3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
The application of trash bags over the ground at the base of the dahlias worked as far as keeping water from deluging them from above, and the mostly dry soil I applied under the bags was still mostly dry after the storm, but it was obvious that some water still got to the soil and roots by seeping in from the surrounding soil that was deluged with rain, but it wasnt nearly as bad as it wouldve been without the bags in place.
As far as mold, I dont really see any.
The only plant of mine that was damaged by the storm was a tomato, which started wilting 2.5 days after the rain was over.
I added extra stakes to most of mine and cut every bloom to either bring inside or compost. Then I just prayed that I wouldn't lose all of them and tried not to look outside during the storm. I ended up losing only two out of more than 50 and one was almost 6 feet tall, so that was no surprise. Many are leaning quite a bit now but most I've left leaning onto their neighbors and one week later they're all blooming like crazy again.
Thanks all for the feed back. I have been checking this forum daily for the past month or so and not finding many people posting pics, so I thought I would share now that I have a few blooms.
Pinelands Princess is a beauty on the stem, but it doesn't last well as a cut flower. All of those fine delicate petals start drooping fast.
The camera is really nothing fancy. Its an Olympus Camedia from about 8 years ago. C-740 ultra zoom. I just set it on close up, zoom in, and click the shutter.
Here is a pic of the Pinelands Princess fully open. Its difficult to capture the fullness of the bloom, it is almost like a pom the way it turns into a round ball. This bloom is just under 6" and all of the blooms are out facing which is nice for a tall plant (over 6ft)
Here is another of the Fire Magic almost fully open too - its my fave.
I have a few more that are just starting to open - I'll post again when they do
Properly grown in a mild climate like that in Western Washington State, Emory Paul can reach 14 inches in diameter with little care and will be as big as 17 inches(I have seen one this large in a show) in a good year. It may be the largest flower in diameter of all dahlias.
Highlander,
This yr. 1/2 of the dahlias I planted,(a little weird)do have spider mites on them. They are planted in my garden that has a bridge in the middle of it going to the pool. So the dahlias are planted on both sides. On 1 side they have spider mites, growth is stunted but they are still blooming. The leaves are all mottled looking. Going out now to spray w/ Hot pepper wax insect repellent. The mites are spreading and I want to stop this. I used this repellent on my tomato's for white fly and it worked for about 2 wks.
It did not hurt the plants or change the taste. But we had a lot of rain and the fly;s are back! Spraying again/bought concentrate and more organic.
Last yr. my front yard were I plant orange dahlias were doing great then all of a sudden they looked like they were dying. I dug them up and they had wire worm. I treated them w/Triazicide-concentrate and they came and bloomed all summer in to fall when I dug them up/ treated them and put away for the winter in cellar. This yr they are doing fine, no wire worms. Don't know what the other bug is. Did you go on the bug finder on this site, it is helpful. That is what got me going on this site. Lots of pictures. Good luck
karen
Yeah, I ended up applying Triazide about 3 days after I posted this thread, and its worked well so far.
I got lucky in that I discovered the problem almost immediately after it had begun, so you really cant even tell that there was any damage.
As far as the brown bugs I mentioned, they have like a camels hump looking ridge on their high backs, with 2 humps.
I just brought a few of them that I had found on my one sunflower to the cooperative extension for identification because I cant seem to find them on any dahlia site. So now, considering how long it usually takes for the cooperative extension to get back to me, I should know something by the end of the millennium! They are suppose3d to contact you within 3-5 days, but it took 3 weeks one time last year! The messed up thing, is that whenever I go there, there arent hardly any other samples left by other people in the basket there, so they shouldnt be all that busy........
Hi PD. First off check and make sure you have mites. Hold a piece of white paper under some leaves. Strike the leaves quite sharply with something like a lead pencil. If you see movement on the paper more than likely you have mites. A magnifying glass might be helpful. Steve in Stevens County.
pdshop,
Can't see why not. I cut off dead head and the stem w/leaves to keep them clean and blooming. Try cutting off 1 or 2 first to see what happens. Last yr. I had wire worms eating tubers and I dug them up while they were in bloom to find out what was killing them. I treated them w/ Triazicide concentrate,cut all the plants down by 1/2 and they came back. Dug them up and over wintered them in my cellar, this yr. they are doing great. Lots of blooms.
Good luck
Karen
Its also possible that the tuber simply rotted due to too much moisture sitting deep in the soil. I had a larger dahlia variety die after a week of everyday occasional rain, and when I dug it up, the bottom 2/3 of the tuber were rotted to slime!
"I didnt immediately add any because Swan Island repeatedly stated not to add too much N,..."
There is big difference between no nitrogen and too much nitrogen. A little bit of fertilizer every few weeks makes a huge difference. Cow manure from the bags at the store have almost no fertilizer in them. It is getting late in the year to fertilize but in your case, you need to give the dahlias some fertilizer to grow and the fertilizer needs to be balanced; that is it must have some nitrogen.
This older thread should answer your question.
Here is a link that might be useful: cut dahlias
Try this
Here is a link that might be useful: posting pics