3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

Kudos to you for having blooms already!

Yes, they will still be blooming end of August, but sadly, they might be not quite up to standards... Aggressive watering, disbudding and fertilizing might rejuvenate them a month before showing, though.

Several serious show growers I know deliberately start their dahlias late, timing the first of the blooms for the shows. Often, they will only allow 3-4 blooms on each plant of the larger varieties FOR THE LIFE OF THE PLANT! This forces the energy of the plant into those few blooms (only one developing and blooming at a time).

For me, showing is secondary to continuous blooms, and I'd rather have a lush garden for a longer season. But, oh, those show blooms! WOW!

Cheers,
CC

Michael, check out this group on Facebook, and perhaps ask Martin the moderator privately if he has any suggestions on who you may contact. Don't know how close he is to you (Canada is a big place), but he has good grower contacts in that area and believes in the importance of mentorship.

This group has a wealth of documents worth checking out under the 'files' tab, and many hybridizers and advanced show folk read what is posted. Their response to questions depends on how specific the questions are, and how much someone has done their homework first before asking. (Rule of thumb on that forum is-" don't ask if the answer is a google search away.")

Cheers, and good luck at the shows!
CC

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing and Showing Dahlias

I just planted a few tubers with sprouts a week ago in zone 7 and they are already double the size. I don't know if you can store til next year so I would probably just plant them and see how far you can get. Even if they don't set buds, if they leaf out the tubers underneath will be growing roots and happy so you will most likely get more tubers at fall.

I had to chuckle, I was going through a box in the basement and I found a bunch of stuff I'd taken out of the ground for storage, not after last season, but after 2012 season. Most everything was desiccated except for two dahlias, which showed sprouts. I planted them. Reminds me, I better go check on them. But yeah, do it yesterday, they might make it. May not bloom, but should give the roots a chance to reconstitute â¦

_~

dave

You couldn't just ask at the garden center...

Sorry not familiar with that one. Do you know the Dahlienverzeichnis. There is a kind of search function, I narrowed it down to Dekorative Dahlie", mehrfarbig/ multicolored and Grundfarbe rot. You could filter more by adding ca. hight and flowersize

And if you speak German you could try that other site: Dahlienliebhaber. You have to register as well, nice plant nerds, they could ID some plants for me last year.

http://www.dahlienliebhaber.de/board14-intern/board15-new-s-und-infos-aktuelles/12-neues-dahlienforum-ersetzt-das-forum-der-dahlienliebhaber/

Bye, Lin

Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlienverzeichnis

Well-drained soil is key for dahlia. Mine are in raised beds, with the majority on the southern face where it's very warm.

Don't water the tubers when you plant, the soil is damp enough unless it's bone dry. Dahlia won't generally require any watering at all until they're six inches tall or so.

Planting before frost ends isn't necessarily a no-no, but dahlia dislike sprouting until the soil temperature reaches 60. As long as the plant hasn't sprouted and the soil doesn't freeze, they won't be harmed by frost (but it'll slow them down).

Here in eastern PA, my target date is usually between May 1 and May 10th--which is a touch early as there's still some chance of frost here at that time (but a small chance). I do it early because my annuals have to go starting May 10th-May 15th, and that's a lot of work. The dahlia don't mind.

wilt points to bacterial or fungal disease or
heavy, sudden root damage (which IMO is more unlikely).

That bug looks like an infant woodlouse or something, perhaps it just happened to crawl along and was not the cause.

Otherwise I would expect to see some damage on the leaves.

Thanks, turns out it was a mealybug

You clearly have a cat infestation. Just saying.

I'm presuming you watered? They should pop up in a few hours if water was the issue, and with two in a pot they'd be more demanding of water (and all other resources).

You could transplant that second dahlia to another pot if you want, but you're likely to shock both a little bit when you do. Keep the soil moist in both pots until the plants don't wilt in full sun any longer, which usually takes about a week (if they even shock at all).

It's hard to tell but I have had some insect damage which can result in curling/black leaves. I pinch them off and inspect the plants. I've had thrips and also mealybugs, so I'm spraying homemade insecticidal soap for now. I just don't want them on the buds.

i am also having a problem with thrips.. i am in the process of trimming down all my dahlias so there is not many leaves left on them, and sprayed them all down with dish soap/ water solution. Good luck to you, maybe someone will come on with a solution.

Well the dahlias fared seemingly well while we were gone--thrips on lots of other plants though--still spraying when I see them!

I deadhead my Harlequin (a small, seed-grown decorative dahlia) whenever the blooms fade. Production of new blooms is constant, so it always has buds, fresh flowers, fading flowers, and things I really should dead-head and promise to get around to shortly.

As far as I've noted, my medium-sized semi-formal dahlia are the same, and I've never seen an exception on any dahlia type I've grown. Most seem to constantly produce buds. But I feed a lot.

If you were--let's say--to remove every bud, it would probably be 2 to 3 weeks for the next set to develop.