3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
When you put them outside did you put them in the sun? If so, try putting them in the shade for a while first to get them used to the brighter light. Even in the shade the light has much more intensity than indoors.
Last weekend I put some dahlias outside for a few hours as well, and the largest one looked a little wilty - but then perked up once in the house. I was wondering if it was because I started the plants too soon and it is a bit on the big side of ideal. I read somewhere that the ideal height of a transplant was 12 inches high, and the one wilty plant I have is over that height. The shorter, less advanced plants did not seem to have the same problem.
Good luck with your hardening off, at least you can plant yours out soon - this weekend we are having a snow storm!
Janet
I had some of Plantlady2's dahlia bread at her garden one year. (Oh, heaven!! That gazebo! Those thousands of dahlias! That Garden!! Swoon!!)
The bread was interesting- as plantlady2 said-- lots of cinnamon will make anything edible!! But before you start noshing on dahlia tubers be sure they haven't been sprayed with a systemic when growing or dipped in something nasty (bleach? Sulfur?) before storing.
Ellie
Okay Linda, here starts the debate. I do happen to mist mine and I keep a loose sheet of plastic on top just to keep the moisure in so I don't have to be around every day. The theory is that as homes have heat, home air is drying (as it is drying to our skin) and a little dampness for your tubers, as long as they have ventilation, is 'a good thing'.
Everyone says to get your tubers eyed up by putting them halfway in a tray of barely damp potting soil. If you can get your potting soil 'barely damp' I would say this is also 'a good thing'.
However, I do not find it necessary. Last year I stuck two tubers into an EMPTY bag of Miracle Gro, loosely closed the top, dumped it on a shelf in the laundry room and three weeks later I had 8" sprouts. I have also used dry potting medium in a tray with success and lastly, I threw one really stubborn tuber buck naked into an emptly cooler (closed the top) and that too finally sprouted.
IMHO it's all about the heat of the room (and damp soil in a cool room doesn't always work that well).
Russ, you described your goals perfectly and made 'China Doll' sound very intriguing indeed. I guess the reason I find dahlia foliage plain, is that I cut off all the flowers and see nothing but green foliage, buds and stems, and short-lived flowers before the shears comes along to harvest them. I have had some short varieties full of blooms as you describe and found them quite pleasant, just not my goal.
I wonder if the mass of main branches on Matchmaker were multiple main stalks or just wildly branched off one main stalk? Mine last year was very average in flower production. I would like it to go nuts with long stems as you describe!
Do you disbud: remove the two inferior buds, (or more,) alongside the main bud on a branch? If not, that would account for a more massive flower display per plant.
I'm getting kind of itchy to see some of these dahlias of which we speak. Too bad it's only April.
Poochella,
I think my Matchmaker stems were all off a single main stem. I had started them inside and knew there was only one main stalk when planted out. As I said, I did pinch it, which I assumed accounted for all the large stems at the bottom. I did the same thing to a Cabana Banana and its large stems broke off at the bottom after a storm, despite being fairly well trussed up.
I did not disbud last year, but I am definitely thinking about it this year. Particularly for something like Purple Taiheijo, which I found had very short stems that the flowers were on. It made it such that the flowers were almost buried in the foilage. Gregory Stephen sorta did the same thing. I recognize now that it was probably because I wasn't tending to their needs as good as I could've (e.g. disbudding.)
China Doll was definitely my favorite from last year, so this year I've made a place for 6 of them...;-]
Cheers,
Russ
Poochella, thank you - that helps a lot. I'll repot them into milk cartons as I'd planned, and water them sparingly. They're all coming up and the leaves look really good, so I can't have screwed things up too badly yet. :-)
I have a heater in the greenhouse - it never falls below 50 (normally it stays around 58-60 at night and on cold days, but if it drops into the teens at night, it gets down around 50 or so). So freezing isn't an issue at all. I have veggies and annuals growing out there right now that I started from seed - a freeze in the greenhouse would be a complete disaster for our gardens this year.
Russ, I did say 13 hours of "daylight", not "sunlight". My greenhouse is situated where the sun hits it very early in the morning, and is on it all day, no trees or anything shading it at all (doors and vents stay open all day on warm, sunny days to keep the heat managable between 70 and 85 or so, and there are fans running in there 24/7). There are about three microclimate zones in my yard - the greenhouse is in the warmest, full sun microclimate, where I have roses (my favorite flowers) starting to leaf out already. I have all manner of annuals and veggies growing out there in the greenhouse, and none are getting leggy at all, so I'd think that if there's enough light for tomatoes, there's probably enough light for the dahlias to get started. They're coming up fine, as I said, the leaves look good, so I think they're getting plenty for now. Obviously as the days get longer, they'll have light longer. I'm not on the "mountain side" of the state - south-central Montana (where I live) is closer to a desert than the cooler mountain regions in the western parts of the state.
And I never said I didn't like dahlias...I said my husband loves them (which he does). I like the flowers, but I have more of a passion for roses personally (don't have to dig them up in the fall). Maybe I'll fall in love with dahlias after growing them for a season or so - but I won't know if I don't try! My hubby doesn't care much for typing or forums, and he would never "make" me ask anything, anywhere "for him" (he wouldn't have asked for himself either...he'd just throw them in a pot and let them grow or not, as his dad does). I asked of my own free will, because I was interested in how to get them the best start possible. It's my nature to jump into whatever I decide to do with both feet. I am interested because I love my husband, he loves dahlias, and that makes me want to have some in the garden for him, regardless of some extra work in spring and fall. Have you never grown something just because someone in your family really likes it?
In any case, thanks for the advice. I'm sure we can get the dahlias off to a good start this year now.
Here I am in mud zone 7 and all you Canadians and Montanans are lightyears ahead on dahlia growth. Congratulations!
Your set up sounds very good Jamie, and I hope you'll be won over by the versatile, variable, and vivacious dahlia in 2008. There are so many to choose from: each with their own merits. I gave my roses away- too disease prone for this locale. I did like their scent and delicate petals, but dahlias are also most amazing in their fantastic petal formation, wide array of colors and color combinations and various forms and sizes. You can't beat 'em!
I can hardly wait to see my new ones and the old favorites!
Hi,
The only Classified dahlia (in the ADS Classification handbook) with fragrance at this time is Hy Scent. It has a definite hyacinth-like fragrance, albeit a little light. Several of us are trying to come up with another variety or two here in the US and are having some little success but the only other one I have personally seen at this time is an open centered variety that comes from a friend and he was not sure he was going to send it to trial garden or release it for sale. It would probably be classified as a Peony type. I am using Hy Scent as a seed parent and surrounding it with non-scented fully double varieties in the hopes of garnering a fully double seedling. If wishes were horses..... the search goes on.
They're Mexican perennials, which means youÂll have to lift them in the fall because they canÂt handle frost. YouÂll end up with a clump of tubers in the fall (including the one you plant in the spring) which requires storage in a cold room (or fridge) over winter. Alternatively, you can treat them as annuals if the price isnÂt prohibitive for you.
Click the link below this message for a good primer on all aspects of growing Dahlias.
Cheers,
Russ
Here is a link that might be useful: Snohomish County Dahlia Society How Tos
I know nothing of sand AND soil mixes, but as long as the mixture is damp and I mean damp enough for the little guys to root, you're fine. Dahlias are fairly bullet-proof. Mist them and if the potting medium becomes a little too dry-dump a little water on them. I mean, most home air is dry, sand drains and I doubt they would rot unless you drenched them.
Congrats on your sprouts. The ones I ordered had no eyes and their little necks are starting to shrivel up.
start them indoors and enjoy blooms earlier and for a longer time.
Here is a link that might be useful: head start for tubers.
Thanks poochella. Btw, Your garden is gorgeous.
You're welcome, but sorry for the loss of your dahlia.
My planted areas look like a mess to me: never will be lovely formal gardens, more like basic cultivated planting areas. But that's how it goes when you live on rock-filled clay soil.
Here's the new dahlia bed coming along. It's hard to envision grass surrounding rows of lovely flowers, but that's my hope, once the soil dries out,the mud goes away and all that soil gets put in place.
New veggie mix soil hauled in by machine! Saved me hours of hard labor loading and unloading it myself.
I can't say how many kitty litter buckets I've loaded and hauled with rocks sifted from this bed, but I'd wager it's easily in the 200 range and more to go...
Close up of the "soil" but I must say this was one of the worst areas: couldn't even shovel here without bouncing off rocks. I'm very appreciative of the fine wonderful stuff that emerges when the rocks get taken out.
I will never, ever do this again. I have enough planting room now if not for dahlias for veggies which have taken a back seat to flowers.
