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Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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Posted by DianeGA 7 - ATL (My Page) on Wed, Jun 8, 05 at 2:46
I have about a dozen plants that are currently 2' or so tall. Every year they flop over as the season progresses. Is there an easy & attractive (& inexpensive) way to support these without having to stake each individual stalk?
Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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well there are several ways to stake dahlias, i just ordered 250 5 foot bamboo stakes from A M Lenord....i'll use those. Some people modify tomato cages to hold up thier dahlias. You could use a wooden stake and paint it if you dont like the color. If you have a row of dahlias (which i dont think you do) people use stakes and kite string to hold them up. I dont know of any other ways... :o) sorry it has to be done and there arent many attactive ways to do it.
Carrie |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I found some marvelous instructions (with photos) on this site. It involves using upside down tomato cages. It is working beautifuly for me. This is my first time planting dahlias and I bought cages that are a bit short. Get the tallest available. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Here's one with guy wires ( I always thought it was 'guide' wires.?) In order to keep them upright and flourishing you will have to decide on some staking or support method: stake and tie each plant, tomato cage, stake and guy wire, whatever suits your fancy. If only my camera were working I would regale you with a really, really ugly gardenful of bare stakes and labels. Perhaps if it would get above 60 and the sun came out, some of the stakes would disappear behind dahlia growth before August. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Another dahlia support method
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I used the upside down tomato cages, modified with a strip of window screen wrapped around the bottom, to keep the slugs off of it. Unfortunately, I lost my 5 dahlias this year :( 
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RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Tracy, do the screens really keep slugs off? We have thousands of voracious big and little slimers out here and I can picture them slithering up and over very easily unless they don't like the feel of screen on their low little bellies. Last night there was one 3 ft up on my sliding glass door- I can't imagine the lure, perhaps it was near sighted? Sorry you lost 5 dahlias, each one lost is such a disappointment. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I was taught to grow dahlias by a man who has dozens...all beautiful. He just puts a stake in before planting the tuber--at the back of the intended hole, places the tuber with the eye pointing toward the stake, and covers them.....everyone has their own method of doing this. I discovered that twine, etc...cut into my stalks so I began using the legs of panty hose---kept the ones with runs in them and cut off the ends. They stretch, and the light-colored ones don't show. (They also work for columbine and other tender stalks...) I have friends keeping them for me..in exchange for being one of the stops on my daily trips about the neighborhood and convalescent homes with starbucks' "jars" full of flowers. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Hello Heehoo- Just have to have time to re-adjust the ties, I guess. Alot of fuss in my book. But when we love dahlias--we do and curse and then beam when they bloom. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| could someone give me instructions for supporting dahlias with a netting system |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Welcome garbo, I see that you just signed up today. Someone will surely come along and answer your netting support question. Not common for the usual grower, I must say. I'm just curious, how many dahlias do you grow that you're interested in net support? |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| poochella, i am still learning. this will be my fifth season growing dahlias. i grow between 50 to 75 a season plus dwarf dahlias (low growing). i have seen the netting sytem and it seems like to would be so much easier than staking. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I am also interested in the slugs climbing over the screens. It would be great if it worked. Please let us know. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| The screen thing seems reasonable to me because the way slugs move is to put down a slimy trail. With the screen interrupting that slime, I think it would be next to impossible for them to climb (unlike on a solid glass surface). Plus the sharpness of the wire would likely cut them up (kind of like diatomacious earth, which would also probably work if sprinkled around the base of your dahlias, although it might be pricey to use that. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I think you're right on the screen interrupting the slime trail rose_nutty. On a few plants the screen surround would probably work well, but when you get up into hundreds or thousands of plants it's much more efficient to turn to a slug bait, or hand-pick as you do gardening chores, or both. The copper tape around raised beds was a joke: didn't stay in place, didn't work at all for our clever slugs. I know my preference is to be able to have access to the whole dahlia plant, so a wide swath of netting would likely hinder me. Cages are great; stakes and ties are cheapest. I didn't care for long rows with levels of plastic twine strung in rows at all and ended up cutting it down when the plants reached ~3 ft. so I could tend them better. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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pooch, have you ever tried diatomaceous earth to deter slugs? I use this alot for slugs, along with crushed egg shells works well for me.
the only place I did have slugs was in the melon patch, was so foilage full I didn't know I had slug damage till it was too late, for the floral beds no problem with slugs using the above.
BTW, I use the pool DE sand for flowers, so much cheaper than food grade your suppose to use around veggies for deterant. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Yes, busylizzy. I did use the pool grade DE when we had a home with a pool. It worked fairly well around hostas, better than egg shells or beer traps ever did, I would say. My best and easiest anti-slug/snail recommendation now is Sluggo or another non-toxic slug bait. Easy to use and apply, and effective. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| There are some good ideas here, thanks. Carla |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| The inverted cage system is something that I started using about 20yrs ago in an effort to make my dahlia patch more pleasing to the eye. Like NO UGLY STAKES and NO NEED TO TIE UP the dahlias. I later published a photo article on ColoradoDahliaSociety.com that explains how I fashion and use inverted cages. Since I did the photo article my sister has advised my that she is using three ring cages for her 200 or so dahlias on a windy hillside outside Syracuse, NY. I now think three rings may be the better cage, but I own over 300 four ring cages and am not going to switch. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Supporting Dahlias- A NO Stake NO Tie System
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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Just found this site. Wonderful!
UpWithDahlias, I am going to use the inverted cage system. I need to chose between the 3 ring and 4 ring system and am wondering why you think that the 3 rings may be a better cage? |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| The 3-ring cages cost less and require one less 'J' hook to to insert in the spring and to pull in the fall. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| tomato cages sound like a good idea, however some of my plants are 8 to 10 feet tall!!! How do you keep them from falling?? |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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- Posted by jroot 5A Ont. Canada (near (My Page) on
Mon, Sep 21, 09 at 9:18
| I use wooden stakes with my tall ones. The stakes are placed at planting time, so they don't bother the tubers. The upside down tomato cages work well on the mid sized dahlias. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| I am curious, why are the tomato cages turned upside down? I have been using the 4 ring ones for years and just put them in the ground right side up. Occasionaly I have to pound a piece of the bamboo stakes in around one side to keep them from blowing over. I didn't have to use any stakes at all this year. |
RE: Best Way To Stake Or Cage Dahlias?
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| Broader base when turned upside down to provide better support for the heavy plant. |
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