Gophers

SteveM · 2023-06-15T17:05:19+00:00

I am Carl in Caddyshack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NlQiQfC4zQ The wet winter resulted in a great supply of food for the mother gophers this year. Now...

Bessie

Spoo welcome to the forum Spoo! Wow, your critter experience and remedies definitely make me feel like I'm not alone. I liked hearing about your experiences. It would be nice if you went into your forum.dahliasaddict profile and added some info on where you're located and maybe the growing zone you're in.

SteveM

Spoo Good insights!
The only thing I've tried that worked for both voles and gophers (bastids!)was to plant in a trench lined with 1/2' hardware cloth. I dug trenches about 2 feet wide and 10" deep, lined them with 4 feet wide roll of hardware cloth and then filled with soil. I've only used this method for one year but this was the first year I have ever dug tubers and have not lost a tuber to gopher/vole damage. It is a lot of labor but no more than the digging I would do setting traps all season. I don't know how many seasons the hardware cloth will last before it needs replacing.

When I had a field in a different location my cats did a good job on voles bu not so much on gophers. My field now is in coyote territory so no cats are allowed. My vole population has boomed ever since I started growing under shade cloth, I assume it is because the predators can't get to them. I had voles everywhere - in my trash pails, under my weed mat, and even had nests in my tomato plants. Their favorite homes were in abandoned gopher holes.

I think the only solution I haven't tried is to inject Carbon Monoxide gas into the tunnels. This method might work to ged rid of them but in my case they would be back in a short time so doesn't seem worth the expense.

Bessie

SteveM thanks for the update, as I was wondering how your project went. Hardware cloth was put into 4 vegetable 4'x8' raised beds about 20 years ago. The metal is still present(not disintegrated), however nearby tree roots have messed with it, and it is not as deep underground as it originally was. Over the years I think I've damaged the hardware cloth while digging, so that there are entry points into the beds.

SteveM

Bessie Hardware cloth was put into 4 vegetable 4'x8' raised beds about 20 years ago

That is encouraging. I'm not sure the quality of the hardware cloth I bought is the same as what was sold 20 years ago but I would be happy to get half that many years out of it. I did find that I had to be more careful digging to not puncture the wire with the shovel (although rips are easy to repair). Also, the edges of the wire is sharp so, since I left about 2" above ground around the edges, I have to be careful weeding to avoid cuts on my hands.

calico20hill

I never see vole damage and I think it is because of my garden ducks. I have seen them catch and kill a vole so I think they are worth their keep! I do have moles that push up under the weed cloth covered pathways but that is just annoying. No sign of anything chewing on the tubers...I have 4 ducks in my 45 by 60' garden. My raised beds have critter wire bases and the rest of the garden is covered in weed cloth.

Juliarugula

calico20hill whoa! That’s so cool! Guard ducks…🦆🦆

calico20hill

They occassionally take a nip out of a leaf when the plants are young or accidently break something during mating, but for the most part they pay their way several times over. And the only bugs I am bothered by are the ones up toward the tops of the plants.

Bessie

Early Summer update on gophers in my garden. I have two "Gopher Hawks" traps. I actually caught one gopher several weeks ago. Another gopher is causing havoc, and has evaded the two traps. Three dahlias grown in 1 gal. pots, sunken in the ground have been severely eaten by the pests, as the gopher comes and attacks from above ground. One 4" sunken pot had a big hole eaten from underneath, discovered when the foliage went missing. Upon digging I discovered a huge hole in the pot, and both the greenery and tuber were gone. Today, one nice large second year seedling had one large stalk severed near ground level. The stem was just laying on the ground, and I suspect it was too woody for the gopher's tastes. I potted up a small cutting yesterday... Before potting up, I laid poisonous foxglove in the bottom of the one gallon pot. Then I nested another 1 gallon pot under it before sinking it into the ground.

I'm reminded that to grow dahlias, one must have patience, endurance, strength and determination to work against the negative forces at hand. I feel for those who are dealing with drought, heat, pests and rain.
Second year seedling, 24232, cupping at night:

Teddahlia

From what I have heard from several people, California gophers are the worst. Steve Lamb(Apopa Dahlias)
attempted to grow dahlias in Eureka and despite all efforts , the great majority of his dahlias were consumed. He has moved back to Washington State where his property has glacial till soil rather than gophers. He talks about rock removal instead of lost plants to gophers. Last year we had no gopher issues. The trapper has hopefully caught them all this year but I have his phone number handy. I am worthless at trapping gophers myself.

SteveM

[unknown] Gopher Hawks

I caught one gopher with my "Gopher Hawk" trap before I bent the wires when setting it (pushed it down too far). I took it apart and re-bent the wires but it never worked well after my repairs. Many of these innovative gopher traps seem to be a good way to lose a finger or two. How embarrassing that would be.

katyaker

SteveM You can purchase replacement "basket" wires for Gopher Hawk https://gopherhawk.com/products/gopherhawk-replacement-strap-cartridge . $7.95 and apparently very easy to replace. I purchased a Gopher Hawk a month ago to catch moles, but I haven't seen any mole activity since I got it.

Teddahlia

Gopher Hawk has worked for people I know. I tossed mine into the garbage after it sat out for a couple of years. It never caught anything. A gopher trapper told me the worst thing you can do is to have a gopher trap fail as the gopher learns to avoid them. I doubt that is all that true but our trapper told a story of one that took many attempts to trap.

Bessie

Teddahlia I am also aware there may be a residual scent left behind from the last kill. I got lucky with the catch a few weeks ago. My new strategy is to use two, and point one in each direction of the existing tunnel. In the meantime, I've sprinkled foxglove foliage and liberally distributed expired coffee grounds, someone gave me, around the base of each plant.
First bloom of 2025 seedling(grandparent is HH Daydream)
The subsequent blooms look like they will not be clockface.

Teddahlia

Do gophers taste good when cooked on the grill? Our dog thinks that the gophers caught in the traps that have started to smell are the perfect food. We had to put some huge pots over the traps and then the trapper man said it was ok to remove the dead gophers instead. Yes, he is the trapper and he just tosses them into a bin on his truck. We are a bit squeamish and do not look forward to emptying gopher traps.
Daydream related flower has some of it's looks. Daydream is a good seed parent. We missed the boat and should have entered Daydream in the trial gardens.
HH Snowdrop

Bessie

Teddahlia I am a fan of HH Daydream! I like that it's early to bloom, branches without pinching, and keeps blooming all summer. Seed production is nice.

Teddahlia

Gopher trapper here and only one active creature to trap. Moles are here and there and occasionally push plants out of the ground but of course do not eat them, He is an expert at telling the difference between a gopher mound and a mole mound.
Open center seedling that we did not keep. Looks good in picture.

Bessie

Today I found another nice, big second year dahlia seedling was attacked even though it's planted in a 1 gallon pot sunk in the ground. Other smaller dahlia plants have gone missing, but they are not especially missed by me.
Strategy to capture the pest: I left the 1 gallon pot ( that has the gopher chewed 3-4" hole) in the ground, removed some dirt, put the Gopher Hawk in place, and then placed a seedling I've decided to cull into the hole, as "bait". The gopher will have to go past the trap to get at the dahlia. Seems like a good use for dahlias I want to cull. We'll see...
In this case I have another plant of the second year seedling( my favorite 24312) growing in a different part of the yard. The only good news is I salvaged two of the three big stalks and took small cuttings. Frustratingly, most of the cuttings I've grown under lights have just not rooted. So, I'm taking a play from @SteveM , and trying to root the cuttings outside in a shady location.

SteveM

Bessie So, I'm taking a play from @SteveM , and trying to root the cuttings outside in a shady location.

I think that was advice Missy read online. I suggested she take skinny cuttings (from the bottom of the plant) and root them under 16+ hour daylength lighting. I root all of my cuttings (year-round) under 24/7 lighting, outside under shade cloth.

Bessie

Bessie Update

Strategy to capture the pest:
SUCCESS! Caught a gopher. Am I just a blind squirrel that found the nut? We'll see. Moved that designated culled seedling to another part of the yard where a gopher ate one of my dahlias a week ago. I'm using the same strategy to put the Gopher Hawk between the exposed underground hole and the root ball (of the Dahlia to be culled).

Bessie

SteveM thank for the clarification! I remembered you rooting cuttings "outside" and figured under shade cloth. So by 24/7 lighting, do you use outside compatible lights that you leave on all the time?

MissyWeitzel

SteveM I did try the shade. Really I made a valiant effort creating a shady dahlia fort and I checked on them twice a day. They all died. It was so hot out though. I took a bunch more and brought them in and have them under 24 hour grow lights and they're doing awesome. I've barely lost any and the first 10% are nicely rooted. Now I need to decide if I should roll the dice and harden them off and bury the pots out in the garden soon or if I should just let them get bigger inside for a month and bury the pots outside once the weather cools some. Or at this late time would it be better to just keep them inside and just have them be mother plants and not necessarily pot tubers.

SteveM

Bessie I just use one of the cheapo, 4 foot long, LED shop lights placed 3 feet above the cuttings and left on except when it rains. I think it is only supposed to be used indoors but we seldom get rain so I use it outside. If I had a room that was air-conditioned I would root them indoors in the summer especially when the temp outside gets over about 85º. The combination of high heat and high humidity will rot cuttings.

Bessie

MissyWeitzel play it safe. Let the cuttings get bigger under controlled conditions, but keep a keen watch for pest issues. Also, fertilize, keep humidity and air flow appropriate for good growth. The time you've spent is to valuable to lose the plants in a heat spell, in my opinion.

Bessie

SteveM I think you nailed my issue with cuttings.. too much heat and humidity. Thanks.

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