3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Nice going Katy. It's amazing how easily some root: break off, plunk in hole, and off they go. Then if you're really studying with sterilized razor blade in hand, medium prepped just with perfect temp and moisture; they die before your eyes. I hope your little upstart goes on to become a big success.
Too bad you live so far away. I have some of the tall white dahlias which are prolific bloomers for me. My extras will likely be donated to the local horticultural society.
BTW, the Exchange List Link provided above does not work, for some reason.
Beth Hanson in the book "Buried Treasures: Tasty Tubers of
the World" pages 38-39 lists all 30 species of the
Dahlia family as edible. She does state that Dahlia
imperialis, the Imperial or Tree Dahlia, is used as
food in its native Central America. It grows to 15 feet?
Wow! How many tubers can such a large plant produce?
Poochella is right- sounds like your tuber is rotting before the plant has enough feeder roots to sustain it. If you did a cutting at least you wouldn't be out a plant- & if the plant recovers, you'll then have an extra Zorro. Do the cutting so you have 1 set of leaves to nip off & put underground & one set of leaves above ground. That'll leave a couple of sets of leaves to keep the poor thing going - sort of like you've topped it.
I did take a cutting before going in to investigate. I cut the tuber at the root end as you suggested, Pouchella, and the darn thing looked good with some very healthy feeder roots at both ends! I ended up "dissecting" it, so I lost that tuber. But in the end I think it was a good learning exercise.
The cutting was taken over 12 hours ago and still looks poorly. However, the cut turned out to be at a hollow node. IÂll cut it up further as you suggested, Plantlady, and hope for the best.
I planted my first dahlia tuber with the eye pointing down. Poor soul found its way up after many days. We had a good laugh considering what a fool I was.
That said, I planted all my dahlias in 16"x14" square planters. They are already staked.
Here is a link that might be useful: ADS Growing Dahlia in Pots
You can plant them either way but some are really long so you don't have to dig as deep a hole if you plant them laying on their side. We have a friend who uses a large auger & electric drill to dig her holes straight down, pops in the tuber & covers it up. She gets kidded that her dahlias are going to get tired standing up all summer- but they grow well & don't look tired to me!
The lowest set of leaves are known as the "cotyledon" leaves--the very first set of leaves that appear on the stem. Now, count 3 sets of leaes ABOVE the cotyledon leaves, and pinch above them. In other words, pinch above the third set of true leaves.
For absolutely fabulous information about growing dahlas, go down from the top until you come to the posting "Dahlias in pots" by "proudgm". Open it, and the 5th posting inside this post is a post by "poochella" in which at the bottom of his post is a reference to the American Dahlia Society. Read it, download it, and print it. It is authentic, detailed, and accurate. You could not ask for a better source, nor a better article! ENJOY !
Good Info can be found in the link below.
Here is a link that might be useful: Topping Dahlias
I'm a she and I agree that is a very useful article.
Below is a link to that and other articles for all to see.
Here is a link that might be useful: Links to ADS articles
You've got it, elle. The base of the new growth planted 4-6" under the top of the soil would be good enough, regardless if some green sticks out above ground. I usually mulch another couple inches on top of the soil once the plants get a foot or more tall.
Would like to add the word NOT to 'horribly wet' in the last paragraph of my previous post. As in 'not horribly wet' like my beds are now, and the rain begins yet again. Too bad they don't offer an edit feature here.
Good luck with your dahlias! They should do fine considering they can grow forgotten in a compost pile or garbage can for weeks on end.
If you will send me your name and e-mail address I will send you an illustrated set of directions. Be sure to tell me what you want, and KINDLY put the word "GardenWebber" in the subject area to keep your e-mail to me out of my junk pile. THANK YOU.
I agree with "grannymarsh", but my suggestion is to plant that deep, but cover the tuber only 1 or 2 inches, then, as you new growth appears, fill the hole until you are even with the surrounding garden. It would be better to lighten up the soil with compost, and, or, perlite, or, fill the hole with something like Promix, or Sunshine mix.
Good luck!
I would like to have some bird pepper seeds. I am from the Bahamas and was told that your Thai bird peppers are the same, can you confirm this? If they are the same, please tell me if you can send me some seeds?
I'm sorry I don't have a garden. I'm just starting out, so I have nothing to trade.
I was interested in seeing what this Dahlia looked like so I googled it. An LA Times article came up with the person who created this hybrid. Apparently it is grown in Southern California. Maybe you can try to get in contact with Pat Cunningham through the woman who wrote the article.
Good luck,
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-dahlias11aug11,1,769471,full.story
It's a pretty nice weed, if indeed that's what it is. I say let it grow or else we'll never know the answer to this puzzle!
I let some promising 'foxglove seedlings' sprout and grow for weeks in my perennial bed one year til my nice neighbor kicked one and told me it was a horrible weed and best to get rid of it. Live and learn.
Another way to see if it's your dahlia is to gently dig it up and check out the roots. If there are tubers, bingo, if shallow rooted or no tubers, then it's a non-dahlia.
I do see the little tuber sticking out of the pots. I have some that are as big as my foot! Some of the eyes are on the crown part of the tuber that is sticking out. I have to cover that don't I? I now have to find something for my aching back. I just had to many tubers that made it through the winter and I hate throwing anything out. I may just order next year. Actually I am getting a big order of cuttings in late May so have to save some space.
Lol...big as your foot...;-] Well, ok, if they're that big then clearly they ain't fitting in no 4" pot. None that I received, nor any that I harvested from last year's crop were anywhere near that big.
Last year I did cut tubers that were extremely long, or had a funny shape (e.g. L shaped.) As best I could tell, they sprouted just like any other. I probably wouldn't cut and then store them, however...others might have more to say about that.
Best I can tell the tuber is only there to provide food for the sprouts at the crown before roots are established. Given we know that cuttings survive without roots, I'd probably go so far as to speculate that you could whittle your foot-sized tuber into something that would fit into the 4" pot and be fine...but that's just speculation. I would more likely simply throw that one away assuming I had more tubers of the same variety handy that weren't so large.
I hear Margaritas do wonders for back pain, btw...;-]
Cheers,
Russ
Mostly what's planted in the 4" pots are cuttngs. They then grow pot tubers that are smaller & rounder than the tubers you get when planting in the ground. They grow a big plant & bloom sooner than tubers planted in the ground. If you had small tubers you could plant them in the smaller pots & they would indeed grow a nice plant in the small pot. I don't see why your plan wouldn't work- but I would take them out of the pot in spring, divide them, add new soil & repot. Also- store them on their sides so any excess moisture isn't trapped in the pot to rot your tubers.