3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
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
I'll try to answer your questions, as asked:
1. I do set my dahlias on some soil under lights to get them going. Some of them take several weeks to begin to sprout, others a few days.
2. As I said before, I do place my dahlias on to a bed of nice growing compound. I do lightly cover them, but don't bury them.
3. I think it is the heat and light that brings out the sprouts. The moisture of the growing compound definitely helps too. I keep this growing compount moist, but not wet, and thus it needs attention on a daily basis.
4. I do put a plastic cover over the container. Sometimes a plastic top which lets the light through, and sometimes a clear plastic bag.
5. I would let the tubers sprout some, and then you can separate if you feel confident. I would be tempted to gain some growing confidence before trying sprout cuttings.
I hope this helps.
We get it at Whatcom Farmer's Co-op- or Cenex. It's a plastic twine similar to baling twine but not as thick. It doesn't stretch like sisal twine does.
You can order it from A.E. Leonard a supply outfit that's on the net-- but I just Googled them & their site is down tonight. It's more expensive there than from Cenex-- how much do you need? If you can't find it in OR, maybe we could get you some & ship it to you by UPS or something. I think it's about $9.00 or so a roll at Cenex- sometimes less if on sale. Walt reuses it from one year to the next & it seems to be good for a two or three years if you don't get it too tangled when you remove it.
The posts are 6' med. weight metal fencing posts- about one foot is thumped into the ground. The first cross piece is 4" above the ground & from there on they are 8" apart up the post making 5 cross pieces on each post. The cross pieces are about 6" long & the holes that the twine goes through are about 1/2" from either end of the posts.
Does this cover what you need to know??
Thanks plantlady, that's exactly the information I was looking for. There are a number of Christmas tree growers in our region, so I'll keep looking for the twine. We're new at growing dahlias, but have put in a bed with a couple of long rows, and your system looks like it would be a great way to support them.
plantlady2,
Thank you, thank you, thank you......now I know I am doing the right thing. Of course now I will have even more of this one variety....:O I hope my new ones grow like this too. Its better to have to many than none right. LOL!
This will also give me the oportunity to practice dividing tubers without worrying about losing the variety altogether.
Sierra
Thanks! I will do that. More to share too. There are about three that I can see but they are pretty tiny, about 1/8"long each. Do you think a piece of stem could produce shoots bit enough for cuttings?Guess I will wait, somewhat patiently. I read the tutorial in the (Colorado, American?) dahlia society about taking cuttings from the tubers so I am more or less primed for it.
Thanks again
Yes, esp. if as you say it has some "meat" to it. A friend of ours always keeps about 6" of stem on some of his hard to keep dahlias & claims that's the only way he can keep them over the winter - then he does cuttings from the shoots that come off of the stem.
I still have not done the ones still in the refrigerator! Since I'm out of pots, I thought of spreading out potting mix in a shallow tray, laying them out, then watering just to get them to sprout a bit before planting out in about 2 weeks. Would this work? I've heard of the baggie trick too, but think I could be neater in a tray. This has to go where my DH will see it, and he complains about messy things.
I do have space on top of the frig in the garage: will the warmth really help them to sprout?
Last fall was my first time dividing, and I could not see any eyes. So I imagine lots of my divisions are eyeless and useless.
Linnea, you could do the tray, but if you're unsure on eyes on your divisions, I'm swearing by the baggie thing. Tubers I was ready to give up on for good have sprouted in their little plastic greenhouses. I find I prefer good potting soil in the bags as opposed to one with lots of peat- soil stays damper longer. I am also finding that I have to add moisture every couple days because those babies are cooking in south windows and the soil dries out quickly.
Just try a couple for a little dahlia experiment. Hands down, it's the best dahlia thing I've learned in recent memory. If your husband wants neat, you could neatly line a boot box or shoe box (or ten) with baggies in a bright window. Heat from a refrigerator would likely help. I like to give them light though too. Nothing like sunshine.... which is outside now and therefore I return to digging.
