3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Annabeth,I highly recommend Tempest. At least for me, I have found it trouble free, vigorous, hardy, and a real good tuber producer. The blooms pictured were from a tuber that actually overwintered in my Brooklyn garden (granted it was a mild winter and it was in a sheltered spot.). This year, I wasn't so lazy, I dug them up!
I hope to post more photos this summer - hopefully,larger than this one!!!
thanks for your response (cantstopgardening) i dont mind useing a chemical fungicide sence im not a Organic Garden yet. i hope that dosent offend anyone, but i will try my best to stay chemical FREE..
from what i been reading most fungicides are made of sulfur and are very toxic.. thats not good!!!
as im typeing this i just found on google, that your not the only one that uses cinnamon. quote Ground cinnamon is recommended as a natural fungicide for use on tubers and roots that have been cut or dug up for winter storage.
i have lots of tubers, so i will try a hand full with cinnamon too and see what happens..
also still looking for more advice i dont want to lose what was given to me..
There are better experts out there than me. I have grown dahlias for 40 years. Most of the time I leave them in the ground, (because of my illness, not lazy). Some people split them up in the fall. Wash with a hose. Then let dry. Then you decided whether to store them as a whole clump or individual tubers. Cut off all of the small root pieces that are under the size of a pencil. Label them if you know what they are. I bought a good knife at the Goodwill just for plant work like this. On some tubers, you will see little nubs or eyes on them, that will be next year's plant growth. I have stored mine in brown lunch sacks, then put each lunch sack in a big grocery paper sack. Some wrap them in saran wrap, and some in plastic baggie. Store in cool basement, or someplace with no frost. I usually put mine in our window well that is covered with wood. In spring, it is easier to see the eyes, where to divide them. I know on this site, someone posted on dividing them with pictures, but at this time, have not looked for the address. Looks like you will have some to trade there in spring.
Darlene
No- it isn't normal- if you keep them cleaned up & dead-headed they'll bloom until frost no matter when they start. It might help to give a boost of garden fertilizer in July to give them more energy to keep on going. We use 10-20-20 at planting and again in July to spruce them up for shows in August.
Dahlias grown from cuttings produce tubers but they typically are smaller and harder to divide. That is because the rudimentary tubers are a bit pot bound as they develop and are crowded by the pot. Cuttings grow quicker and bloom earlier than dahlias grown from tubers. Rooting hormones are not needed to root dahlias.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. Some people say you can leave dahlias in the ground but to cover them with oil cloth to keep them from getting wet. It's not the cold that kills them; it's the soggy weather. I usually start with one tuber and in one season, it multiplies into a monstrous clump of tubers. I do dig mine up and use a method described on this line of wrapping them in Saran Wrap and storing them at temperatures of 40-55 degrees.
If you can get away with leaving your regular dahlia tubers in-ground, let it stay outside, highly protected from the elements; but do not let it freeze.
This advice is coming from someone who let their beautiful D.I. freeze two years running, so proceed with caution. I didn't really have a choice year 2, hit by a sudden, very prolonged cold spell. Nothing wrong with a nice winter sleep for the tubers, cut off and stored in a box of either shavings or sawdust. I believe they say to leave 12" stalk on the D. Imperialis, so a taller container may be in order.
I don't know that I would even bother to divide it next year. They are an awesome plant to watch grow by leaps and bounds, and the more stalks the merrier. I hope whatever you do, it survives.
Thanks Poochella, It's a double white so I sure don't want to lose it. Most of my dahlias have to be dug except the ones in raised or bermed beds because I've got lousy drainage. It's very bushy but only about 8 inches tall and in a pot slightly larger than a 4" so I'm afraid if I leave it outside it will freeze since there's little soil around the roots/tuber. I think I better go ahead and let it die back and store it until spring.
Really nice linht. I like the colors on both Twighlight Time and Tyler. Some of the smaller dahlias have been my happiest suprises for blooms produced this year.
I love the colors of the first two, what huge blooms!
Thanks for sharing.
-B