3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Have you sprayed with any kind of bug spray? I thought of you this afternoon. Yesterday I found 1 dahlia out of all of them that was absolutely covered with little black aphids. I sprayed with an insectidical soap which appears to have killed them. However it also burned the plant and a lot of the leaf area is brown and curling in just 1 day.
If you got any kind of drift of a spray onto the plants that could have had something to do with the leaves. But, - I wish I could send you this privately because I don't want you to feel bad - looking at the gorgeous dahlia in your above photo - look how dark green your leaves are - I think that one is also getting a bit too much nitrogen. Some people think that too much nitrogen will cause the tuber to rot over the winter, so if you intended to keep them you might just drop back to bone meal or something very low N, that also feeds roots and flowers.
You might just use iron phosphate - Sluggo is a brand or Garden Supply has their own - which will kill slugs. Maybe it will even give the extra nutrients you need. All of my dahlias are green and pretty good looking, except 2 that were planted together looking chlorotic. I just fertilized with Mighty Plant and Messenger tonight and will see if that helps.
Thanks again poochella! I'm so glad you know the variety I have! I'll take your advice and plant them where they get early sun and afternoon shade. They're definitely getting too big for the container they're in, so I guess it's time to plant them outdoors, maybe tonight.
I appreciate all your help :)
Dee
Papaya232,
How long ago did you transplant your dahlias? 3 feet high is a little large, but I've done it before and they nearly always come out of it and within a few weeks look the same as the ones I didn't transplant. Because I grow so many, I have a row of ones I can transplant in case something doesn't grow right in the main garden. My sister transplanted blooming dahlias a few years ago in the heat of summer because of her daughter's wedding.
Teresa
oh yes! a definite problem, these buggers will inject a hormone to make the plant grow the way they want it, that means dwarfism!
I had this problem and now at any sign of the winged white ones I will spray the underside of the leaves of the entire plant with malathion. I have done this twice so far this year, kills them right away. Don't know if this is a restricted chemical, now...... but I have some from years ago.
good luck
I once read that it is worthwile spraying with a fungicide, it hold off the inevitable "dieback" of the flowers, especially with rain and humidity.
Some times I will just pick off the browning pettals on the large dahlias that continue to grow.
another way to look at it is that, if you cut the blossom off it will encourage more!
good gardening.
Me too! first time with Dinner plate ones, these are flowering here in connecticut, probably around 9 inches also, no dinner plate for sure but soooooooo nice!
Nice picts, I also have the dark bronze red ones, very nice.
Cheers from an avid lifelonger Dahlia fan
I second the vote for every one Huey named- all top quality and beautiful colors. They are all tall and will need staking. Pam Howden is/are among the tallest in my garden again this year- 5+ feet last year and heading that way soon in 07. Cameo is more 3.5-4 ft. Taratahi Ruby is one of the most vibrant dahlias I've ever grown. Get them all!
Dahlias need some nitrogen and that should cure the problem. You want to cut the nitrogen out in the fall unless you don't receive any rain then some nitrogen would be appropriate.
Growing in pots and watering everyday will deplete the nutrients faster then in the ground so they require more fertilizer.
Mack, The 1' foot bed will work but the roots will be constrained somewhat and will just grow in a linear way instead of going out in all directions. The feeder roots are about 1" below the surface and can go out in all directions up to 2' in gathering nutrients. Dahlias can grow well while being crowded so it should work but 2' wide would be better.
The ideal raised bed for dahlias is a width of four feet and as long as you would like. This allows tending of the plants from both sides of the bed without walking in the beds. 10" or 12" wide boards are best. 8" boards will work but most articles I have read recommend the higher boards.
I grow in raised beds 8'x 12' with some 8" and some 10" boards. If I had to do it over I would have 4' wide beds.
Check out the Growing Guide on the DS of GA website if you haven't already, under the menu item Dahlias That Grow Well in the South.
Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlia Society of Georgia
It has been three months since I planted my Karma Dahlia about 6" below the current soil line (see picture below). At planting time, the tuber was only covered by an inch of soil. As the plant grew, I added soil to finally reach the current soil line.
It seems to me that the plant has stopped growing for the last three to four weeks even though I have been fertilizing it every two weeks.
Any idea to what I should do to "restart" the growing process. Thanks for your input.
I was given several dahlia tubers today. Here in NY they are already blooming. I don't think I should plant them because they need to be lifted in the fall. I don't know what to do with them or how to store them Will they survive till next spring?
Also, I got some canna, same story.
Help!
Yes the colors change, the flowers are smaller and fewer flowers as the daylight dwindles. If you have the least bit of frost it will kill the foliage and that will be it for the year. My friend's house is in zone 9 area and she has had a few blooms on Cafe au Lait into December. They are hadly recognizable but still welcome addithons to the Christmas greenery we use starting after Thanksgiving. Note that I Am not talking about all the others she raises, cafe au lait seems to be our lateness winner. Mine are always wiped out by frost in an 8b area by late November, at which time I may loose a few pale, half opened blooms.
Thank you for the reply.
This spring I planted out some 'Figaro' dahlias that I had grown from seed. Since we'd been having summer droughts the past couple of years, I decided to plant them in a low-lying area. But this year we had rain and more rain, and that area stayed waterlogged far too long. Some of the dahlias died. A few have made it, but don't look nearly as nice as they did before the rains started.
I wanted to start some more seeds now and have them ready to go out (in a different area of course) when the weather begins to cool. Based on your post, I think it just may work. No harm in trying. I can always replace them with pansies if they don't make it.
No don't dig in there to separate it - the stalks are coming up from a potato-like tuber. You can't separate them at this point. In the fall when they die back after your first hard frost, you can lift the whole mass of tubers and clean/divide/store them. There are detailed instructions and pictures at dahlia.com or in the archives of this forum.
You can increase the size of blooms by disbudding or disbranching - removing some of the buds or branches to put more energy toward the remaining buds, but that is something more usually done by those who want to take their flowers to a competition. I'd say keep it watered, and make sure you are using a fertilizer low in nitrogen, like a tomato fertilizer, bone meal, or I use Bulbtone. There are lots of opinions on this also, some people use Miracle-Gro for example, but most dahlia websites recommend using a fertilizer that is lower in N than P and K. Good for you, I hope you got a super deal on the price too!
When you take plants outside that have been inside, you want to move them gradually into full sun. Taking them directly from inside to your full-sun spot will severely damage, if not outright kill them. I always move them to my front porch, where they get only east sun, for 7-10 days. Or I put them under a tree in dappled shade for that amount of time.
Thank you rose nutty, now I get it. But one thing, living here in Florida, even the shade is unbearable. Should I do that now or wait until it starts to cool off some?
Thanks,
Dee