3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

Thanks Trish. That's exactly what I was looking for! It looks like I'll have to wait until next year before I can follow your recommendation. It has been such a warm start to spring that I'm half way through planting. I'm just trying to rotate my varieties throughout my fields.
Thanks again. Henry

Green manure is wonderful and a lot less expensive than animal manure or compost, if you have to go out and buy it. Home made compost is excellent and free. Animal manure is an excellent soil amendment but should not be used when fresh.
Green manure uses legumes to incorporate nitrogen into the soil and all of the green material holds the other soil nutrients in it's leaves and roots. These nutrients could be washed away by rainfall during the winter. I use green manure, planted in the Fall and cut down in May just before I plant dahlias. Our soil has been getting better and better each year and I find I have to use less fertilizer than in years past.

Racheal: when do they start blooming for you?

Where are you exactly?

I would love to plant them in the ground in April but isn't the soil to cool.. or frosts?

Let me know : )

Keriann~

I don't think in my zone I would be confident putting them in the ground yet, not until Mid May. A Dahlia grower in my neighoburhoood told me not until June!! I am just outside of Toronto, straddling a Zone 5/6.

I potted mine up early. I layed the tubers on top of some soil in flats, just like they show on dahilas.net. They did great!! They eyed up, and then sprouted, you can take sprout cuttings too if they throw off more then one shoot. that is really fun, and will get you more plants! However, I had mine in flats since February, and needed to get them into a little deeper soil, so I have them potted up in the pots that are a size down from 1 gallon. I water them very rarely, only when the leaves start to droop, and I water from bottom up, to make sure the soil is saturated when I do.

If they are going out into containers, the main thing will be to make sure it does not drop below freezing overnight. If they are going into the ground though, you will have to wait a few weeks I figure to actually plant outside.

I do the same thing as Keriann, so I'll be of no help! :)

I have had great success with planting 'fresh' wounds.

I have about 60 started now... I ran out of room or I would have 200 more stated :)

They are all about 10-18" tall now and nice and stocky/bushy.

keriann~

Hi nhdalialover. In my humble opinion, if they are sprouting, they need to be potted. I don't think that dividing now, and waiting to pot later is a viable solution. Sorry about that, but Mother Nature WILL HAVE HER WAY. LOL

Many people on the Oregon coast dig their dahlias in the Spring and divide them into individual tubers and let them dry. They go "dormant" when dry and will take off and grow again when they are placed into moist soil. I just got a batch of tubers from a friend on the coast and have placed the dry tubers into moist potting soil in some pots. I am going to take a few cuttings from them and then plant them in the ground.

They aren't leggy at all, they are short and stocky!! They are Ferry-Morse "unwin's dwarf dahlia' and I started them about 1 month ago. They are about 2 inches tall and have their 3rd set of leaves.

They look quite healthy and ready to go in the ground (it's in the 70s and 80s and last frost date should have passed). Just not sure if I should plant the first set of leaves in the ground or plant them 'as is' as far as depth goes.

If I knew how to post pics I would show them! I am hoping they work as perennials for my area!

you can take off the first set or 2 of leaves & plant if deeper if you want to- or since they're dwarf dahlias you can just put them in at the level they are now- just saying- it won't hurt anything if you get a set of leaves under ground

Please see this page from Corralitos Gardens. It goes against conventional wisdom regarding dahlia planting dates, but has, in my experience, worked. Please also not the more technical note about the temperature of the soil.

If you really do your research, the commonly quoted 60 degrees for first planting is just not workable in much of the country.

http://cgdahlias.com/dahlia_growing_tips.html

Here is a link that might be useful: planting advice

I start all new dahlia tubers in gallon pots starting in March, with them in a warm room in my garage with grow lights. I aim to have them about 18" to 2" tall when I set them out so that the slugs will not eat off every shoot. It has been working fine for years. The gallon pots give them enough room for root development. They transplant well for me at that stage. I try to get the tuber down 6" from the soil line when I transplant them. I pull off any leaves that are below the soil line. The last frost is usually not later then the 3rd week of April. And yes, our soil sometimes does not get up to 60 degrees until late summer. By that time I often have buds on my dahlias...first bloom usually in late June and they will bloom until frost around 31 October. I am in a very temperate maritime climate. I grow about 160 plants a year. Last year for the first time in 2o years 3/4 of my tubers froze in the ground. So you never know, there will always be the exception to the rule. But this works for me. I can't remember when I had the last rotten tuber that was not from being frozen over the winter.

Monica33flowers,

All of my Dahlias this year come from Swan Island Dahlias.

This is the link to Gitts Perfection

Cheers,
Russ

I just purchased Gitts Perfection and Sir Alf Ramsey at Costco. It was little under $9 for 5 of each kind packaged together in a bag.