3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Oh my well you mentioned your first problem which is that it didnt have any sunshine and the fertilizer may have made them stems mushy but someone else could probably be more help in the department but my dahlias are being finicky this year and not doing well at all maybe its something in the air...
As you may know, dahlias love sun, they do not like wet feet, so fast draining soil is best. Also, if you want to grow the same variety that you bought...seed is not the way. You can propagate from root division, root cuttings and the like. Basically it is like cloning. If you grow from seed, there is no guarantee what type of flower you will get! I would place the plant in a warm sunny location. Give it a mild fetilizing of an organic liquid like Dr. Earth. Trim off the dead parts. Dahlia are pretty resilient..Good Luck...
It's been a real hodpodge of fertilizing here. Starting out with the usual compost in the hole, then 10-10-10 fertilizer that I didn't think was doing well enough so I just blasted many of my plants with a dose Osmocote. In between those was MorBloom 0-10-10.
I can't tell if it's been our very slow-to-arrive summer weather, or if it was the sluggish fertlizer, but many of my plants are shorter than usual. Other NW dahlia gardeners are reporting the same problem.
hehe. I've got at least 8 of them, I think I'VE been mass marketed.
A friend of mine took a look and wasn't sure if he liked it, he wasn't too keen on the color combo I guess. I like the blend of pink and yellow. Splash a little rum on it and you've got an exotic drink... no wait, it's not Friday yet...and the cactus(?) form is cool, but is it really a cactus? I guess a lacinated flower is a different group of dahlias than cactus.
I don't know, I like it anyway. Hopefully next year I can get a few complementary colors to go with it.
Lacinated is a different form than cactus- -- it used to be called fimbriated cactus- The only time it counts is if you're entering them in a show & then they have to go in the lacinated section not the cactus section. So-- who cares as long as you love 'em?!
Too much fertilizer and not enough sun perhaps??? It would be worth that price to me if the plants was already increasing under the soil AND if it was a named cultivar because then I could do some trading this Fall or next Spring. But since I am not familiar with 'Fred Meyer" I can't attest to the reliability of them as it relates to trueness of cultivars. My 2 cents.
The most I paid this year for a Named Dahlia tuber was $5.00. That was on-line from Danielles Dahlias-I've had good results buying from them. Most were priced well under that.
Poochella - you're too funny! I feel tall but unfortunately the skinny part escapes me. Guess I'm a snaccoon too.
I bought mostly 15" to 20" dahlias to start with. And they are getting full afternoon sun from about 12:30 to 2:30 or 3. They often wilt a bit and then recover later, even though they are not dry. I have to confess after seeing the prices, and having watched caladiums do so poorly here in containers (soil temps not high enough last couple years), I bought my dahlias for $8.49/9 tubers at Costco in February. They have names and they've bloomed true to the pictures but I'm sure these are run of the mill dahlias. Then again you never know, Costco does surprise sometimes. Anyway, they have flopped a bit out of the containers but have remained about 15" to 24" high and thick and green. I gots lots of green. I wants more flowers. I thought Bulbtone and tomato fertilizer would be the right thing to do. I will not fertilize again - I think they've had enough. What I was wondering is whether August will bring the blooms - are they just not quite in season yet? It's sure been HOT enough for tubers, just not sure they are getting the right sun requirements.
The ones that have really taken off are 2 small singles, a ruby red with yellow center and a very white with yellow center. I've cut a lot of them and they are behaving just like CCDahlias said they would - putting out more buds and blooms. I have enormous pots of Verbena Bonariensis towering over their heads and I rather like the combination. Very lush. The ones that are hanging back are Mum-type purples. I suppose I could go look up the names and I bet some dahlias are more prolific than others. If somebody can answer that I'll go hunt up the names.
But I was wondering, if dahlias are originally from Mexico, I wonder what part? Most of Mexico is beastly hot and sunny in the daytime, and often dry as well - think bougainvillea. I suppose around Mexico City where the elevations are higher they might moderate the temps. I would think a tuber would rot in the high humidity jungle areas along the Gulf Coasts. Well if anyone knows, I thought that might give a clue as to what environment to duplicate.
Hi Kimbaq,
I will try to get a photo for you tomorrow, but here is a pretty good discussion (see link, scroll to page 7) on trimming laterals and cutting a flower. If I read correctly, the article says cut a stem of 2-3 feet!
Could be my tired eyes, but what I normally get are ~12-24 inches depending on variety of plant and that's plenty long for most bouquets of mine.
Here is a link that might be useful: Read page 7 for cutting
Hi. This is my first year with Dahlias. I read all sorts of things about disbudding for one large bloom, which I tried on 2 of them. They look terrible and never bloomed. The other ones I disbudded only a couple sprouts and they have many tall beautiful flowers. For me, more is better! And it's true...the more flowers you cut off the more you get!
Okay, the disbudding I understand, but what do you mean by "alternate sides laterals". If someone has a pic to show what it is that be great. Thank for the help
Here is a link that might be useful: my little dahlia blooms
Just five????? Well....Hmmmmmm.... I can tell you that I always plant Kelvin Floodlight and Thomas A. Edison. Like everyone else, I get new favorites every year. I am waiting for a few new ones to bloom so........ To be honest, I love them all!!!!!!!!!!!
Spike, Zorro, Edna C, Moonlight Sonata, Almand's Climax, Kidds Climax, Hamari Gold, Hamari Accord, Highlighter, Cinnabar, Bonaventure, Feisty Freda, (oh my gosh- you've got to be kidding-- dahlia growers can't count to just 5!)-- & all of the 6,000 seedlings in our Big Garden!