3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Hi,
Well I planted my dinner plates a week ago when it was warm, but now we have had a low pressure system hovering over us for 4-5 days of low to high 40's and rain all the time! Should I dig them up or wait it out?
Good day...
intercessor
This is my first dahlias or gardening year for that matter...
I wouldn't call 6" tall and 6-8 pairs of leaves leggy. More like bushy already. Best to nip at 2 or 3 sets of true leaves, and this happens at 4"-6" for my non-leggy rooted cuttings. If you wait too much later, the stems get hollow and can gather/hold water and rot the plant. I pinch some of mine a second time if started early enough. Serves the double purpose of making them bushier and keeping the early growth in check. Good Luck.
Clay
Ususlly the "stopping" (pinching out of the growing tip) is done at about 1' tall. When you plant your potted dahlias out you can take off a pair or 2 of the leaves & plant them deeper like you would a tomato plant if you think they're too tall & floppy.
But isn't a new snowfall clean and pretty. We had 4 inches and got 2 more.
Besides, I was ready for a gardening break.
First inspection of tubers found 4 or 5 with sprouts. I didn't break them off___just hustled them back in the cooler and told them it was too early. Just nestle down in your saran wrap and sleep for another month or so.
We call all our seedling babies she, too-- except for EEEKK!!-- & HE'S definately a HE! >:)
The year the ADS show was held in Seattle, they brought a tour bus full of dahlia growers from all over the world to our place. One of the guys from back east came up to me & said, "You're a girl!!" (I'm a little past the "girl" stage but who's counting??)
"Yup", says I "At least the last time I looked I was!" I guess dahlias, in the past, have usually been hybridized by the menfolk & they just don't think "Girls" are capable of the chore!-- fooled them!
Yup, I'm a he, at least the last time I looked. LOL
Cookie_ks, mine have been in pots for several weeks, and are now outdoors in the pots. They love the sun and are "growing gangbusters". I agree with linnea56 that you definitely gain a few weeks with potting early. Mind you I am not potting up 8000 like plantlady.
Chiggerbait, love your name by the way...
Your weather sounds like ours in about January- not ideal for dahlia tubers newly planted in the ground. If they continue to look wilty, I would indeed dig them up gently and see what's going on. My past experience with 'wilty' leaves has almost always been rotting tubers. Worse still: leaves that never appear at all. So sorry. BUT all is not lost yet; you can trim them and try to save them as above. Make sure you cut away ALL rot, let the cuts heal over and it wouldn't hurt to treat with a fungicide either. I've had dahlias go on to grow long after I gave up on them as totally rotten. When the tubers were dug up that Fall, the original tuber was nothing but a stub- half an inch of neck. Yet they went on to produce a full grown productive plant/flowers. Who can't like that?
Putting them in pots to let them regroup until your soil dries out a tad might be worthwhile too. Or leave them in pots- then you can protect them from hideous rainfall but will have to water more often in dry spells.
When to quit worrying about tuber rot? Right around October. There is always something wanting to foil your best dahlia plans.
The husband cuts the clumps up as he digs in the fall- all 8,000 or so clumps-- glad it's him doing it & not me!
Then he lets them cure a day or so.
He lines milk crates with newspaper & puts some vermiculite in the bottom, then a layer of tubers, then more vermiculite- he does this layering about 1/2 of the way up the crate- not all the way - doesn't want them to be too heavy on the bottom ones. The crates are stored in our cold room at about 40-45* for the winter.
Well, Can't say that I have heard of anything that will stop a dahlia from growing to its height potential. Perhaps if you wanted cactus dahlias that were 24 inches tall.......then maybe researching and finding dahlias that only grow that tall would be the answer. Research before buying and planting can prevent a lot of woes. Its also best to put the stakes in the ground when you plant the tubers so you don't damage the tuber later. Most taller varieties will have to be staked or will end up laying on the ground.
Happy Gardening,
Sierra
I'd get them out of the fridge and into some warmth/humidity of baggies to see how your dividing went. I hate to waste time and space planting a tuber that isn't going to produce anything. I say, go for the baggies in a bright window. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Mindy, this sounds like a great idea! Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with BJ bins (maybe I'm the only one)...so I can't really picture what kind of containers to look for in local stores. Would you be able to post a photo, please and thanks?
cailin, sorry, no camera right now. it's just an opaque thick plastic rectangular storage bin, with a lid. rubbermaid makes various sizes, in blue.they make one that is just a little smaller than this red one i am describing. i think any large 'box store-like' grocery(sam's club? price warehouse) would have their own version of these.
I didn't dig one dahlia last fall, they are all breaking the ground now. I'll have to dig them this fall though or I'll never be able to lift the clumps out of the ground. I do have a few new ones to plant, and will do this as soon as the right moon sign comes along. Does anyone else plant by the moon?
Here in Mass. zone 5, I'm about to start planting out my Karma Dalhias. Hopefully I'm not "jumping the gun" The weather for the next week is suppose to be great, no frosts. After the mid of May I will just check the weather on a nitely basis, and cover the rows as needed. HEIDI
Next time try spraying them with Lysol- it works like a charm!