AN obssession with Dahlias is love for the soul, I love it!

Question for you: Do you have more smaller blooms or the same number (as larger ones) as when you first bought it?

Also, what size pot do you put them in, in relation to the height of the mature plant size? and what is your potting medium?

Keriann~

Hi Keriann!

I have more smaller blooms. When i first bought them they had two or three that were open and those were the larger ones. I use the inexpensive potting soil from lowes or home depot. For the small dahlias i use a 6 inch pot and i have two large dahlias that i think were gallons and i put those in 12 inch pots or they could be 14. those two large ones are doing beautiful not many variations in the bloom size. Im thinking its because the larger ones are labeled tuberous and perhaps the small ones were grown from seed? IDK just a guess

Hormone treatment was used in the greenhouses where the plants were forced. Also, it is usually best to purchase dahlia plants which were locally grown in your area, and not shipped in. Soil is always important. Go to a local greenhouse and ask if you can purchase Fafard perennial mix, or a similar blend. Miracle Gro is not a good choice. We have a local source for perennial mix which is considered "green." They recycle pine bark, leaf mulch, with less than 30% peat moss. The microbes in this soil is very high. We don't start fertilizing until the plant is beginning to bloom. One should be fertilizing the potted dahlias which are in bloom with a fertilizer low in nitrogen. There is one called "Blossom Booster. The ratio is something like this: 10-45-20. A good tomato fertilizer works as well. The key is weekly, weakly. Growers have also had great sucess using a green tea fertilizer.

Best growing to you; and, welcome to the world of dahlias. It is an addiction!!

Always bump up the plants. I gallon pot is too small. For your larger blooming dahlias, use a large size patio pot. I would recommend using a nice decorative pot for the smaller blooming dahlias with at least a five gallon size. This way, the plants do not become root bound and use up all the available nutrients in the soil.

Flower farmer is dead on!

And good soil is ALWAYS worth the investment for dahlias.

Let us know if the fertilizer and larger pots perk them back up to 'big' beauties!

keriann~