About 5 days after a frost if it's not too late in the season- if it doesn't frost by the middle of Oct. Walt starts cutting them off & digs about 5 days later. This allows the eyes to start so he can see where to divide.
You could wait longer if you want- we have about 7,000 for Walt to dig so he has to get going on it or he'll still be digging by Christmas! He likes to be finished digging & dividing by Thanksgiving-- & yes, he does it ALL himself!

holy cow, that's a huge amount of dahlias!! bet your gardens are gorgeous. thanks for the info -- just what i needed. happy diggin to Walt - hope he's resting up for it!

Restiog up? Walt? Doesn't know the meaning! He's busy taking care of said aprox. 7,000 dahlias- tieing, fertilizing, getting the irrigation lines finished-- oh, yeah & then there's the hoe-- 1 1/2 acres of dahlias grow many weeds & they're NOT allowed in our garden! The heck of it is- they're not allowed in my part of the beds either so I have to thrash about frequently hoe in hand, too >:)

i cannot imagine that amount of work! and i know what you mean about the weeds -- it's been a very good year for them in my gardens, too, unfortunately. =)

I wish Walt would come over here. I just moved a dahlia. It doesn't like it. Should I have left it alone? Some are just not getting near the height that they are supposed to be so they are getting blocked out by taller plants.

PD, Give the moved dahlia several days to adjust and get over the transplant stress. I've moved them as tall as 3 ft and they reacclimate fine. Just water well and watch. I used an umbrella a couple days to protect that 3 footer from sun for a couple days too. It did fine.

I have several to move this evening myself.

The others should catch up in height soon enough, but I know what you mean about taller plants blocking them. There are always perennials that should have been moved last year that I remember this year. And next year, I'll probably remember to forget moving them again!

You are right poochella, it rained and it has perked up. I have to remember not to plant in one of my gardens as this happens every year. If the dahlias had behaved and gotten taller on time, it wouldn't have happened.

pdshop, that's why I made myself "Dahlia" beds, so they wouldn't have to compete with anything else. They look a bit stark right now, but I figure in another month they'll look amazing.

Cheers,
Russ

You're right, roxanna-- the plantlady & Walt's gardens are wonderful-- & not just dahlias either. Last month when I was there there was over 150 rhodies & azaleas in bloom, dogwoods & Vibernum, can't think what else & now the rose garden is doing it's thing. The hydrangeas are getting ready-- there's color everywhere! It's a wonderful garden & well worth a visit if you're ever up in far northwest Washington. I get up there frequently first of all because we've been friends for many years & secondly, I have a grand daughter at Western Wa University to visit.
Ellie

Thanks, Ellie. It's always good to see you, too & if you can brag up our gardens, I'll brag up your grand-daughter who you failed to mention is majoring in Constitutional Law & is BRILLIANT!!! Looking forward to seeing you again next month.

Plantlady2008 ~ what do you fertilize with ? Seems that a couple who can manage that huge amount of Dahlias has so much knowlege. Any reading material you would recomend ? Or just tips to help us ametuers handle our Dahlias better ?

Thanks so much ~

Gina- When Walt plants he mixes about 1/2 cup of good old 10-20-20 farm fertilizer in the bottom of the hole- (the same stuff we've always used on the row crops of corn, beans or berries-- we have 62 acres with raspberries & blueberries on about 40 of them). Then he puts in a shovelfull of nice black riverbottom peat soil from down at the back of the farm & mixes that well. Then he puts in the tuber & covers with about 1" of soil. As the plant grows he fills in the hole & hills it up. Then he lays down the T-tape drip irrigation & covers that with soil & hills up some more. About the middle of July he side-dresses with 10-20-20 so the plants put out great blooms for the shows. That's it for the fertilizer for the year.
As for reading-- there's a great deal of info on the Colorado Dahlia Society site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Colorado Dahlia Society Site