3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias

Thank you for the wonderful photos, DB. That's the lil bugger that destroyed my squash crop this year. Borers not bad last year (cause of GA drought?) but this year they're huge problem (still in drought but had more spring rains).
I'm horrified you are showing them in dahlias. My dahlia bed is hop, skip, jump, and short moth flight from veggies to dahlias.

I have a couple that are wilting, but their neighbours are not. Your posting made me curious, so I went out to see if there was evidence of holes or frias. I can't see any. The ground seems to be not dry, and yet, if I put water on it, the plant picks up. Strange. I'll keep my eyes open, and maybe replace the culprits.

If they froze, they would be mushy in the spring. I am assuming that is not the case, otherwise you would not have potted them.

I am assuming that they were firm. If all of them had no eyes, I am assuming that the stems were cut off the tubers and then the tubers stored. A number of novice gardeners do this. I had a nice lady who presented me with a bag of tubers that she had "cleaned up" for me. She had indeed cut off the stems, and unfortunately had cut off area where the potential eyes would develop. All of them were useless, and none of them grew in spite of my best efforts. I always leave about 2 inches of the stem on the tuber when preparing for winter. That way, I know which end to look for eyes, and also I know that end is where the eyes will develop.

I do not store in dirt. If the dirt is damp, the tubers will rot. If the dirt is dry, the soil can deplete the moisture from the tuber, depending upon the consistency of the soil. There are a number of ways of storing tubers, and quite a few postings as to how to do it here on this forum. In the fall, I am sure there will be many more. Keep your eyes open for them ( Pun intended LOL)

Enjoy the dahlias you have now. Aren't they wonderful? Any pictures?

Mine have started to bloom. Alas, I left my camera at my son's place in Toronto, and it is a good hour away. When I get it back, I'll post some photos.

I will double check when I get home from work today, but I think you are right, my plants may not have any eyes on them. I remember cutting them stem real close to the union of the eyes and the tuber, in fact, there is a hallow depression there, thanks for the reminder. I raise orchids, so I should have known better .

I am glad on I learned on a cheap and easily (re)obtainable tuber. I never grew them before so this was a learning exercise. Thanks for the info. Now to focus my energy on the dahlias I planted already that are viable.

I started mine in the garage mid April. Planted them outside May 11th and now a few are getting ready to bloom.

Thank you so much everyone for your helpful answers. Here in WI we've had so much rain I think maybe they were just water logged. We've had about five days of sun and I can see new growth so they are coming around.

Thank you!

I found out grasshoppers were eating my dahlia leaves, apparently they love them. Will post photos of the flowers I have so far in another post.

Good to hear that you've found the culprit! :)

I'm starting to trim off the bottom leaves now, so that the air can circulate around the stem. That seems to be helping. I had one sulking, and I thought that I would lose it, but after trimming the bottom leaves off ( up to 4 inches - depending upon the size of the plant - one has to leave enough to sustain the plant), the sulking has stopped, and it is doing better now.

I have heard "trim off the bottom four inches" so many times from new dahlia lovers I just know they are researching your old posts and listening to you, jroot. You (and a few others here) are gifted instructors!

Glad shes has stopped sulking. But what I would like, more than anything, is a picture sometime in August, of what your happy dahlia and tropical plantings. Promise?

I think I watered right before 10am (we are allowed to water between midnight and 10am every other day here).
Dahlias looked droopy from the night before (usually they perk up by the morning, but not this time). So, I have decided to give them a drink. It was hard not to wet the foliage. I guess the leaves got burned.
Thank you Jroot for answering.
The good news is new foliage is coming up, so I did not kill it completely, as I thought.
The lesson is learned!
~Natalie

Droopy look means the plant is thirsty. Do not wet the foliage, water to the roots.

Oh No, I have it too. Have been reading about it all morning. They say that some insceticides even spread it. Has anyone found something for the spider mites that works?

Oh yes ! that´s how spider mite damage looks like. Like explained, permetrin or pirethrin based insecticide gets rid of the problem if applied correctly and frequently, once or twice a week for the first two weeks and then weekly for the next three or four weeks.

Insecticides do not spread it Pdshop, they simply don´t kill them, they seem impervious to anything you throw at them.

Down here it´s the never ending story with dahlias, since they begin to grow as early as mid march ( when it´s hot and dry ) then your plants get spider mites, then it begins to rain, it gets warm and moist so slugs and snail come out and if it´s not slugs and snails then it´s powdery mildew ( too much moisture ), oh well, if it wasn´t that way then it wouldn´t be fun to grow them.