots and put into trays with a gravel bedding. I am growing my cuttings in a summerhouse which has windows but possibly light may be an issue and is lightly heated to a temperature of around 50-60F. I Have lost some cuttings where the leaves drop off the main stem of the plant. Strangely nearly all the cuttings I have lost are white, I have a lot of lilac and orange cuttings grown under the same conditions which are ok. I will try and send some pictures if I can get my head around the i-phone technology.
Many thanks for your assistance.
It seems to me your setup is nearly perfect. You’ve now got everything covered: temperature, moisture, exposure… If you fear there’s too much sun, simply stretch a thin veil above the cuttings, but this isn’t so important now that moisture is controlled. It must be fun to see those cuttings thrive!
My sunpatients have grown and constantly flower but flowers wilt in the hot sun. I thought that these plants tolerate sun. I have kept them moist and well drained but not soggy. Can you tell me why the flowers on these plants wilt dramatically in the sun?
Hi Denise, it depends on how hot it gets. Regular impatiens tend to stop blooming entirely as soon as temperatures hit 80°F (26°C). Sunpatiens were bred from stock that can take more heat, but they also tend to bloom less and less as average daily temperatures keep rising. A “hot day” for sunpatiens starts from 95°F (35°C) and up.
If heat hits unexpectedly, the plant doesn’t yet have a strong enough root system to cope. It wilts in order to conserve water. If hot days keep on coming, the root system will develop and the plant should cope better and better. Best is to lather a layer of mulch to keep water in. Watering in the morning will also help. Direct water to the roots/ground instead of getting the leaves wet to avoid spots on leaves.
If you expect it to get even hotter this season, you might need to transplant your sunpatiens to a new, cooler location.
I have about 60 sunpatience. They are the variegated leaves, which is different they what I planted last year. They are growing and blooming but not as good as they should. I’m having the leaves get brown spots. I don’t notice any aphids. We have had a lot of rain, would they get this way if they are too wet?
Hello Joyce! It’s rather surprising for your sunpatiens to get variegated leaves. You’re correct in thinking this isn’t normal, but that might be a good surprise since many people find variegated leaves very beautiful.
However, it may be that it isn’t variegation but some type of disease. Did you check for sunpatiens root rot? This isn’t normally connected to brown spots but excessive water drowning out the roots would weaken the plant and make it more vulnerable to diseases. Although you can’t do much about excessive rain, you can increase soil drainage by bringing on more animal life in your soil, with mulch. Good plant mulch attracts worms which dig galleries that drain excess water away.
Usually spots on leaves are either the sign of a kind of gall growing on the underside of the leaf or, more commonly, a fungal disease. Sometimes, if only a few plants are infected, it’s best to remove them to avoid the disease spreading to neighbors. Treat fungal disease with a natural fertilizer such as fermented tea (horsetail works great).
Can sunpatiens get too much sun? Mine are in sun from sun up til sun down is that too much sun?
Hi Lori! No, it’s almost impossible for sunpatiens to have too much sun. The only thing is that they need quite a lot of water.
A great solution is to add plant mulch, this will help control water evaporation.
My sunpatiens are rotting at the top! What is this and what should I do? Thx!!!
Dear Beresa, it seems your sunpatiens is under attack by some type of fungus. Two strands are most known to infect the plant, Pythium and Rhizoctonia. Since you mentioned the rotting is starting at the crown or top of the plant, I’m inclined to think it’s the latter. To fend off Rhizoctonia, you should:
Hope this helps!
Hi Gaspard.
Thanks for your comments and helpful advice regarding my Sunpatiens. At last I now have a fantastic flush of orange, lilac and white from my plants even if it is now mid July here. We are experiencing one of the hottest summers in England for many years, maybe that may have something to do with the late blooming?
Hi Richard, thanks for your feed-back! Yes, this heat wave is triggering coping mechanisms in many plants, delaying blooming is a favorite. Just keep them well-watered, because they’re heat-resistant, not drought resistant! Glad to have been of service!
I have overwintered my sunpatiens cuttings and have lots of plants but not many of them have come to bloom yet (early july?), there are plenty of buds on the plants and some are just beginning to bloom now, is it something I have done during the propagation period?
Have grown in 3″ pots and in lightly heated propagators.
Hello Richard! Congratulations for all your cuttings! Roots start developing within about three weeks when cuttings are started. It may be that during this period, the soil mix dried off a bit too much at a time: water stress during rooting has been shown to delay blooming for sunpatiens. You can also try pinching buds on a few plants, this might jolt them into producing new flower-bearing stems. And definitely mark off plants that did bloom faster with a ribbon: they’ve proven to be more adapted to your way of working and should do even better in the next round of cuttings!