1- not really necessary if they've grown well there before, but you can get inexpensive soil test moniters or do-it-yourself kits at places like Home Depot if you want to make sure.
2- We never use either- in the past when I used them the neighbor dogs came over & dug it up. grrrrr
We use good old farm fertilizer 10-20-20.
3- Depends on how tall the shoot is. You can bury the tuber deeper than usual so that just the tip is sticking out. If there's a couple of sets of leaves, just nip off the bottom ones & plant them under- like you would do tomato plants- the nodes will grow you some extra tubers over the summer. If there's more than one shoot per tuber, take off the extras & only allow one to grow.

Thank you plantlady!
I will forgo the meal then. I started putting some in pots yesterday, I did just leave the single shoot that had started on some of them. the shoot is not dark green though, should I be concerned? I understand if it was in the dark and not getting sun it would not be green but I wanted to make sure it would still be a hearty plant with this shoot.
Also I am getting mixed info on whether to water right after planting. Some people say a little others say none. what is your thought on this?
Thanks!
April

Remember that Plantlady lives at the base of a now extenct valcano. If you look through National Georraphic you will see that where ever people plant over old valcano flows the soil is very good for planting. So you might have less of results than Cory dose. I used holland bulb booster last year 9-9-6 and was amased at the difference in tuber size compared to the year before. Also they held up better in storage. Not a complante just another thing you can try. Let us know how you make out this year and what you decided to do.

did you use it at planting in place of bone meal or after when first feeding?Also where did you buy the bulb booster?
Thanks!
April

Don't worry about the shoot not being dark green. It'll green up in no time after it's planted.
viking-- we're over 50 miles away from Mt. Baker & have sandy loam & river-bottom peat soil on the farm. The only thing the volcano left around here was Volkswagon-sized rocks- & that was apparently over 30,000 years ago. We do use the peat soil in the planting hole though- we think it makes the dahlia's color richer.

Cory 50 miles , valcano flows go for hundreds of miles. If you have big rocks ask yourself how the rocks got there. The soil and flow that pushed it there has broken down into that sand. Now on long Island it is all sand from the glacher. Your sand is better than my sand.LOL I put a hand full of bulb booster in the hole that I dig for my tubers. I do use bone meal and have not compared what is better.