3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Hi LizaLily, yes it is a bit early to be concerned with Dalias at this time of the year on the U.S. Pacific north coast. However I have transplanted to the mid north east coast of Australia. It's pretty warm here right now and the region is engulfed in huge bush fires, some on a 150 Km front.
However, my Dalias are now fully grown, about four feet high, have a few small flowers, and lots of foliage. I added blood and bone plus a small amount of Rooster Booster weathered chicken fertilizer in the planting holes
which may be the problem. Next year I'll leave the roosters out of it.
Cheers and Thanks for your comments.
I would say, definitely Lady Darlene. I haven't had much experience with making cuttings but that's on my slate to learn this year. I think I have been told that Lady Darlene is a hard one to get tubers from...ordered it once and none of that person's LD's Provided good tubers when it was time to fill orders. That has kind of made me shy away from it, much as i Love the appearance of it! We need to learn to grow "pot tubers".
Nice! Looking it up, I think you guys are right. Would it hurt my tubers to start them growing in a windowsill now, and try to get cuttings off of them? What do I do with the tubers once I have taken the cuttings, should I try to make them go back into dormancy, or let them grow in the window until it is time to plant them outside?
I can see viable eyes in the picture. Stem has rotted down to crown where eyes are located. Do not wash tuber clumps and if you are not experienced at dividing clumps, do not do so as they will store better whole. Place entire clump into a plastic bag, one per bag, to keep the moisture level as it is now. Do not add any water or wash clumps. They are bit dry looking but in a plastic bage they will not loose any more moisture. Store anywhere where it will not freeze, even if that area is a bit warm.
Pineapple sage is as tough as old boots where I live and will cope with living indoors for a while. Sweet potato should overwinter in sand. It will even overwinter uncovered and dry, in fact, if the tubers are of reasonable size, in the humid climate I live in. I wonder about misting rather than dousing your sand - going for moist rather than wet.
The moist coarse sand method sounds rather doubtful to me especially in a cardboard box. You are in a low humidity area and cardboard box will wick the moisture from sand very quickly. If you place the entire box into a plastic bag and seal it, the moisture will be preserved and you would have better chance. Dahlia tubers really dry out in low humidity areas during the winter unless they are sealed in plastic. The idea in high humidity or low humidity climates is to let the tubers dry for a day or two to the point where they are still firm and when you place them into plastic bags with bit of vermiculite or even some potting soil, that they will stay plump. Too wet and they rot; too dry and they die. Store at the just right stage in plastic and they will do just fine.
The cuttings do not always form a new tuber in their first season, so some people put the cutting in a small pot and plant the pot with the cutting still in it into the garden when they plant out their tubers. In autumn they dig up and store the pot, not disturbing the roots unless it is obvious that tubers have formed. In spring they plant out the root without the pot, and it will grow tubers in that second year.
Here we can overwinter in soil, so it doesn't matter.
Cuttings are true to the parent plant.
My feeling is unless the company's seed catalog or web site states that there's a high probability of plain/non-variegated flowers, you have a right to contact them to voice your disappointment(pleasantly, though) in their stock and your results. Usually you see mentioned that there's a 10% or other chance you'll obtain solid colors from such packets; your results are out the realm of acceptance. I would think that the 'Fireworks' growers would have weeded out plain-colored offspring to better guarantee one's success. Let the company know about your outcome, and they may send you a replacment packet free to test this coming year. Good luck.
Ted Kennedy of Hollyhill Dahlias recommended "Hollyhill Bridget" to me as a hot pink (similar color but bigger then Fatima). I am going to try it this next year. Its still a small sized dahlia nice for bouquets. Chimicum Katie is another gorgeous Deep pink...some would call it lavender, but to me it is a hot pink that glows and beautiful shape. Another favorite of mine is Wyoming Wedding but it has a nice bit of lavender and gold mixed into the pink.
Aloha Max:
I love Dahlias and am constantly looking for different/new ones. I have purchased seed from various sources that represent themselves to be dwarf (which I am looking for to surround the big babies) and love the different color and markings you can come up with during the course of a seasons growth. I think it well worth the effort and price. Some of the Sports I have kept for many generations. You decide which you wish to dig and keep for future use. Keep in mind that what the seed says and what the seed does do not always match. Some of my "Dwarf" have been taller than I. I'm 6'8" One of my favorites came from seed. Looks like fire engine red painted on black velvet. If you have the space.......grow for it. Partner in grime.......mm
When you replant in the spring and the sprouts start coming up, pinch off all but the largest sprout. When that single
spout is 12-18 inches tall, pinch off the center candle. This will cause the plant to be thicker, bushier, and have
thicker stems. You will have a 3-4 feet tall plant instead of
5-7 feet with thin stems.
Many people in warmer climate leave their Dahlias in the ground over the winter, digging them up every year or two (or three) in the spring to divide them. Any frost that you get would put them into dormancy and they would arise in the late spring like any perennial. I have not heard of anyone trying to keep them from going dormant over the winter.
I ive in the PUget Sound area of Washington state and I mostly leave mine in the ground over winter. The 3 big problems that one might encounter are (1)freezing--turns the tuber to mush, no chance of future use (2) rotting in soggy soil...soil must be well drained (3) damage by underground rodents (Hungry mice) and Insects like slugs that will eat emerging growth off them and even down into the tuber, sometimes leading to rot. If you have a pile of tubers from more then a years growth since dividing, often the top ones will freeze but the bottom ones remain intact and growth will come from them.
IN your climate, David, they should be fine. You should divide the clump of tubers ever two or 3 years through to keep your plant strong. I dig them in the spring, divide and repot into my greenhouse to speed them up and get some good growth before the soil warms in the garden. You can even take an axe to the clump and simply quarter it and cut off the cut surfaced ones and plant the rest of the quarters into 4 different locations or give them away.I second the idea of covering your plant's space with plastic over the ground.
They died back to just nothing, but I have to see if they will began to sprout again. I have bad luck with bulbs rotting when I dig them up and usually better with leaving them in the ground. They get this white moldy stuff and then they shrivel up and turn black and mushy.