I moved my dahlia from pot to raised bed. I thought i had been watering it enough and it had been hardening off outside for quite some time. However when i took it out of pot, most of the soil just fell away from it – roots and tubers still in tact though and stems strong.
But I’ve planted it, watered it in well and it’s all gone quite floppy. I am thinking transplant shock? Can it be recovered? Is there anything I can do to help it? Cut away floppy bottom leaves?
I think it’s my Arthur Hambley one.
Thanks! All help appreciated 🤞🏼
by Ok-Librarian1833
4 Comments
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Are those chunks of clay hanging out at the top of the soil? That’s strongly what it looks like to me. If so, you do not want to plant dahlias there. They will retain too much water and rot—I know from experience.
Can you give us some more info on:
-Soil type
-Day and night temps
-Did any roots look brown/rotting, could any critters have munched roots
-Where were you hardening off and were conditions the same as this bed? For example were they on a protected patio and now they’re out in the yard?
Sounds like you were doing all the right things… must be very frustrating. Roots have tiny hairs (called cilia) that absorb most of the water for the plant. When the soil dropped off, it probably stripped away the cilia, too. So now the root system has no way to get moisture to the leaves. You can try covering it with a cloche and maybe mist the leaves to try to conserve humidity. Keep it out of the sun and heat. Hopefully that will buy you 2-3 days for the cilia to regenerate. If that doesn’t work and the foliage dies, I’m sorry to say there’s not much to do but cut it back and hope the foliage regrows.