3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
You will get more flowers, and more quickly, if you leave them in the ground. However, the tubers will be a mess to deal with if you overwinter them for more then two seasons.
If you divide, most likely you will have better quality blooms, but they won't be as plentiful and will be delayed as the tubers concentrate on reestablishing feeder roots.
What planting zone are you in, Mickey?
Hi Karen
that trick has worked for me sometimes as well.
I doubt that it would have kept growing if just left alone, I'd say, rotted completely seems more likely.
I've read that you can just let the fresh cut dry for a while, another suggestion was cinamon as it seems to work as an anti-fungal or - germ or whatever.
Did not test it myself or research it, but could be.
well, have a nice Dahlia season, bye, Lin
Looks like a seasonal fungus I see sometimes on my bark mulch. It looks like slime at first, then expands into a foam-looking nastiness, then dries into puffs of spores. If it's the same thing, I'd scoop off as much as possible and THROW AWAY sealed up in the trash. I'd cut off the plant parts touching it to avoid it's spread.
Check out this page for dahlia societies all across the US...
http://www.dahlia.org/index.php?page=local-dahlia-societies
Sadly, your state only has an email contact, so hopefully that person will get back to you promptly.
I ordered in February and had forgotten when I asked for delivery. I was recently gone for a week and had a neighbor getting my mail. She had two orders from other vendors but nothing from Alpens. I have e-mailed them twice in the past week without getting a response. I went to the bank yesterday and found that my check has still not been cashed. I have received great service from them in the past but I'm not sure what to think now, unless the order I sent was lost in the mail. You would think they would at least respond to my e-mails. unc
Cici- I cut the bottom leaf sets off the other night. I was pretty crowded under there as I decided to put there 3 guys in the same planter. I will not repeat this next year! I also washed the plants. I inspect my babies every morning, no spider or webs since. I have formed a 6th bud. The topped one is growing thick laterals like crazy. The other little guy is trucking along working on a 5th leaf set.
On a side note, it looks like my cutting from the Tropical has rooted! We transplanted her this morning and will see how she does! :)
That method, known as double-stopping, is to increase the quantity of blooms at a given time. So instead of letting four to eight flowers being on the plant consistently throughout the season, this forces the plant to produce fifteen to twenty at one time, then very few flowers until the second flush is ready to bloom.
Experienced growers can time these flushes pretty accurately, useful for shows or florists needing a high quantity for an event.
The size of the blooms are smaller when double-stopped, just like the size typically increases when double-disbudded.
My formal dining room houses about an eighth of the tubers that I really want to protect. If no outbuildings, put them next to your fine china. All about priorities. ;-)
I'd be curious if anyone has tried overwintering half a bed with leaves OVER the plastic, and half with the leaves UNDER the plastic. Would love to hear the results of such an experiment. I normally hear about plastic on the top, which is too much of an eyesore for my very visible beds.
I would be worried about rodents under the plastic in the mulch