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| Hello Everyone,
I've read the forum for a few months now and am just amazed at the amount of knowledge and great advice given. This is my first post and am relatively new to gardening with dahlias. I was given 5 large clumps (up to 16" in diameter and 12" deep) last fall. I followed some of the advice posted and divided each behemoth into ~4 sections (yes, I did buy a machete). I now have 5 large boxes filled with clumps. I held off on dividing these into smaller sections as very few eyes were present and I'm a novice. They have been in cracked-open plastic bags/boxes in the garage (~45 deg F). Some are sprouting and roots developing. The new roots are fuzzy...is that normal or is my storage medium too wet. Question: The ground is still wet...should I put the tuber clumps in potting soil in the garage now or are they fine in the bag until the ground is ready? Because of the size and number of clumps, I was hoping to plant directly into the ground. If I pot them, I will need some big pots. Outside temp is in the 40's and I don't think we will get another frost and it is still raining a lot.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by dahliagardener (My Page) on Fri, Mar 21, 08 at 16:03
| dahlias like the ground temperature to be 60 degrees or more or they might just sit there & rot. If you start them in pots or flats you get a head-start on the growing season & you get earlier blooms. You can divide them down to one tuber with a start so they won't be as bulky to pot up. You get a nice big plant from one tuber. The bigger the clump you plant, the less the plant does to reproduce itself. So if you plant a big clump your dahlia will put less effort into blooming & tuber production & just live off of the old tubers. This is why, when people leave the clump in the ground for a lot of years, the plant gets less prolific & spindly. Ellie |
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| I have great luck with starting mine inside. I get much earlier bloom than other people in my area (Chicago) who wait. Once they are "awake" and well leafed out being put in cold ground does not set them back. |
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- Posted by humboldtgreg 9a (My Page) on Tue, Mar 25, 08 at 12:17
| Thanks for the replies Ellie and linnea56. I will further divide the clumps that have only eyes and leave the clumps with sprouts alone. In the fall, I can revisit the clumps that were not divided. Greg |
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