I always wonder about a plant that rots when the others around it, treated the same way, thrive. Used to think I never had to think about rot here as I ignorned all advice and planted directly in the ground all summer, even when it was well above 90. Never had a problem. Then this fall I bought a bunch of daylilies on the Lily Auction, shipped and planted early September. They looked absolutely great when they arrived, nice healthy fans. I planted them in the ground and SAN DIEGO promptly rotted. Now mind you the others are all in the same area, planted and mulched and watered the same way. All thriving. Go figgure.

I think some of them are just more prone to rot than others. I too have planted lots this fall that I won on the LA, and only had one out of the entire bunch to rot, Collective Spirit. It was several fans and I divided it (not cutting the crown) and planted it in two different places. It's rotted in both, and all the other dl's in the same locations are doing great. I've had Susan Pritchard Petit twice and it's rotted on me both times, needless to say, I will not be planting that one again.
I don't grow BKS and have never had it, so I can't tell you anything about it, however.
Jan

I am going to venture a guess that the plants that rotted were already infected,or weak when you got them.If someone use the same tool that they cut rot out with to divide another plant,they have spread the rot to the new cut.Perhaps that is the general idea of how you got it.

Michelle, It's not the daylily because I purchased one too this summer I potted it up first and then in put it in the ground about mid Sept. Within 8 weeks it had a good root system going.
I had some in pots rot and some in the ground rot so I'm thinking that whoever sent the daylily had something maybe some type of disease?

I've only been growing daylilies for four years now and I've never done anything special for them. The ones I got in a trade last spring I just put them in the ground and they have doubled in size and some bloomed, but now that I've been on this forum I've been very confused as to why everyone is so careful with their daylilies?

BTW, The only ones I've lost have been from purchases from out of state online. One out of state purchase was awful because they're going through a drought, they were very small and didn't look like they'd do anything but I put them in the ground and did give them root stimulator and they are doing great.
I can say that I've had the best of luck with Blueridge daylilies.

I've never had trouble with one's I've purchased locally or gotten in local trades.
It could be just a fluke?

This is just my experience.

Barb

I also planted new lilies all July, August, September and never had any rot-- I was sooo careful to soak them all in 10% bleach (occasionally overnight, but at least several hours.) I watered them all deeply, and then let them get very dry. But I got a little tired, and I received fifteen plants from a single LA seller. Wonderful fans! Stunning bonuses --extra fans, and a jaw dropping Big Navy, Gilded Scarlett, and Special Candy.

I was swamped at work, my son was sick-- I didn't even check the names at the time. Some of the tags were lost! Cats! I was sloppy--I dumped some bleach into a huge tub and added some water. Maybe it was 10%, maybe it was 5% or less. I did it outside with the hose, and didn't clean and trim and inspect them like I usually do. It took two weeks, but one morning Special Candy was flopped over and on digging incredibly stinky and soft. All the others are fine.

I wondered if the aforementioned pesky cats peed on it, but it didn't smell like pee or anything-- it smelled very, very sour with a bit of fruity. I'm personally convinced it's a bacteria-- LOL! I know that sounds presumptious, but I was an anesthesiologist and it smelled a lot like psuedomonas a. to me. That wound infection is distressingly common and so hard to fight, they bring it to the OR clean it, and I've smelled it on the breath people who have it as pneumonia.

I know that a daylily is not a person, and I'm sorry if I've grossed anybody out. I've just seen threads asking "What is it?" and I never saw a good answer. I imagine (yeah, I have a big imagination, I know) that crown rot is the name of one end process that can be caused by more than one type of bacteria.

I know it's been very cool lately, and CR usually happens in heat. I only watered it once, and we only had rain once. The thing is, with the cool nights the plants sat in heavy dew every single night.

I used Physan 20 to soak it, cleaned and trimmed it, soaked it again, and now it's drying. There is crown left, and only one firm root.

Will it grow? I don't know....maybe.

I must be just plan lucky at least I hope I am and I hope it continues because I have Wispy Rays in a spot that when ever I water it gets watered and I'm talking lots of water but with good drainage. So far Wispy Rays doesn't mind being wet, I've had it in the ground for a month now.
I would just die if I lost to many daylilies after all the money I've spent and all the hard work I've put into making new beds and clearing an old one to make room.

I wish you luck Barb, daylilies have a way of sucking you in! But there's only two kinds of people that collect daylilies. Those that have lost plants to crown rot, and those that are gonna! ;0)
Ed

Best Kept Secret is a great plant here in MN, My sister and my sister-in-law plus myself all have it and have no problems with it rotting. We all love the bloom on this one and have had it in our gardens at least several years.