3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Very nice! But the pic needs to be BIGGER. And it is a must that when you put pics on the forum of such beauties, they have to be identified so we can all be enabled into acquiring them too. :) I love the fluffy yellow one in the middle--could that be Citron du Cap? What about the maroon ones directly behind the yellow and orange waterlily?
Actually, I already have Citron du Cap but I got it at an "end-of-the-season" clearance so it was planted too late in my garden to bloom. I think it was about to send up buds when our first cold weather hit and melted them all down like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Very nice dahlias you posted. Keep 'em coming!
Annabeth
For those of you that start them only half buried in the soil............How tall do they get before you plant them out? Last year I started mine early enough that they were between 8 and 14 inches by the time they were moved outside. I cant imagine that half buried tubers would stand up. Whats the trick?
I would love not to have to search for large pots and use so much soil.
I want to try the plastic baggie method. I will put one tuber and a handful of soil in each bag. Then I will put the bags in a foil lasagna pan from the dollar store. The pan will go in front of a glass block wall on a shelf in a bathroom.
I think this way I will be able to throw out the duds?
when do I take them from the baggie and plant them in the ground?
We too have a problem with clay based soil throughout our entire region. I just dug up ALL the clay from the holes I was going to plant any and all of my plants into, including my vegetables, flowers, etc. I threw almost all of the native clay that I dug from the holes elsewhere. Then I made a mixture of soil using bagged topsoil of good quality, plus some peat moss, some Southeastern Pa. mushroom compost and some tree leaf compost. I ended up with a mixture that was about 80% organic and 20% topsoil. That worked well for me.
I made sure that the soil I made wasn't too fine in consistency, and the bagged soil that I used was somewhat coarse, and so was the mushroom compost. That way it drains pretty well, but with the 30% or so of peat moss, it held some moisture.
Then I had to fertilize too later on.
All I could find was the Dahlia Imperialis at Dahlia Dandies, no signs of Campanulata anywhere though. There's been a seller on ebay that occasionally sells it, their username is strange_wonderful_things, but they aren't selling any items at the moment. Here's a handy site that should help you find almost any variety. They don't even have Dahlia Campanulata listed since none of the sellers listed carry it. It seems to be quite the rare find at the moment.
Here is a link that might be useful: The BigList: A North American Dahlia Variety Locator
Hi Linda
I havent checked mine, but I am confident that they are doing well. I have used the saran/sulphur method for the past three years and had great results.
Glad its working so well for you.
March is to early for me to wake mine up, since I cant get them in the ground till the end of May, but I last year I potted them all up at the end of April and it does help kick-start the Dahlia season.
Its almost February - spring is coming !
Hi Mandolls,
Usually we are able to plant around the 1st of May but the last couple years have been cold and wet so I had to wait until later to plant. I am crossing my fingers for a nice early warm spring. I will only start the biggest ones in the house sometime around the end of March. I do have a small portable green house that I can put them in outside. Last year I had to put christmas lights in it at night so it wouldn't get too cold and that worked pretty well.
I can't wait for spring either... I am going down to Las Vegas in a few weeks and I am looking forward to some nice weather there.
Linda
Forgot to mention Bodacious. Bodacious, Annette C and Wynns Sensation were all coming out singles. All being composted in the local compostery.
Kenora Wildfire and Islander? Both old favorites? I'm getting rid of my stock and seeking better. I know that both of these varieties are gorgeous, but they are blooming undersized, and with Wildfire, worse, they wilt way too soon. So those Wildfire tubers won't be showing up in the dahlia club sales either.
I've been reading a book written by a Northwest vegetable grower discussing some common soil problems in the maritime northwest ("Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" by Steve Solomon.) The problem I'm having with bloom size may have a lot to do with soil deficiencies. I've always just fertilized, not paying enough attention to what my soil needs. This year, I'm working to build some better soil. Even though the author is a veggie guy, he's got interesting things to say, and a very successful nearby dahlia grower recommended reading the chapter on building soil. We'll see if what I learn renders any improvements to my AA's that often bloom like B's.
each years harvest of tubers are clones. Like copying machine
copies they tend to fade out over the years and some disappear. You have to look around and try and buy a replacement tuber from a reputable grower who will replace
it if it doesn't grow.
Thanks a lot for your advice,
Ted, thanks for the information and recommendation. I read your post about seeds, well, didn`t know, that you can expect only so little good results. I thougt it could be fun to do some experimental raising, like with a litter of barn cats. But then I don`t really have the space for so many surplus plants.
And Carolyn, I looked those short ones up. I think they are gorgeous but not showy enough for my neighbor.
But I browsed some Dahlia grower websites and found some showy short ones like the Gallery series.
Thanks a lot, bye, Lin
If you want them to stay dormant, 45 degrees is a good temp. In an attic, when the sun comes out it will be way too warm for dahlias. They will sprout. Better to have them inside the house in a cool room than in an area where it gets very hot, even for a short period of time. Tubers can store OK in temps of 55-70F but will sprout a bit in the storage medium well before planting time. Put a remote temperature sensor in the attic and monitor it. They only cost $15.00 or so.
Yeah I have a thermometer lying right beside the boxes of tubers, and since they are right against the door, I can look in and see the temperature at any time. Also, the way the roof is positioned, I dont get any sun hitting it in the winter, because the sun is so low in the sky and neither side of the roof faces the sun.
It's 2:56 PM right now, and the temp in there is 45 degrees F. The temp outside is about 33 degrees. The temp differential is caused by heat from the house getting into the attic from below and from one side(my bedroom).
When do start the clock? when you put them in the ground? when they first poke out of the ground? What if you start them inside? and when do stop the clock? when you notice a first bud? when it starts to open?
Sorry, I just want to be accurate.
^^ I shouldve mentioned the criteria...
Time to bloom is usually measured from the day you first planted the dormant tubers, til the day that the first flower was completely open.
So if you started your tubers indoors, you'd measure time to bloom from the day you planted the dormant tubers inside, to the day the first flower completely opened up.
Round up has no residual effect on the soil and is inactive within days of spraying. You can spray it before you plant dahlias but it must be done in the Spring when weeds are starting to grow. I have sprayed it a week before I tilled and planted dahlias. Weeds do not look very dead at one week but they are definitely goners.
If your goal is just to check for eyes, you can warm them up and check every day. If you see an eye swelling, put that tuber back into cold storage and then plant it later.
Conversely, if you saw an eye when you divided the tubers, you could store them separately from the unknowns. Most people keep tubers with "possible" eyes and many in fact do have eyes.
You can start dahlias any time of the year and many people start them in January in greenhouses or under lights indoors. Their purpose is to take cuttings to increase stock. Some people transplant the cuttings into big pots and when they plant them, they are already blooming.
Wow. Maybe we should trade plants - I'd LOVE an 8 foot dahlia. The workhorse dahlia in my yard was store bought, gets the MOST sun in my yard and grows about 5 1/2 ft of foliage. (I can be eye to eye with a few of the blooms and I am 6'2). The vast majority of mine seem to be 3-4 feet. I have never even SEEN a dahlia that was 6-8 feet high and I go to the SF Dahlia Garden every year as well.
It may be whatever fertilizer you are using. I once closely inspected the many fert. choices at Home Depot and was surprised to learn that the "0-10-10" numbers not only applied to the ingredient percentages but that the first number was meaningful to plant growth, the 2nd was bloom size and the 3rd was applicable to whatever. (Don't hold me to which is which however - I'm paraphrasing.) All I remember is ferts. with a certain specific number said 'promotes bloom quality/quantity'. I thought they ALL promoted plant growth AND bloom production but apparently you can have one over another by choosing the right fert.
I think Ted's your man when it comes to fertilizers. He knows more about that than I'll ever learn.
David
Dahlias grow taller in part shade. People who grow them under shade cloth report that a variety that may reach 5 feet in full sun will grow to about 8 or 9 feet tall under shade cloth. Many people have dahlias reach to 10 feet under shade cloth.
So, I am assuming that you have a bit of shade in your garden and dahlias are reaching for the sun.
Fertilizer in so far as what the ratios of N-P-K are used has little to do with plant height. Dahlias need fertilizer that is balanced, meaning that some of each number is present. Since phosphorus, the middle number is being banned in some states, it may be difficult to find a balanced fertilizer. However, most gardens accumulate phosphorus and if you fertilized in past years, there will be enough in the soil.
I use fertilizer that is high in both Nitrogen and Potassium. The ratio is 4-1-4 and the actual numbers are 20-5-21. I mix my own fertilizer and buy three fertilizers to achieve that number. This is very concentrated fertilizer and a little goes a long way.
Whatever fertilizer you use, apply in small amounts very frequently and the plants will do better. People tend to over fertilize and that is not good for the environment.