3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
They're called pot tubers & are grown only in pots- mainly to get cuttings from them. Most growers in England grow only pot tubers- they call the tubers we plant "chicken legs"! You can plant them in the garden in their pots & get a normal sized plant from them. Then you just lift the pot in the fall & store it- most people say to store on their side as that lets them drain if they're wet- the next year you take cuttings from them & start all over again. They really don't rot any more than regular tubers do & sometimes they break open the pots & grow out of them.
If I were going to try what you envision, I definitely would plant only one tuber, not a clump, in a pot. Further, You are going to need to put the tuber in a rather large (12") CLAY pot. (If you put the tuber in a plastic pot you will need to water daily, for they need lots of water, and fertilizer.) Unless they are minatures they will have to be staked, another problem if you are going to move them about. Upon reflection , I guess it isn't such a great idea, but don't let me stop you. It might work out better than I project. (I have grown dahlias for years, and up to 200 a year.) Good luck--let me know how you make out.
Don't put your dahlias in the ground until the ground temp is 60*. If you plant too early the tubers will just sit there until the ground warms up- or else they'll rot.
Lots of little bugs around to latch onto anything they can- if you don't have very many pots just give them a light spray with the house & garden Raid that's made with Natural Pyrethrin- it's extracted from Mums & works pretty well.
Some of my large dinnerplate dahlias have surprisingly small tubers. Others have large ones. I think the quality of the soil you plant in will have significant bearing upon the size of your plant. That coupled with the genus of the dahlia are determining factors. Remember the genes of some dahlias will have them grow small, while others will grow fairly tall. I have planted several dahlias in large pots in the past, and moved them where I want them. You may decide to do just that in your situation.
Thanks for the response. :) I would love to have more plants, but unfortunately I already have too many bulbs and tubers and not enough garden space! I was thinking about potting up some of these extra sprouting tubers and bulbs and selling them at my spring cleaning garage sale because I have so many extra.. I hate to throw away a perfectly good growing little plant.
I would suggest you keep two or three shoots on the plant until they are 6-8" out of the ground after they are planted. This is make sure you have growing stalks in case of a cut worm or other insect or conditions cause a loss of one or more of the stalks. They would come back if you only have one but it will need to grow from the original eye again which will take a couple of weeks at least. After they are growing well you can pinch off the extra ones at ground level and they won't continue to grow. Ultimatly you want to grow only one stalk out of the ground
hey all,
I am just starting to look at dahlias, and I can't find pictures of some that are on the tolerant list. If anybody has pics they can post it would be great. Or if these are typo'd or known by other names. Thanks!
CG Arctic
Kenora Firefighter
Pink Pet
Pompons
SB'S Sunny
Stephnie
Bo Bay
Hi Mairenn, CG Nordic (the correct name) can be seen at Corralitos Gardens catalog at Dahlias.net Bobay can be seen on the originations page at the DS of GA site. The only way to get a tuber of it is to come to the DS of GA tuber sales in April & May. It is a wonderful flower and very easy to grow.
Pompon is a form of dahlias but a couple that do well in the South are Willo Borealis P, Lav and Lismore Moonlight P, Yel Yellow Baby does OK but not for show and Little Snowdrop P, W. You can see these except for Little Snowdrop at Accent Dahlias on the Big List at dahlias.net Valda P, PR does fine also but is very hard to find. Clacks Dahlias offered it this year and you can see a not so good picture of it on their site.
I will try and post some pictures if I can figure out how to do it. I have pictures of the others except maybe for Stephnie, which is a wonderful ball dahlia. Kenora Firefighter is a bright red with lots of blooms and really grew well in my garden last year as did SB's Sunny and Pink Pet.
Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society
Yes, unwrap them for sure before or just after bringing them into a warmer environment. I learned the hard way last year. You can safely keep them in either peat or vermiculite or start some early in potting mix, until it's time to plant outdoors.
I bet you will find some already springing to life in their little plastic cocoons.
Thanks Poochella. I thought I recalled a post from last year in which someone told of an unfortunate experience when they warmed up wrapped tubers. Some our wrapped ones are beginning to show eyes, but not as much as those we stored in peat moss. The survival rate was much higher in wrap than in peat moss, which seemed to dry the tubers out even in our damp environment. We've only really been growing dahlias seriously (?) for one season, but were lucky enough to have a photo of our garden win a third place in Swan Island's annual photo contest and be published in their catalog. So now we're hooked, of course!
I'll plan to unwrap the tubers and put them in another medium before bringing them in to warm up.
Hi Jim: Everything I have ever read and the times I have tried to grow them, hollow cuttings will not produce roots and to throw them away. That will happen sometimes with the first cuttings off a tuber or as I do sometimes in the fall take cuttings from some garden plants to winter over and if you get a stem too long it will be hollow. So I would just go with the follow on cuttings and toss the hollow ones.
Cuttings placed into soil without roots have a very poor chance of living long enough to make roots. When I first started doing cuttings I would have a 50-60% failure rate which was discouraging. I started putting them into jars of wet sand for 36-48 hours and then in soil and that helped but still not a high enough success rate. Finally, I learned about the Oasis Wedge System (not Oasis Cubes)which has about a 90-99% success rate and I use it every year. I don't even use a rooting hormone as they root so well in the wedges. Cowlitz Dahlias has wedges for sale or you can google and find other suppliers.
Sorry for the bad news.
Here is a link that might be useful: Cowlitz Dahlias
Hi, I am on Vashon Island so probably about the same zone as you, 8b. I have been leaving my dahlias in the ground over winter for 7 year now, with none lost from freezing. I do put a straw mulch over them when the temp is dropping below 25 but just dug up some that I had left in an old garden and not mulched this winter and they were fine. My soil does drain well, however. I loose a lot more if I dig them up!
Ashli, unless you are planning on planting dwarf and miniature dahlias that can be used as ground cover I don´t think that dahlias are a good companion for roses, they can get quite large and tall ( like that 10 ft tall 3 feet wide monster that grows every summer in my garden ) shading everything and anything around it, miniatures and dwarfs don´t grow that tall and wide. But still they are beautiful enough to be considered.
There's more pictures & info on cutting up on the Colorado dahlia Society site starting on the page below.
Good luck!!
Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society
poochella,
thats a great idea. I collected all the odd bits from work along with the peat moss that they throw out when we are potting up our speciality dahlias. I might be able to double my collection in one season this way.
I have a very nice small square bladed shovel with a D handle that I keep filed very sharp which I used on the clump once it was pulled from the excavation hole. Since I wasn't concerned with losing a few pieces, I was able to just stand and jump on the shovel and it sliced through fairly easily. I'll let you know how the zip lock baggy experiment works. I imagine placing them on a heat mat might quicken the process???
Jan
Jan, I think I ended up using the transplant shovel to dismember a huge 50 lb clump left in a couple years- whatever works. Glad you got your mass divided.
You know, I almost want to tell people to hold off on the baggie thing, except that it works so well, but this year mine are popping right and left just having been exposed to some light and basement temps of 60. I do have some questionable ones in open baggies, some potted up because they are ready to go, roots even! Pretty nice for the first full day of Spring.