3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

Viking, I love jungles. Mine is a jungle, all 8x9feet of it.

Thanks triple b, the cats love it. Lots of places to hide. Also it make a great screen to sit behind. It gives us privacy from the road.

Victoria Ann gets my vote as well.

I agree Victoria Ann is extraordinary. Can I ask best way to overwinter? I have been using peat moss dampened a bit in Baggies that are twist tied and stored in the basement (or garage) and this has worked pretty well in the past (although I had some shrivel issues). Other times I have let them rot in the ground (good composting but somewhat expensive). Does anyone have a tried and true overwintering technique?

That lavender one is just lovely, Viking. Bolstering the stems of the tall ones, even without a stake, is a good idea. Sounds like Hannah is going to leave her mark on your area this weekend too, so I hope you cinch up the stems and I'll hope all passes without too much damage.

Thanks poochella, I have been giving away bouquets all day. Hoping to lower the resistence to the wind.

Henry,

We lost tubers to flooding in May this season. They just floated away never to be seen nor heard from again. Yes. Strange weather indeed.

In the hoophouse, we spread compost and till it in before planting the Karma dahlia plugs. We fertilize with a liquid fertilizer 10-20-20 through our drip irrigation line. This seems to work well.

We need to get manure spread on certain sections in our fields at some point this fall; and, if it continues to rain, this will prove to be quite the challenge since we are blessed with both clay and sandy soil. But, get the manure on those sections this fall is a number one priority. At this point we will just hope for an Indian Summer. But, I have to tell you digging dahlia tubers in November is not fun. We did that last season. Not looking forward to a repeat of that.

Karma dahlia do require support netting. We use Hortonova netting, 6" squares. We lay the netting directly on the ground when we plant so we know to plant in every other square. We then raise the netting up to around 18" from the ground for support. We use only one layer of support netting. The first cutting of dahlias is sometimes challenging. But, we are so happy to see color that we don't complain -- much.

The Karma dahlia cutting arrive pinched supposedly. If we see a bloom deep in the plant, we pinch it out which forces the two laterals to bloom at the same time. There are not a lot of side buds that require removal. These side buds will be long and bloom a few days after you have harvested some of the other blooms. The advantage of the Karma dahlia is they don't have the unsightly buds appearing above the flower such as many field grown dahlias. What we find annoying is that if we leave any buds in a bouquet, the market customer ALWAYS asks if these will bloom.

One other advantage to the Karma dahlia is they can be harvested before they are fully open -- unlike field grown dahlias.

Here is a photo of Corona showing the Hortonova support netting.

Trish

Trish,

Beautiful photo! I'm assuming the Hortonova netting is a plastic of sorts and you raise it using T-bars.
When watering, are you fertilizing each time or do you alternate between 'fresh' and 'fertilizer'?

Manure can be a beautiful thing! However, I've found that if it's too thick and not mixed well enough it holds the water too long but also can dry out very quickly. Also, its interesting what type of seeds sprout! It's all about the horse's menu I guess!

ALYRICS-We should name your storage method "The Alyrics Treatment!" Wish I could get away with it, too. I don't much value the mass marketers who label things willy-nilly and foist them on the unsuspecting consumer. Sometimes you get good stock from the big box stores, sometimes not. Quality control isn't their strong suit.

Do you use stakes in your large containers? I did quite a few in large pots last year, but avoided it this year because I don't care for the support system for a stake involved which was cross wires.

Good point on the water absorbing crystals, Russ. I had quite a few on the soil surface looking like globs of clear jello, as I did not hydrate them first. They worked well otherwise.

But thats just it, I didn't buy these from big box stores, these were from reputable garden centers. Very irritating. When I pay a $1.50 at Costco I have an expectation to just get something that grows. But if I'm paying $6 per tuber for a named item I'm sort of supposing I'm going to get what's on the picture - LOL.

I just got lucky last year - had Dahlia JuJu - haha!
If its colder this yr it prob won't work. I also got them out at the beginning of March and used your baggie method Poochella - dampened peat. It did give me some head start.
A

Thanks alot, that's very reasonable and understandable, and I'm glad to hear that's how its done.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks for that good info Huey and Plantlady. I'm sure coming from experienced and dahlia-savvy growers, that it is as much appreciated as it is confounding to some.

National Show is back in WA! Whoo hoo- count me in.
Huey, you will drop a jaw when you visit Wynne's. It's well worth the short trip north.

Hi Russ,

Spider mites, huh? I'll look into that... the bugs do seem to really like dahlias. In previous years, it was ants.

Thanks for responding!

Jessie

Put a piece of white paper under a leaf that looks affected and tap the leaf...if its spider mites, you should see them move around on the paper.

Here's hoping you don't see anything move...

Cheers,
Russ

Viking, you silver-tongued dahlia grower LOL! I think you are going to start a dahlia movement in your neck of the woods. It's easy to do once people see the results, isn't it?

Russ, I have been using Sluggo Plus for earwigs and slugs since May, but just in the past few days have seen 3 earwigs, and found some maddening holes in otherwise pristine petals. I don't use anything stronger than insecticidal soap, so I hope some other dahlia show people will help you on control of earwigs with a show looming.

Good luck. Will be following your journey and all that you learn and experience along the way. And, I'm glad the thieves only took one spare bloom, and that you have 5 alarm dogs on site to protect the other plants. A good dog cannot be undervalued!

Russ- you're lucky they only took a bloom. A friend got a whole plant stolen on Sat night. Her Fairy Queen was gone on Sunday morming. She was really bummed out about it -- all they had to do was ask & she would have gladly shared a tuber with them come digging time. There's no accounting for crooked people!

Russ, I love yellow dahlias and very much these two.

Thanks everyone.

Jroot, I have 15 Sandia Joy plants in bloom, so I can definitely give you a clump.

Cheers,
Russ