3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
I am not quite ready to un box my stored tubers yet, but what I do is place each tuber in a sandwich sized baggie. with some moist - not soaking wet - peat moss. It allows me to have 20-40 tubers in a standard tray. I keep the baggie mostly closed until I see sprouts, then open it so the sprout doesnt rot. I keep some in a south facing window, and others under fluorescent lights. The baggies take up a lot less room than pots do. The fast growers end up getting moved into pots, but space is at a premium in my growing area, so pots are on an "as needed" basis.
Thanks for your responses! For some reason I'm not getting the email notifications, or I would acknowledged them sooner.
I shall combine techniques and bag up the small tubers from the hybridizer since the eyes are just minuscule nubs, and leave the bag open. The others that have 2" sprouted eyes I'll pot up.
Thanks again!
Thank you Steve and Beverly!
I did water once and put in cool dry place. Well, acouple days as I was moving pots around I discovered it had grown about 7 inches tall! I was surprised!
We are still getting cold weather and nite time freezing temps. Winter seems to just want to hold on!
Is it okay to trim back now or wait for establishment in the ground? (probably near end of April)
Kind Regards
Most of the problems related in these posts are caused by trying to store tubers that have not been properly dried before being put into storage. Air drying for a few days works quite well. One commercial grower uses a box fan to dry them. Caution: We are talking about growers who dig in wet conditions, not growers in a dry climate. But erring on too dry is better than too wet.
Mistee,
You don't have enough dahlia varieties to tempt anyone to trade with you. If you would start out by buying 10 newer cultivars from a reputable dahlia specialist (i.e. Swan Island, Corralitos, etc.) and propagating by dividing the tubers in the off season then next spring you will have a much more attractive collection which you can trade to increase the variety of your own collection. By the way, later in the season (May) there are sometimes people who end up with too many tubers to plant and they may be willing to send the extras to you simply for the cost of postage.
The outdoor temps here dipped to right around 20F last night. Inside my unheated greenhouse it was a tender plant damaging 29F and a small freeze testing bowl of water froze a 1/4 inch thick. But happily under my protection zone of water jugs and blankets the temperature stayed at an acceptable 41F degrees. :) Many of my early start dahlias have leaves out already and would likely have been badly setback without the extra protection.
Thanks,
I have potted them up to see if they break dormancy.
I contacted the seller and she said Sadie is a dark purple and is sending me the peppermint colored one.
I do not care about named cultivars. I like Dinner Plate dahlias in unusual colors and shapes.
Oh yeah, I see you said you planted them back in January not right now. They probably froze and are now mush. You might as well dig them up and see for yourself what condition they are in. January is kind of early for Walmart to be selling dahlias but then again some people (like me) start them in pots indoors and then transplant them out around the last frost date to get a head start. The easiest and safest way to grow them is to plant the tuber outside after the last frost date but then you get flowers much later in the summer.
Be patient with the slow tubers. Put them somewhere warm planted in slightly moist loose potting mix if you want to encourage them to start sprouting now. Are you planning on propagating them from sprout cuttings? This isn't really a task for a beginner but if you want to try there is good info on the web.
There are two keys to getting dahlias to overwinter in the ground in a temperate climate regardless of where you live.
1.) You cannot allow the frost to penetrate to the depth of the tubers. Unlike frost hardy bulbs, daffodils for example, which can actually freeze solid without harm dahlia tubers cannot be allowed to freeze or they will turn to mush and die when they thaw.
2.) The dormant tubers should not be allowed to sit in wet soil. This causes them to rot.
So you should be able to get dahlias to overwinter in your climate if you can meet those two conditions. A heavy mulch of leaves is a good idea and I would also recommend covering the leaves with sheet plastic or a cold frame to keep the soil dry throughout the winter.
Thank you for the tips - I will try them out on a Walmart plant to see how I do. I am fortunate to be getting 2 Wyoming Weddings, and I'm going to plant one in the garden and one in a large pot (18" diameter) to see how they compare - then I'll lift them both in the traditional manner. After I see how the experimental "in ground" plant does next year, I may try it with others.
Thanks again for helping a newbie!
I would also suggest that you read: Success With Cuttings By Bill McClaren.
http://dahlias.net/seabox/McClaren.htm
There is also a lot of good info on the Colorado Dahlia Society web site.
http://www.dahlias.net/
http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/Propagation/Cuttings.htm
Here is a link that might be useful: Success With Cuttings
I raised some from seed one year but I didn't take any pictures because I didn't really like them. They were all small collarettes which isn't really my thing so I was unimpressed. I got my dahlia seeds from GeoSeed.
Here is a link that might be useful: Collarettes at Swan Island
I've got nothing to add to the shading discussion; but I agree that the bridal bouquet that you made is fantastic. I tried calla lilies a couple times with no luck. What variety do you grow?
The vast majority of my callas are straight species white Zantedeschia albomaculata. I have propagated them over the years by both division and from seeds. Growing them from seed will get you nice disease free rhizomes but you can't count on getting blooming sized bulbs until the third season. I've tried some of the miniature colored hybrids but they seem to be more susceptible to both rot and frost damage. Picasso and Blackstar have done pretty good for me. The rhizomes cannot be allowed to freeze and must be protected by heavy mulch in a borderline climate or by lifting them out of the ground for the winter and storing them in a cool basement or root cellar. Storing callas in sawdust in my unheated basement has worked well for me.