3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
One of the growers of full sized dahlias in pots is commercial, selling cut flowers. One and two gallon pots have weep holes where moisture can drain and roots can sneak out. Teresa Bergman of Cowlitz River dahlias planted a show garden of dahlias that grew four feet and taller in 6 inch and smaller pots. Gordon Leroux of Kenora dahlias planted all of his seedlings in small pots and left all of the pots in the ground. They grew to normal size with normal sized flowers. He planted 2600 of them one year. The milk cartons would work fine if you remove some material on the bottom to let it drain(you probably did that already as you do not want to drown them).
Wow 18" would be one impressive "serving platter" dahlia! I've only been able to muster a mere 11" across here in a white ID with no name. Still pretty impressive for a flower.
On a side note, does anyone else find the Bing popup things the most annoying interruption in any online experience? Reminds me of telemarketer calls in days of yore.
We've had 15" Wyn's Conquistador get 15" without any problem-- & bigger when only 3-up (this is on late bloomers that are under the trees so don't mature very early- otherwisw we grow it as many up as it wants & it's still bigger than a basketball!) My brother-in-law grew a 17" one- the first dahlia he ever grew!
We have a seedling 06-01 that regularily gets upwards of 16" or so-
I was going to post pictures but now have to figure out how - Photobucket seems to have changed how you put pictures on here & I'm flummoxed! Or maybe it's the fault of Windows? Don't know but I'm stuck again!
Check out botrytis blight. This fungus may be the culprit. I've had this happen with buds on plants. Don't remember this happening last year, though, with my 'Unwins'(only ones I have). Humid conditions -- and probably rainy stretches -- caused buds to rot.
I brought mine up and misted them for a few weeks and then the eyes were visible.
This year, I have also trying setting them on top of a moist sterile potting mix and they seem to show their eyes much faster. I just took a 1020 tray and added an inch of potting mix and then rest them on top, in 3-7 days, I could see the eyes pushing through.
Just a note, both methods were done under lights and in a 60-80* room.
What kind do you have? It doesn't matter for the above reasons, I am just curious!
Happy Spring : )
Keriann~
I'm still trying to figure out how best to store Dahlias here in Minnesota. I do have a good place for them but each year when I try to preserve them I always have some die. I've tried the plastic wrap and they rotted. Otherwise, if I put them in paper bags and into the storage area they tend to just dry out. Sometimes I take them out of storage in Feb. and soak them in the sink so that they won't dry out and that seems to help. In March I plant them in pots to get them an early start. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it to save them or if I should just buy new every spring. I always end up buying some of them to replace the ones that don't make it through the winter. In zone 4, (long winter), I'd be interested in knowing how you store yours. If you use the baggie/vermiculite method, what does the vermiculite do to preserve the dahlia bulbs? Thanks.
Hi there,
There was a post about stored tubers sprouting early and growing excessive chlorotic folliage but you seem to be the expert on Dahlias so I will try a question here too.
I just opened up my box of stored tubers (in peat moss in the basement) and some of the sprouts are up to 2 feet long with small leaves. Of course the colour is whitish and light green having had no light.
What should I do? Should I just bury the stems like you would a tomato plant? Should I cut any of the stem off? It is still too cold to plant in the ground here so should I go ahead and plant them in pots just to get them out of the box? Or should I leave them until I can plant them straight in the ground?
Thanks!
Hi there,
The same thing happened to me! Is it because the basement is just too warm? Our Canna Lilies have always done fine there...
Anyways, so it is still too cold here to put them out. Should I plant in pots temporarily until they can be placed in the ground? Or once I put them in pots should I just leave them be?
Thanks!
You are growing dahlias like they were potatoes. Most people who start them in pots just put an inch or two of soil in the pot and then the tuber with eye pointing up. They cover it with soil and that would be about 4 to 6 inches of soil. Advantage to starting in pot is that they will bloom earlier. Sounds like you want them to grow more tubers on the stem as you are covering leaf nodes with soil. I do not see any reason to do it your way. The sprout from the tuber has nodes that form roots and tubers.
go to the Colorado Dahlia Society site to find the nearest dahlia club tuber sale. There's a Portland club & a Vancouver, WA club. Hurry as some clubs have already started sales. You can get good dahlias- not the junk you get in the bags at stores-- for a really reasonable price.
You could even go to the meetings, learn how to grow dahlias well &, come wedding time, if you need extras, there's always great dahlia folk in the clubs that are willing to give blooms away at the drop of a hat!
Some of the B & BB sized dahlias (BB= 4-6" diameter blooms, B= 6-8" diameter blooms) will have upwards of at least 10-20 blooms on a plant at the same time. The miniatures (up to 4" diameter blooms) will have even more. You will need to keep them dead-headed to keep them blooming until the wedding but the timing is great for the PNW!!
I have done a couple of weddings where the bride & her girls just carried ONE huge dahlia as their bouquet & the centerpieces were also one huge dahlia-- easy to do & not stressful on the wedding day!
I encourage you to go ahead and plant your dahlias just for the sheer fun of them! And be sure to stake them or you could have a tumbled mess by Sept with no straight stems. Swan ISland Dahlias is only about 1/2 an hour south of you, and they so sell cut dahlias. The week before the wedding I would take a look at what I have and then put in an order for what ever else you might need. They are also an excellent source of Tubers but you would have to hurry because they stop selling April 1 I beleive. Get your tubers now and then prepare your beds. I start all of my new tubers in gallon pots anyhow and do not plant them untill they are 12-18" tall. THat helps them to survive insect damage when they first emerge.
I have found Swan Island tubers to be the hardiest in all those bought in the Pacific Northwest. WHen I count up survivors theres are the ones I keep from year to year.
And be sure and go to their festival this fall. I went right after my son's Portland wedding last August and was totally blissed out by their displays.
By the way, the dahlias help up much better for table decorations then the roses did! I suggest planting some lacy filler flowers in your field that would complement the dahlias...ammi visnaga, ammi majus, Larkspur, snapdragons, etc.
the old noodles were plastic & are going to be around for a million years-- the newer ones are made of cornstarch & go away when wet. So-- if you have old ones you might be OK-- newer ones-- your soil will be at the bottom of the pot after the first watering. Give them a try- put some in a container & pour water on them. If they're still there holding their shape the next day they're probably the old ones.
I use just about anything to lighten up my containers---including crushed diet coke cans. That said, if you are not thinking of lightening but of drainage, the container forum has a lot to say on that issue---you might want to take a peek.
Regards,
Luc
When your soil reaches 60* you should be good to go and not have rotted tubers due to cool soil AND spring rains. Many will say you can plant them anytime because you keep them in the ground but I would play it safe and wait till the soil was 60* so they can combat the heavy Spring showers.
I am very jealous that you can leave them in the ground : )
Happy Gardening
Keriann~
Thanks Keriann. I'm REALLY happy I can leave them in the ground. If not, my house would be turned over to the tubers and hubby and I would be consigned to winter outdoors!