3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
I ordered in February and had forgotten when I asked for delivery. I was recently gone for a week and had a neighbor getting my mail. She had two orders from other vendors but nothing from Alpens. I have e-mailed them twice in the past week without getting a response. I went to the bank yesterday and found that my check has still not been cashed. I have received great service from them in the past but I'm not sure what to think now, unless the order I sent was lost in the mail. You would think they would at least respond to my e-mails. unc
Cici- I cut the bottom leaf sets off the other night. I was pretty crowded under there as I decided to put there 3 guys in the same planter. I will not repeat this next year! I also washed the plants. I inspect my babies every morning, no spider or webs since. I have formed a 6th bud. The topped one is growing thick laterals like crazy. The other little guy is trucking along working on a 5th leaf set.
On a side note, it looks like my cutting from the Tropical has rooted! We transplanted her this morning and will see how she does! :)
That method, known as double-stopping, is to increase the quantity of blooms at a given time. So instead of letting four to eight flowers being on the plant consistently throughout the season, this forces the plant to produce fifteen to twenty at one time, then very few flowers until the second flush is ready to bloom.
Experienced growers can time these flushes pretty accurately, useful for shows or florists needing a high quantity for an event.
The size of the blooms are smaller when double-stopped, just like the size typically increases when double-disbudded.
I live in northern Delaware. Last spring I realized I'd left a Crazy Legs dahlia tuber cluster in the ground over that harsh winter, but the only reason I realized that I'd left them in the ground was because of how they shot up in April! I think they survived because it's a sunny area covered with black mulch that absorbs heat from the sun, which probably kept it from freezing. But I also left a few tubers and an entire clump in the ground this past winter, and they all rotted due to excessive moisture(and probably cold too).
The mature plants shouldn't show a difference, regardless of thick/thin stem, or big/little tuber.
Some growers swear by the thick-stemmed sprouts left on the tuber to grow, but not many. Most say there is no difference in the mature plant.
Many advanced growers actually prefer the smaller tubers to the big fat ones, with the idea that the plants will put out more roots quicker if there is not lots of food in the tuber for them.
If you take cuttings, the bigger tubers will give a higher quantity before running out of 'juice.'
cicivacation: Quote - "Check in three weeks, then pull out each tuber to examine it for an eye or sprout".
I currently have a few tubers and small clumps that are either in a tray or pots of compost. No sprouts have appeared yet, but roots are coming through the bottom. Will it affect the growth of any sprouts if these roots are either damaged or removed when the tuber is pulled out?
I normally experience a 'settling-in time' when the roots are moved to the dahlia bed and get re-established, were the top growth is temporarily delayed. Cold soil will do that, too. Ranges from a week to two weeks, depending on the plant.
However, others have reported no lag of growth, and expressed surprise that it is something I expect as matter of course.
Regardless, there should be no damage to the top growth by transplanting it when young.
Plant looks good, no worries about red stalk. Will probably green up when the plant is mature, but some always stay darker.
I wouldn't pinch off a sprout you want to root. That limits the amount of moisture the sprout can take in while it's trying to root. Much better to cut it off cleanly. You need to be sure a leaf junction is under the soil, as that is normally where the roots will emerge. I would suggest covering the cutting with a Baggie, trying to avoid direct contact with plastic and plant material. Hmm... Or is that the same as a 'jiffy pod?' That's a new one for me!
Jiffy pods are little pods of soil, they expand when you add water. They have a greenhouse type of lid to them. I put the the baby in that and have kept her indoors and under a warm bulb 24 hours a day for the last week. She is holding her own right now. When I compare the pictures for last week, it looks like the too leaves have greened and are trying to open.
Fantastic, thanks! Sadly I have no idea what I planted. Before you all die of shock and horror when I planted them I was all like, "eeek! purty flowers! my great granny grew these!" *dig* *dig* *dig* But the intervening months have matured me and I now find myself fascinated by the many varieties and wish I'd had the foresight to save the bags or at least write them down, but alas. It will all be a surprise for me later this summer. Next year though!
Danuv, this is my first year growing dahlias as well. I, too, have been going, "eeeek! Purty flowers!" Pot, pot, pot! I am maturing fast. I just topped my one of my pom poms at the 4th set of leaves. It was setting up a bud. It is in a container with two other pom poms (another lessoned learned for next year). This years is about experimenting for me. Better to do it with BBS tubers, saving the pretties, than the more expensive ones.
Topping with a bud is an emotionally exhausting experience.....
Not off base in the slightest! Everything you said was super helpful. I probably get concerned about my dahlias more than I need to so it's just good to have peace of mind and know whether I should be snipping out weak sprouts and let new ones form or not (as now is the time for me to be planting out and I want them as far ahead as possible.)
I am a new dahlia grower indeed, this will be my second year and I am getting up around 300 plants now (including some huge cuttings I have had growing for a while). I have lots of space so am hoping to double the load next year so any information people are able to give me in greatly appreciated.
I think given your tips I will leave them alone and see what happens :) If they seem not to grow over the next few weeks I will let them start over!
Thanks so much for getting back to me and for all of the valuable and interesting facts!
Have a great growing season :)
Cody
Cody, just a thought... It might be better for your immature cuttings (that have rooted but are very small) to plant them IN THEIR POT into the ground. Make sure they get the premium spots that will be watered well, as they can't take in as much water through the pot from the surrounding soil. Even a 4 inch pot IN the ground will allow the plant to reach full size, and bloom while protecting it somewhat from the ravishes of pests. Even better, digging it out is a breeze at the end of the season, and you can leave it (dry) in the pot during storage. Next season these pot roots will give you lots of cuttings.
Try a few for kicks, and see what you think next spring. I'll be doing quite a few of these this way, especially on those varieties hard to keep overwinter.
Hard to tell from the image. Does it feel different then other tubers, like foam used to seal up holes?
If so, that can be caused by bacteria in the soil, and I have not had reoccurrences in the areas I have dug clumps from in the following spring. If that was my clump, I'd be tempted to use any tubers on the other side of the clump, and throw away (not compost) the other half.
Disease identification can be a tricky thing, causing equally experienced growers to disagree vehemently on the cause and best course of action.
When I did one plant per bucket they did get about that tall, but I didn't pinch them off so the space looked sparce so I was thinking of putting 2 in a bucket this year. I do have a slow release bulb fertilizer that I used and it seemed to help keep them happy.
So, is it the water that's more of a concern or the space? I can make sure they don't dry up. I live very close to where I work, so I could water them before work, at lunch and then again after work if I had to. I have seen online where people have planted 3 or 4 dahlias around one steak, but that was in the ground. If its water that's the bigger issue, I can take care of that, if its space, I can just plant one tuber per bucket. What do you think?
More the watering and fertilizer, as both I and other growers have sucessfully grown full-sized plants in four inch containers planted complete in the ground. It results in a small clump of tubers.
My experience with planting in pots outside the earth was half the size with quarter the number of blooms, so I don't grow in pots anymore. But I am fortunate in that I also have the ability to plant in-ground as I please.
I would not try to divide tuber at this stage. You can take cuttings to start another plant. It looks like you have a good shoot to do that. If you don't want to do that leave the strongest shoot and break off the rest. If you grow more than 1 the plants are weaker. One tuber has to divide it's energy to support all those plants thus giving inferior flowers.
Check out this page for dahlia societies all across the US...
http://www.dahlia.org/index.php?page=local-dahlia-societies
Sadly, your state only has an email contact, so hopefully that person will get back to you promptly.