Tragedy has struck - over-eager tilling when I was gone

Deep breath - OK, I've said every expletive known to mortals, sailors and gang members in the past hour.

Time to step back and ask the experts - before I cry.

2 weeks ago, planted quite a few of the water crystals. Rain and more rain for the past few days. Part of the garden started heaving, so we needed to work the crystals in deeper. Doug was only supposed to do one area, but he got ambitious and did everything all over again.

Damage - over a hundred dollars worth of dahlias planted 2 weeks ago - still not up. He tilled right over them. I ran my hands through the mud and didn't feel anything.

What's my chance of any survivors - I did plant most of them a good 3 inches - and that's about how deep he ran over everything.

Do I cry and have a funeral - or cross my fingers and keep watching the yard over the next few weeks.

I still want to cry (I can't even strangle Doug because he was reallly trying - tilling in the rain to surprise me when I got home).

Sandra

Sandra, years ago my mother had dahlias near the vegetable garden. She hired someone to till, and they tilled the dahlias also. Bottom line was that she had 3X the dahlias.

Hope this helps!

darius - thanks for the quick response. What had bothered me about the dahlias is they had not even broken ground so I don't even know if they were any good - (so I was already worried about them - and the huge hit to my gardening budget), but I was thinking of their roots being like daylilies and pretty tough.

Question here - how long does it usually take for dahlias to break ground after being planted. These were pretty healthy, firm tubers. I think I had planted about 25 overall.

I'll keep my fingers crossed - *sigh* - it did take the fun out of planting my brugs and castors when I went out and saw everything tilled.

BTW - I am absolutely thrilled about the news of your new house. The pictures were wonderful - it looks like a peaceful place.

Sandra, sadly I cannot answer dahlia questions. Sorry.

Thanks for wishes for our new house!

My experience with Dahlias is that they do take a long time to emerge, (I'm also a zone colder than you though). Once they emerge though, they grow quickly.

If Doug only tilled about three inches deep, I'd be willing to bet that most of them will come up still, although probably not in the same spot you planted them. I think the only way they wouldn't survive is if they got chewed up real bad.

Hi Joan - I don't think they did get chewed up too bad - in fact, when I ran my hand through the soil, I didn't find anything and there were no chunks on top. The ground was very crumbly with that water crystal - and he said he flew through and didn't see any pieces come up. And, I'm thinking the ground heaved a bit upwards with those crystals. It'll be interesting to see what I get. I've calmed down a bit.

Funny how we can be as passionate about the plants as our children and pets. ;-)

Glad you have calmed down. :) I'd just keep watching for awhile and see if they come up anywhere within a 3 foot radius of where you planted them. Let us know how it turns out.

Yep, I am as attached to my plants as I am to my kids and cat. Yesterday I got carried away with my new weeding tool and weeded out one of my hostas that was just emerging. I almost had to beat myself up. LOL

Sandra....I had a similar experience except I put the DRY water crystals in all my Potted
plants. After watering the potted plants and a good rain, I noticed all my Potted plants
were swelling / lifting out of the pots.The last time I saw that is when Mom ( Rest her Soul) kneaded her bread Dough, covered it with a cloth and it came rising over the side of the pan. Needless to say, I had to repot all those plants.
Lesson. 1.....soak the crystals BEFORE you add them to your potted plants!!
Lesson 2...... Dummy! Read the insructions BEFORE you proceed!
Vic

Sandra, I forgot to add that my mother had someone come and till her garden years ago. The dahlias were still in the dirt from the year before. After he tilled and cut up the tubers, she has dahlias everywhere!

Bottom line: don't fret!

Good luck! Do let us know what happens.

I put some dahlias in pots and some in the ground the week before you planted yours, and mine are just starting to come up. The long period of rain we have had is just what dahlias do not like. For starters, we are not even supposed to water them until their leaves emerge above the ground (to prevent rot), so Mother Nature didn't follow that instruction! The warmth of the sun today and the higher temps predicted for the weekend should cause the tubers to send up leaves pretty quickly. I have found that, as long as a tuber has the little nubbin that will become the sprout, it can flourish even though it may have an insignificant or damaged tuber; so, it is likely that if a piece of tuber were to have been chopped off it would not matter. Remember that if the "nubbinless" (sproutless) end of the tuber is chopped off there will be no plant emanating from it. I see no report from you that leaves have appeared yet, but will check back in another week or so. If the tiller pushed them down a little deeper it will just take a little longer. Good luck!

Many of ours, downstairs and under lights, haven't even sprouted while others are 18" tall. I guess some just take more time.

I've been really curious to know how this turned out. Can you give me an update on the "tilled" dahilas Sbarr?

I don't usuallyl plant dahlia tubers -- but I plant the seedling grown plants from the greenhouse. Last fall -- I pulled up the plants and saw small tubers, so I saved them and planted them in March. I split them apart pretty drastically. They didn't all come up -- but many of them did - about half. I think that some of the others were just not mature enough. However, out of each "clump" -- I got 3 to 5 plants, so I have a lot more plants this year than what I saved.

I would expect something similar to happen to the ones you planted -- that even if they got split up a bit, there should still be some significant growth from them. You may find out that you start off with more dahlias -- but smaller to begin with, but that they will grow and fill in.

Good luck.
Theresa
T

Hi psychw2 - sorry I didn't respond earlier. I just re-upped my subscription tonight. Amazingly enough, the dahlias came out just fine. I was quite surprised and happy. I enjoyed a summer of beautiful flowers with the dahlias the treat at the end of the season. Alas, I didn't plant any this year - but look out next year!

Cheers,
Sandra

Hey Sandra... WB!!!

:)

Hello there dear lady - I've missed you all....

Sandra!!!! Welcome Back!!!

Hiya Melissa....yes, I'm bad from afar and immersed in finally getting my garden back in shape!