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Buds & leaves brown, crispy. What is wrong?

6 years ago

Hello, first-time dahlia caretaker here.

I rescued this plant from the clearance section at Lowe's a day ago. As you can see from the photos, all of the buds have turned brown to some extent, and many of the leaves are wilted and crispy. The stems still seem to be healthy, though there was another dahlia plant on the rack whose stems were also turning brown, and I fear the same could happen to mine. I could not see any insects or signs of insects on the plant.

If this helps, the soil was damp when I bought it. It has not been watered since then.

I'm in US hardiness zone 9a, in Henderson, NV.

Any and all assistance will be appreciated!

Comments (2)

seranata
6 years ago
Not an expert but I think the bud browning is because it's just too hot. You might want to give it some shade in the hottest part of the day. Often the first buds on mine look like that when they start trying to bloom in late July when it's so hot here. The stems with the buds look like gonners, but you can see there's new growth. Maybe trim back to where you see new shoots coming out from the sides of the stems (Right where a leaf would join you could see a little shoot poking out) and then let the plant recover.

Since you are in a hot place the plant will still need plenty of water like your other potted plants.
Miao Yu thanked seranata
cicivacation
6 years ago
Excellent advice, Seranata. I was going to write the same exact thing: cut off dead parts so the plant doesn't put anymore energy into damaged buds. It will bounce back quickly.

Looks like they just remembered to water it, after the plant just about gave up hope.

If it is really hot, be sure to plant it in the soil as soon as possible so the black pot doesn't end up cooking the tuber.
Miao Yu thanked cicivacation
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