3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Thanks for clarifying that Jroot. Makes good sense for longer tubers. Have you ever tried cutting the longer ones off a bit? My head was in the earth and not thinking about planting in pots, although I am doing that RIGHT NOW (yippee) for the first time myself.
thanks for the prompt reply i'll follow your directions and keep my fingers crossed. i've noticed that the bugs are only eating the dahlia's. the haven't touched the gerbers, petunias, pansy's or the clematis. i'm using bug be gone but it doesn't seem to help. is there anything you recommend for protecting the dahlia's? we've only been in east tennessee a little over a year (new england transplants) and we are absolutly loving it. all the trees are leafed out, the grass is green and the azealia's are in full bloom. life is good...thanks again for your help
Why not try the best of both worlds: plant it with the white shoot on- yes, it should green up if it stays in tact. And the bonus: if it happens to break off, eyes will likely resprout from that same location, the shoot will disintegrate into compost and you will still have your dahlia.
I've inadvertently broken off sprouts and in a few days you can find the bulging pink or yellow eye forming right where the other fell off, or to the side. I don't know of any reason NOT to plant the white shoot, other than its frailty.
More than likely it was potash. We're a grower of field and specialty greenhouse cutflowers. And, potash is spread on our field each season before planting. We have several acres of field grown dahlias with very sturdy stalks. We've never used any type of staking on the dahlias in the field. They are, however, planted closer together than you'd plant in your garden.
And, speaking of dahlias. This is the week we start planting the tubers here on the flower farm.
CAC= cactus-- Narrow ray florets that are revolute for the majority of their length
SC= Semi-cactus- ray florets are broader at the base & revolute for about 1/2 their length
LC= laciniated -those are the ones w/ the frilly split ends
FD= Formal Decorative= These are the nice smooth ones-w/ broad ray florets that go right back to the stem
ID= Informal Decorative- sim. to the FD but the ray
florets have a twist or wave to them
BA= ball types
Then we get into the others & the Min & all that stuff- you can look at the Colorado dahlia society site or the ADS site to get good picts & descriptions of all the dahlia types
Thanks, Bernie, for letting us know. Most of mine are now potted up, and either under grow lamps, or outside on warm days enjoying the sun. I won't put them into the ground until all danger of frost is past ( end of May ), but I felt that I had to pot them since they were sprouting.
I only lost one tuber last winter. That's a pretty good record.
I just got my order a few minutes ago. The tubers all look solid and healthy....I can see the eyes on most without looking to hard. They are all labeled.
They sent extras plus a dahlia marking pencil.
Now if they all grow, I will be a happy gardener.
Sierra
There is usually some evidential mark, but if you don't see any, just place your tuber in some moist potting mix.
You don't have to submerg the whole tuber....leave it on top of your fridge or some other warm area of the house and the warmth should make it eye up for you. DB
The tubers should be OK.....they won't start to sprout till the soil temp is in the mid to upper 60's.....gotta be careful though that you don't get too much rain and cool temps for a prolonged period otherwise your tubers will rot. I'm in zone 6 and a good rule of thumb up here is to plant the tubers around the memorial day weekend. DB
I don't know about temperatures exactly, but I do know you mustn't place your container of tubers directly on a cold floor, even if the room temperature stays at 45-50. This year, I cut, dipped in fungicide, dried and then wrapped each tuber in saran, (as has worked great in the past.) then piled the tubers in a plastic tub and put it in the basement. A few weeks ago, I found the entire bottom layer of tubers in the container had rotted. I am glad I wrapped them all up, the rot was contained and the others are fine!
caz, May I ask what fungicide you dipped in? Into which you dipped? LOL I am convinced I have skin reactions to sulphur dust, very reliable for me, but I can't do this rash/ itchy patch thing twice a year as I have this year. It coinicides with dusting in October/November and is just now recurring after unwrapping all tubers and dealing with leftover dust. Major drag.
I'd really like to hear your alternative and how you use it.
Thanks!
Pooch
I believe I got this link from this forum and have had it bookmarked ever since:
Here is a link that might be useful: Dahlia Support
