The reason I ran that little experiment above is because I know growers cut their stems in Sept. And, they do this so the stub dries enough to be harmlessly removed for shipping in Oct.. My question was: how much growth and size are they actually losing by doing this? The answer: none or very little.
It also removed a doubt in my mind about whether or not I could start moving plants around earlier in the Fall season. For instance, a major move of a couple hundred, I could spread the workload out and take advantage of the nicer early Fall weather. This year was an off year for me but next year I'll be into one of those 'big digs'---and I'll be cutting stems early.
