3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Looking good!
I finally started potting up my tubers a few days ago. Everything that was nicely "eyed up" is potted, (about 75 of them), and another 20 or so are in baggies with peatmoss, I expect most of them to be viable. I started with 3 tubers 5 years ago, then bought a couple more the next two years, all of the rest are through dividing and trading (thanks Kerianne) they are worse than bunnies!
I've no idea what I am going to do with all of them. Last year I think I planted about 35 Dahlias. Maybe I can find room to expand it to 50, but I think I will be giving lots away.
I was cleaning up a garden bed today and found sprouts from the dahlias I had there last year. Now why did the winter kill my 10'tall climbing Graham Thomas roses that had been there and healthy for 10 years, but not kill the dahlias in the ground!? I had not even mulched them like I did the ones in my cutting garden where I grow most of them. Still haven't figured out why so many roses died this winter...maybe it was cold winds. Those sprouting dahlias renewed my faith in growing things!
The dahlia is named Prime Time, (two words).
B sized, a light blend of bronze and yellow. Swan Island Dahlias no longer sells it and according to the Dahlia Big List, no commercial source sells it. If you like this shape and color scheme, I bet you would like Woodland's Wildthing B SC Orange.
The numbering system for inorganic fertilizer has confused people for years. There are three numbers and they represent the amounts(as a percentage) of the three major ingredients of fertilizer: Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. "Balanced" fertilizer would have the same number for each element 20-20-20 or 10-10-10. Dahlias like a fertilizer with 5-10-10 or 10-20-20 or even 12-24-24. All this means is that it has half the nitrogen as the other two elements. Most gardens stores sell 5-10-10. Farmers buy 10-20-20 at the farm store because it is twice as concentrated and much cheaper than 5-10-10.
Most of us are going organic. Alfalfa used as mulch is a great fertilizer. Mint compost is also excellent. Both have all three of the three major elements and work quite well. Bat guano and blood meal are good fertilizers. Of course all types of aged manures are the classic fertilizers for organic gardeners. Chicken manure works great but needs to be applied in the Fall as it is too "hot" (too much nitrogen all at once) for dahlias. They say that rabbit manure can be used fresh and needs no aging.
I follow Swan Islands advice. Work lots of composted manure into the soil, put in a small handful of bone meal when planting. Thats usually it. Sometimes I'll hit them with an additional fert in September when they are in manic bloom stages, but not always. I get plenty of flowers without pumping them full of MG.
I disagree with the need to dig them up -- what would that do but set them back.
Frost isn't a big deal at all - if the top dies off, more will grow. In essence, it is the equivalent of a hard pinch or cutback at this time.
When I worked at the garden center, the first crop of Dutch dahlias would be cut completely back when too big and floppy, and would regrow and be ready to put out for sale in about 4 weeks.
Personally, I think cutting back or pinching helps them to be a little less tall and floppy. Depends on the kind, of course, some of the tall dinnerplate types won't throw many side shoots no matter what you do.
Cuttings from Corralitos are done in Oasis foam. They are an excellent product and are easy to grow if you follow their instructions and do not over water the plants. The Oasis foam holds an incredible amount of water and if over watered the roots of the plants rot where the foam wraps around them. If the roots rot, the plants die.
When you receive the cuttings in the mail, let them recover under lights or in the green house for a few days and then re-pot into a larger pot and at that time remove most of the Oasis foam. Your success rate will improve dramatically.
Thanks for the input folks. I couldn't upload a picture but the dahlias seem to have recovered for the most part after drying out, though one or two still have curled leaves.
They didn't include removing the foam in the planting instructions so I didn't. After four weeks my guess would be that trying to remove the foam now would be disastrous for the roots. Well, maybe next year.
Thanks again.
I did see couple of eyes and kept tubers out of the plastic bag for a day. Next day the eyes were dried up!!
However, I still put tubers in the soil. Is there any hope now? This was a week ago and temps were in mid to low 70's during day time and quite humid.
Appreciate you response and feedback.
Anna
I live in the PNW too. I've been crossing my fingers that the week of May 14 will be a good planting weekend. I know that Puget Sound Dahlia Association plans to plant the Volunteer Park garden that weekend and I was planning to participate. I've been checking the 10 day weather report every evening. There is a warming trend, but it's coming on very slowly. I'm considering taking my car out of the garage just to make room for more pots! I have any nuber of tubers that are raring to go.
Phyllis
Rebar makes good stakes and at Home Depot they will cut it to length. Also,. steel t-posts are great, 6 foot ones are about right. I believe that if you have room, dahlias do best tied to stakes. Four dahlias planted around each stake and the stakes need to be 5 to 6 feet apart. This is the way they did it in the 1920s and later. They get lots of sun and you can walk all around the plants. Most commercial growers have gone to planting in rows. It just does not look as good.
I go with re-bar. 5 ft lengths driven home well. I only plant one tuber per stake but a friend grows two per stake. I tried the upside down tomato cages but seemed to get in the way when working around each plant. I paint mine a dark green rustoleum. May try the gray PVC. Sounds interesting and would certainly be lighter than rebar. Steve in Baltimore County.
Powdery mildew is very infectious and kills dahlias. In the Fall we sometimes get very bad powdery mildew and without spraying, the plants can turn completely white and all leaves that turn white die in a week or so. If you spray after the leaf turns white, the leaf still usually dies but the new leaves will be normal green.
I once had an infection on some cuttings that were inside my house and sprayed them and thought I had cured them. I planted them outside and the powdery mildew infected those plants again and about 10 feet of row near them(in July no less!). I sprayed with a systemic fungicide and controlled it. I use Strike (Triadimefon).
Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it.