Having a continuing problem with my new daylilies that I recently purchased and planted here in Texas, southwest of Houston, Zone 9....

I received a order of seven plants (from a nursery in Georgia) back in September and promptly got them planted, right ahead of four days of rainy weather which was followed by several days of mid 90's temperatures. Within two weeks of planting, the foliage of three fans started turning yellow and the fan turned dark and mushy directly above the crown, and pretty quickly, these plants were dead.

I contacted the seller I had bought them from (off the LA forum) and she quickly sent me double fans to replacement the lost/dead plants.

As a precaution, I planted these six new plants in a different area that was partially shaded and well drained. Also planted them with the crown a bit high so as to keep soil away from the foliage area where the plants previously turned soft and mushy. Two weeks go by and same exact problem with two of the "replacement" plants...! And in the meantime, another of the original order has also died....Yellow foliage, mushy right above the crown, and goodbye daylily..... Six dead so far...

Very frustrating... Really do not know what I should have done differently as I have never encountered this in years of planting and dividing my home grown daylilies... Might mention that all plants were tets and these were the first daylilies I have ever purchased... Not a good experience :(

Googled and read info here and other internet information in an attempt to figure out what went wrong...... Crown Rot... right...?? Perhaps this time of the year is not a good time to be planting new daylilies..? September here has lots of 90 degree days...

Are tets more prone to get this...? Never had one of my dips give me any such problem.

Just received another order of 12 plants from a seller in Ohio... and have half of them in the ground. Rain and cold weather delayed getting all of them planted today.

Comments and advice VERY much appreciated...

Robert R
Wharton, TX

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Robert

The crown rot you experienced is not the fault of your LA seller and is typical of planting daylilies when it is too hot in your zone. All plants received under those conditions should be potted in well drained potting mix and kept under cool conditions until your weather and soil cools enough for transplanting them outside IMHO. The farther away your seller lives, the more the transplant shock there is to the plant having to adjust to a completely different climate. So you might have better luck buying from zone 8 or 9 sellers and/or planting after October 15 when you have better planting conditions.

Robert,
I lost one plant to rot this year, and almost lost a second one. The plants had been dug and held for a period of time, before I picked them up (that could have caused some extra stress). But I planted most of them out in the hot sun here and then watered them everyday for over a week, I think that is what mostly contributed to my rot problem, but we were suffering from a drought at the time. Still, I think I would have better off to have only watered well when planted and then only every three days. The plants might have been a little dry and taken longer to get established but I do think they would not have developed rot. One of those plants I had two extra fans of and did pot those two fans and placed them in the shade, they still developed rot and I suspect it was from watering every day. It was the driest spell I ever remember us having, and it was very hot also. In just over a month after planting those plants (also from Georgia) the weather cooled off and we got rain, no rot when planting new plants during this period.
So I agree it is best not to have to plant new daylilies when the weather is so hot, I have had problems before when doing this.

I think daylilies like rainy, cold weather. I wouldn't wait for it to warm up to plant the newest 12 if you can. I've been taking advantage of the cold, wet weather here to move some plants far later in the season than I normally would.

I'm from up north, and don't know Texas conditions vs Florida or Ohio. But I'm curious if maybe some of them are dormants and would naturally die back now, especially after the stress of being moved? Or is the description of how they are dying back obviously rot?

Tim

I'm quite a bit farther north (7b or 8a depending on the map) and my dormants are not yet showing the yellowing of foliage.

"Yellow foliage, mushy right above the crown, and goodbye daylily..... Six dead so far..." to me that spells ROT. I seem to have heard about more people having rot this year than I remember from earlier years.

Thanks to everyone who has replied ... MUCH appreciated.....

Davi said:Robert ....The crown rot you experienced is not the fault of your LA seller and is typical of planting daylilies when it is too hot in your zone. So you might have better luck buying from zone 8 or 9 sellers and/or planting after October 15 when you have better planting conditions.

Davi... I agree.... too hot when planted and will try to make sure any future orders/shipments are scheduled for mid to late October... in the 60's here today, so I finished getting the last few in the ground from the order of 12 from Ohio. Will try to keep "zones" in mind from now on.... Also, I didn't intend to make is sound like the sellers fault as the seller has been great working with me on this issue....

Seedfork said:Robert .... I lost one plant to rot this year, and almost lost a second one... In just over a month after planting those plants (also from Georgia) the weather cooled off and we got rain, no rot when planting new plants during this period. ...So I agree it is best not to have to plant new daylilies when the weather is so hot, I have had problems before when doing this.

Seedfork.... Thanks for the input with respect to the hot weather... It was hot here in September for sure...

Lyshack said:I think daylilies like rainy, cold weather. I wouldn't wait for it to warm up to plant the newest 12 if you can. I've been taking advantage of the cold, wet weather here to move some plants far later in the season than I normally would.... I'm from up north, and don't know Texas conditions vs Florida or Ohio. But I'm curious if maybe some of them are dormants and would naturally die back now, especially after the stress of being moved? Or is the description of how they are dying back obviously rot? Tim

Lyshack... Got the remaining ones in the ground while it was cool... would have finished the day I received them, but got late and then the next day it was raining when the temps started dropping. All of the daylilies I have ordered this summer/fall are evergreen. I avoid the dormant ones...! (even when they are sooooo pretty)....

Seedfork said:"Yellow foliage, mushy right above the crown, and goodbye daylily..... Six dead so far..." to me that spells ROT. I seem to have heard about more people having rot this year than I remember from earlier years.

Seedfork... I learned a lesson the hard way Got them all in the ground now, with some shading provided for late mid day and afternoon sun....

Hi I'm moving to Llano Tx. Will Daylilies grow there? I'm living in upstate NY and want to transplant my French lace lily plants in about 1-2 weeks ( mid September) Any advice is appreciated very much.
Thank you.

jgasreltibbe said:Hi I'm moving to Llano Tx. Will Daylilies grow there? I'm living in upstate NY and want to transplant my French lace lily plants in about 1-2 weeks ( mid September) Any advice is appreciated very much.
Thank you.

Yes for temperature but be prepared for supplemental watering. I don't know about the soil there.