New to Dahlias

12 years ago

I purchased 5 dahlias already in bloom (6"pots) from the garden centre yesterday. Can someone please tell me how far apart I should plant them? Should I stagger them when I plant them? Should I use bonemeal when I plant them? Do they get bugs? Do I dig them up in the fall? One they get taller, do they need to be pinched or anything? Should I put stakes in the ground a planting time? If so, how tall should the stakes be? Sorry for all the questions but I haven't a clue what to do. I'm not sure what kind they are. The guy at the garden centre just told me that they are from Denmark.

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Comments (3)

mytime
12 years ago
How about a picture? There's no info at all about them?
I suspect that if they are already in bloom in a 6" pot, they might not get much taller, but will get bushier.
honnat
12 years ago
If they are already blooming; they won't get much bigger than they are now. They might get a bit 'bushier'; but not much taller. As far as pinching; that is usually done before it blooms. Each time you remove a bloom that has finished; you are 'pinching' and it will have the same affect in that it will stimulate more laterals (branches) to form. Some bone meal in the ground would not hurt. Just keep them watered; but not too wet; and put some good compost in the soil.
They may need to be staked; but as I mentioned; they are probably at or near their full size now; so if they don't look like they need to be staked; they are probably a smaller variety.
Enjoy!!
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User
12 years ago
Cadence,
You are in zone 8b.
I am in zone 8, so I will try to give you some pointers.
Dahlias are heavy feeders, which means they need composted manure in the soil while you plant them for additonal food.
Bone meal is also good.
In addition, I feed mine also with Miracle grow once every 10 days.
Is your climate humid?
I have humidity, and towards the end of summer they will develop a white fungus on them, you can try to avoid this by thinning them out some, cut the stems in the middle a bit so they aren't so dense.
ALso, water them more in August, it will be hot.
In the hot summer of the southeast, dahilas enjoy a little afternoon shade, so if at all possible, keep that in mind when you plant them.
Never water them at night, ever. If you do, they will rot and die. Always water in the morning. If you have to wait to water them, wait, til a morning that you can.
In the late fall, you will see the dahlias starting to loose leaves, just cut them down, leave about an inch stem, and mulch real good with at least 2-3 inches of mulch over the dahlia for winter sleep.
In the spring, when you see signs of life, just remove an inch of the mulch and start all over again, adding composted manure to the soil around the dahlia without disturbing roots. I just lay it on top of soil and put mulch back on.
I planted my dahlias about a foot apart.(reasonably small ones).
They will get bigger and fatter every year.
Good Luck to you, and by the way, dahlias are addictive!