Dahlia Forum

There are no 'rights.' There are only guarantees given by individual vendors.

The guarantees range from replacement given for complete replacement based on trust up to two years after the purchase to NO guarantee at all.

Why aren't there consumer rights, you ask? Because selling dahlias is not regulated by the government that oversees and protects those 'rights.'

Why do guarantees vary? Because the situations of sellers of dahlia tubers/plants are different.

Generalist plant companies like Breck's provides a return policy based on trust (and charge double counting on half of buyers to request refunds/replacements). Large specialists like Swan Island or Dan's Dahlias grow AT LEAST a fifty foot row of each variety sold (and many rows for popular varieties), and will offer replacements up to August only (if you ship the eyeless tuber back to them, and it was not your lack of skill that made it fail). Medium specialists may grow only twenty plants of each, AND RUN OUT quicker (typically will only offer replacements for duds for a few weeks after delivery). Small specialist vendors may only have a few plants of each variety, and when they are gone, they are GONE (no replacements possible, as they stop selling as soon as they are sold out). Both small specialist vendors and hobbiest vendors have very limited stock, and may grow very different varieties next year. They don't want to be offering extended guarantees on tubers, so they instead offer to refund/replace if sprouts don't appear within a couple weeks. Often they will not send tubers until they are sprouted so there is no question about the viability of the tubers. You kill it, you still own it.

If you insist on an iron-clad guarantee, go with a big boy seller. They have refunds/exchanges worked into their pricing structure. But don't expect a hobbiest selling on Craigslist or ebay to be able to offer extended guarantees or even HAVE the same variety to replace if what you were sent never sprouts. The hobbiest normally sells for half to a third of the price of the big guys, so you have an opportunity for collecting some great stock at low prices. But the risk is all yours.

"One vendor scolded me for asking for a refund three weeks after I started the tuber in its pot (and never did anything)."

It's possible that this is a small vendor that makes it a personal policy to send out ONLY sprouted tubers because of limited tubers in stock, and your order snuck past his quality control check. He might have assumed that customers would call if there was no visible sprout upon delivery. His written guarantee might give you insight on his process.

For example, when I sell tubers, there is a ten day guarantee from receipt of tubers that they are in good condition with active sprouts. After ten days, I will not refund/replace anything, as that is plenty of time to assess if there is a green sprout and the tuber is not damaged. I only grow two to three of any variety as a hobbiest, and won't intentionally send out a dormant tuber to a paying customer. It is true that the time and effort of selling is staggering for the paltry financial return, which doesn't even come close to covering my cost of growing for a season... Ongoing complaints Is something no vendor wants... It would make me stop selling in the future, for sure!

When I have issues with tuber orders, I ALWAYS promptly send an email with images of the offending tuber (broken neck, obvious rot in a soft spot, etc) with the original writing on it so the vendor knows I am not mistaken, not trying to fool them or that I am not blaming the wrong vendor for the faulty tuber. Then I follow up with a call in the next couple days. This puts the vendors mind at ease, and accomplishes my goal of receiving refund or exchange.

Bulb Cage....THAT IS THE KEYWORD I WAS MISSING! when doing internet searches for something like this. so very helpful!! thanks!

Glad to help.

I'm doubtful that a bulb cage would make lifting 'easier,' as the tubers might develop on both sides of the wire.

Check out 'water plant baskets.' Growers in the UK use small/medium ones for their cuttings. It constricts the tuber growth while allowing free access to the soil's nutrients and moisture. You'd still have to trim out lots of feeder roots, though.

Congratulations on your successful growing season and beautiful blooms. Only got one dahlia planted this year and that very late so likely not to have any blooms before frost. Next year I will try to do better.

Hello Dahlia_man,

Those are wonderful! How do you make super soil?

Bouquet,

Do you recall how tall your Kelvin Floodlight plant grew ?

I had grown 3 plants and if I remember correctly......they were around 5 ft.

Carol

I live in Nanaimo, BC on Vancouver Island :) Beautiful city and am fortunate to have a few other growers around me that are always very helpful.

It's great to have other avid growers around. Makes growing dahlias that much more fun!

When you get the time, and if you don't mind sharing the details, I'd love to hear how long the beds need to stay flooded, and suggested temperature of the water for best results. It would help others who are struggling with the same problem you are, but are not as adept at researching.

It might be informative for you to keep a log on number of wireworms on potato baits before and after each treatment, with weekly entries to show progression or decline during the season.

I was about to say the same thing! There's a big lateral on one side of 1 of the 2 shoots. The other laterals are pretty small though. Here's the biggest lateral so far:

Since there's only 1 big lateral, I'm still not sure if I should top it or not when the time comes. The longest shoot has 4 pairs of leaves so far.

The plant is growing pretty fast as well and the leaves are VERY greenish. Haven't seen such a deep color tone on a plant before. Here's one of the growing tips of the 2 shoots:

There's no bud on it just yet as far as I can tell.

By rubbing the sprout off, do you mean I should just cut it off??

Knife or fingers, no matter. Just with a knife you might unintentionally nick other things you didn't intent on touching. Rubbing off is safer.

I don't worry about little tuber sprouts when there is a main stalk growing already, but some like to micromanage, and that's fine. I did that more in the beginning, and it's fun.

I found it interesting that you had assumed dahlias needed to keep their dead stalks like spring bulbs... Never occurred to me, but in a more temperate region that has a slow die-off of the plants (instead of a sudden 'BAM' frost of death that my dahlias experience), that assumption makes more sense.

I strongly doubt the tubers are continuing to store energy or keep growing as the foliage fades, as that is a sign of impending dormancy. And as you have multiple years of tubers in each clump, the maturity of the tubers doesn't matter as much, either. I have been taught that cuttings started in spring need three months to develop well-matured tubers that will store out of the soil... They actually can start developing tubers within a month, and be stored as a dormant pot root in their soil for the best shot at overwintering a valuable variety.

I've heard of several old timers (all long-passed now, grandparents to my contemporaries) who successfully layered tubers in sand within lined apple crates and coal buckets here in the East. I bet vermiculite wasn't as readily available then. ;-) Nowadays, folks I have talked to report a lower success rate when testing sand against others as a storage medium, but that is after severing the feeder roots when dividing. Sounds like your undisturbed clumps do just fine.

I live in Southern California, zone 9b (Mediterranean climate type) where everything grows well (thankfully) and just bought Happy Single dahlias that I adore. Planted them in a huge pot (similar to a barrel pot). New to dahlias so could use advice. Do I need to remove them in December before the rain (if we get any) or can I leave them? Lowest temps are in January. Normal lowest temp winter nights is 39. Rare, but possible could be 32. Mostly 45 at night in winter. IF I am safest by pulling and putting in vermiculite, can they store in the refrigerator vegetable bin, or better off in the garage? Sorry in advance for stupid questions I am asking. I have a pretty green thumb but am totally ignorant of dahlias. Planted some in the ground last year but we had a "Hundred-year snow) of 2 feet that has never occurred here before so only one of 10 is trying to come up. I love these yellow "Happy Single" dahlias and want to see them every year. Thanks for your time.

i feel like EVERY Dahlia I've ever head has had 2 sprouts? I've accidentally broken sprouts on Dahlia, Lillies, and Gladiolus) during planting, the required digging around to find out how the bulb is doing and when I will see the actually sprout (see cicivatation's post about digging around!), and once it's actually sprouted. Most of them have forgiven me and gone on to do just fine.

I have seen some of those tubers in a bag, late in the selling season. They actually had several stalks coming up out of the tubers. I just planted it like normal and they grew into healthy stems for the plant even though they had been growing in the bag without water or fertilizer.

By the way, Dan, I hold you fully responsible for me splurging on a very nice Nick Sr. plant at the last dahlia auction I attended. ;-)

This thread reminded me how much I've enjoyed this cultivar, so I bid more then I usually do on the plant. I was able to make three plants out of the one, as it was someone's potroot from last year with only one cutting having been made off it.

Good luck with the Nick Sr. plants and post a couple pictures when they bloom. I hope my single plant will do well.

Nice! Evidence of a lot of long hours working...

Are you growing sweet pea up the middle archway, too? Do gardeners plant hyacinth beans in your country?

Here's the mulch I spread on my beds a week ago... You can see two of my beds in the background. Not very much ambiance, unlike your English garden.

I am trying to grow sweet peas Cici but without a huge amount of success. I am trying climbing roses now and will just sit back and see which ones put up the best fight! That is some quality looking soil and mulch you have there. Nice open space as well. I tend to plant tings where there is a chance of sunlight sneaking between the trees :)

I did do a Google search for poms. I am in love with Sunny Boy and Dot Com. I kept thinking when she was opening that she will go to the cotton ball look but that has never happened.

All of my purchases this year have been BBS ones. I have a huge list of varieties that I would like to add in the future. I am hopeful that the other two plants that I have from this package will bloom. I am hopeful that my Tropical will bloom as well as my Semi cactus.

Next year will be bigger and better! In the meantime, I am quite proud to have a beauty like this to grace my house: (There are two more getting ready to open as I speak)

check out this site to see what dahlias you like http://dahliadivas.com/they have wonderful plants

Next thing you will want to do is figure out how you want to support the plants. I'd put in the support in the next couple weeks, as it might flop as it grows higher then the stems can hold it.

Thanks!!! That helps.. What's the right time to feed them and with what?the way they grow makes me think that they must be fed!!!and yes, I will support them in the next 2 weeks before they r unable to take own weight.

LOL!
I can see where that would be a pet peeve. All of the sources on "how to grow dahlias" said to leave the tip uncovered.

Hmm... No source that I've read... Some folks keep it uncovered to make it easier to take cuttings, but moisture in the soil helps the tuber break dormancy and encourages sprouting, so there's not much reason to leave it exposed otherwise. It breaks though the soil quick enough when it's ready.

Honestly, I don't think it makes much difference, but this gentleman has thirty years of experience on me, so I am inclined to listen and make it a habit if I have the choice of covering or uncovering the head. I don't feel as if I need to test this grain of wisdom he's shared, as I'd rather play it safe and be patient then lose a much-coveted variety I'm looking forward to seeing bloom.

2-3 leaf sets? Sounds like bedding dahlias, or that there are hidden leaf sets under the soil.

The benefit is just as you described. The plant focuses on the structure instead of the propagation. Typically, this gives you more branches sooner, and a larger flush of blooms at one time instead of scattered.

Oh. I meant on the lateral there are at least two leaf junctures before the central bloom at the top. The sets are quite stretched out so I am getting very long lateral on the one that is blooming. The blooming plant itself is about 3' tall.