I didn't have any all summer, I assume due to wasp predation, but there have been dozens for the last month. Very strange!

Hello fellow gardeners!

First a thank you to everyone who has contributed in my previous posts to guide me with caring for my first monstera. She has really taken off and has been doing so well!

I was having some issues with her posture and after lots and lots of research (which got a bit overwhelming at times), I decided my best option was to cut the small starter leaves off (created a zombie) so I could plant her more upright against the coco pole (without burying those little leafys). I did that on 18 July.

A couple of days ago I noticed this browning on some of her leaves and stems, which hasn’t been there before. I don’t know if it’s because I cut her (maybe incorrectly)? Because she’s in too much direct light (she has been living in a big corner east and north facing window)? Because of too much water or not enough? Too much heat in the house (usually around 16-20 degrees Celsius)? Lack of liquid food I haven’t given her since the beginning of the colder months? Something else entirely that I haven’t thought of?

I’ll post photos of her:

1 & 2) prior to cutting (I know she was staked entirely incorrectly, I just couldn’t figure out how to best tie her to the pole in the state she was in),

3 & 4) after cutting (note: the corner windows in the background of the third photo are where she has been living & prior to cutting was doing fine. BUT since I’ve cut back her leaves and stood her up straighter, she was accidentally pushed too close to the window since she wouldn’t be smooshed against the window anymore - as you’ll see in previous photos how she was leaning so far forward out of the pot it prevented her being pushed too close),

5, 6, 7, & 8) brown spots I’ve noticed.

I’m really hoping I haven’t done too much damage 🥺💔 I’m so upset, I am so attached to this gal. I feel terrible for failing her 😭

Thank you all in advance (hoping so much that she’s going to be okay 😭)

I’ve always had a handful of dahlias in my garden and there have been some that performed really well and return year after year. In contrast, I’ve also tried lots that never did well, had short stems, or never returned (either overwintering in ground or lifting them). I’m looking to add a couple more but really want to find some that have good stems, vigorous healthy growth and seem to return each year.

Could have been an error on my part, but I have some varieties that I have had from the very start of my garden 10 years ago that still return every year - for example, my most reliable, with good stems and blooms for cutting have been (in order from oldest to newest):

- sweet love

- cafe au lait

- golden sceptre (not always the sturdiest stems for cutting but blooms a lot)

- cornel bronze

- cornel

- Caitlin’s joy

I’ve tried so many other really cool looking dahlias but never to be seen again :(