Gophers

SteveM

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 that the natural food is drying up the gophers are discovering my dahlia buffet. I have tried many different traps over the years with mixed results.

I am interested in any solutions this forum has successfully used to control gophers.The only solution that is not an option for me is poison. Rodenticides have caused the death of many predators including owls, hawks, mountain lions, coyotes, etc. I will quit growing dahlias before I use a poison to control the gophers.
Post any solutions you have discovered. I think I have tried almost everything but maybe not.

Bessie

SteveM I've used saved rose canes that are really thorny, planted at the root level in my vegetable garden. If they tear me up, I figured the gophers and moles will stay away too. I've also planted strips of chicken wire in the ground with my plants. And, I have a good supply of foxglove growing, so I interplant that in places in my vegetable garden. If I find a gopher hole, I stuff foxglove stalks, leaves, and seeds down it.

calico20hill

Wow! So sorry to hear about the gopher problems! How horirbly frustrating! Are there dogs that will dig for gophers? I have not experienced them for which I am very grateful! How does growing in growbags work in gopher territory?

NCDahlia

I have been decimated by gophers / vole / moles this year. They have eaten 150 tubers out of 600. And every day its 1-2 other ones they get. Previous years I put down nematodes ( https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/beneficial-nematodes-triple-threat-combo/beneficial-nematodes ) and milky spore and that seemed to work as it did control the japan beetle grubs which is what they are after. But I did not reapply either last year and perhaps I should as this is the worst its ever been.

I'm with you on not using rat poison as I do have a family of owls behind my house on the extra 1.5 wooded acres. I also have 2 outdoor cats. Pretty much at a loss for words right now - at least for this year.

I could dig out all the rows and put down hardware cloth but that's a massive undertaking, and expensive, which I can only do in the fall / winter after dahlia season is over. And if I did the hardware cloth I would have to switch over to no till which I also don't really like doing either.

SteveM

NCDahlia They have eaten 150 tubers out of 600

That is a very high percent of loss. I am at 10% loss (I've lost 80 of 800) and that is high for this early in the season. Not only am I losing dahlias but I am spending at least an hour every day setting traps. I have quit planting in the field and will plant my remaining plants in buried 5 gal. nursery pots.
Last season I tried some test rows using hardware cloth and another row using chicken wire. I didn't care much for either method. The chicken wire rusted after one season and the hardware cloth is prohibitively expensive and hard to work with. Always nice to have a challenge.🙂

Juliarugula

I haven’t had a gopher problem, so this is probably a shot in the dark, but…

I used to have a problem with rabbits eating my hostas (ok they still do sometimes). I knew where their den was, so I started using that spot as a receptacle for my dog’s poop after yard cleanups. It worked pretty well for the rabbits, and that area is no longer a favorite den…

So maybe if you know where the gopher holes are? And if you have a dog?

Gophers sound like a real nightmare.

Bessie

I have Dahlias in one gallon pots one foot apart, with the pots sunk in to ground level. A gopher has come up along side the pot and cut down the plant a few inches from ground level... one plant yesterday and one today.😕. So while the pot will protect the tuber, so far, the plant is susceptible to being taken down. I suppose a little chicken wire fence would be a deterrent around each plant, but I don't have the energy. I stuffed thorny rose canes down the holes the gopher used.
I think the gopher was drawn to the extra watering I did to supplement the drip irrigation.

LoriDee

I live near Boise & a local Pest Control place has a machine called PERC which pumps pressurized carbon monoxide into the gopher tunnels & it works right away & doesn't affect any other critters. It's really made a difference.

hobbity101

LoriDee Can I ask how much that cost?

Bessie

I started to dig up my Dahlias today. The seedlings were sunken in the ground, in hard plastic baskets from the dollar store. A gopher just had to get at seedling 23043...

Likely has tasty tubers. Gopher ate right through the plastic basket. The rectangular opening that serves as a handle was the starting point of the hole.

I still have 3 nice tubers on the clump, but rather dismayed. I despise gophers.

Krista

Bessie oh my, how discouraging! Happy to hear you’ve got three tubers, what a lovely bloom this seedling has!

Bessie

I planted all the dahlias in my yard in pots sunk in the ground. Most were in 1 gallon size pots, a few were in smaller size, such as 4-5" round pots.
Except for the few plants the gophers took out from the top, the tubers are preserved.
I think the tuber clumps would have been bigger if they had not been in pots, but I am thrilled I have tubers!! With 30 inches of rain this winter, and no special mulching, these tubers survived a very mild winter.
I just dug these clumps up, removing them from their pots and cleaning them up.

The below image shows an old tag, should read Hollyhill Creamy

SteveM

Bessie Nice looking clumps! Did the gophers eat through any of the 1-gallon nursery pots? I am going to plant all of my seedlings in 1-gal nursery pots but am debating whether to bury them in the field (with the gophers/voles) or to grow them on the bench.

Juliarugula

This post makes me so happy we don’t have gophers around here…. 😬

Teddahlia

Juliarugula Tubers arrived in good condition and you read Margaret's mind by enclosing an HH Diamond tuber!

Bessie

SteveM I've not seen gophers eating through the pots, so far. Like I mentioned, I had a 2' bushy Maarn plant taken out at the base of the stock, and the same for a nice sized Precious plant. Both were in sunken 1 gallon pots. I feel lucky to not have lost the tubers. I had one nice 2023 seedling lost completely to a gopher. However in that case the gopher came in over the top of the basket that was buried in the ground. I'm gonna brave planting my seedlings in the ground, in pots. I don't have many options. If I get a nice flower that appears to be a keeper, I'll take a few cuttings right away.

Bessie

SteveM I talked myself into planting the nicest seedlings in the ground while still in their growing containers, not moving them into 1 gallon pots. I figured if renowned hybridizers can plant seedlings in 4" pots sunk in the ground, I can follow their lead. Most of the plants are in 18 ounce "red cups", and some are in 24 ounce nursery containers that perennials are typically sold in. I cut slits in the bottom of the pots to help the roots escape. 44 nice seedlings planted so far 😳, which is around 25% of the total. I'm considering planting the smaller growing seedlings 3 or 4" on center, in a grouping. I figure it's better than dumping them( which has gone through my mind after @Teddahlia said weak growing plants are just not that good). Laziness runs through my blood, at times, where I search for the easiest solution to a problem.

SteveM

Bessie It will be interesting to follow how they do. I am probably going to grow about 100 seedlings in 1-gallon nursery pots. I might grow half on the bench and half of them buried in the field.

Bessie

SteveM with the rainy winter, I will not have to stress water usage as in past years. However, the gophers flock to moist areas. I might have to devise a trap area for them, where I have deep moist soil that they will be attracted to.
I'll be interested to hear about the progress of your seedlings!

NCDahlia

I am doing mine in 2 gallon pots

CN-NCIM-0600 from green house megastore , they are more expensive as more than $1 per but i figure if i get 5 years out of them it will be worth it. I also got some cheaper ones from amzn 1 gallon last year they did well but they are 1 use as it split the pot getting them out.

SteveM

NCDahlia Do you bury the 2-gal pots? How do you water?

NCDahlia

SteveM Burying them in the ground , drip line on top.

SteveM

I am only growing about 800-900 plants this year (plus seedlings). I have buried 1.5' X 2' bulb crates to plant half of my dahlias. I buried 3' hardware cloth to plant the other half. This means I will do double-wide rows instead of single rows (I prefer single rows). This should keep the gophers out but might not have much affect on voles which feed mostly from the top. (they chew the stems at ground level and/or eat the tops of my tubers). The voles have become a bigger problem after I started using shade cloth. I assume it is because the owls/hawks can not get to them so they feel safe in their all-you-can-eat-buffet.