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| So...I bought some "Pretty Pien" Dahlia tubers and planted them the first week of March because I've never grown dahlias before and didn't know what I was doing lol But nevertheless they've sprouted and grown....a lot. Like the one in the picture I've posted has to be at least 3-4 feet tall. I didn't even know they could get that tall, so I'm wondering if this is normal? lol I bought a potted Dahlia plant from Lowe's and it's like 1.5 feet so that's kinda what I was expecting haha As you can see, my 3-4 foot Dahlia doesn't have any buds either so I'm wondering if anybody could tell me about what time they usually appear? The packaging for the bulbs said they were early summer bloomers so I was expecting them to bloom right around...now lol I'm also kinda scared that when it does start to bloom that when it storms the blooms will just fall apart. That's what's happened to my smaller dahlia plant so when it rains I have to go put a bucket over it. But yeah....somebody wanna give this dahlia newbie some advice please? haha |
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| The potted dahlias that are sold are usually either bedding Dahlias that only get to about 18", or they are treated with growth inhibitors to keep them short. Most Dahlias are 3.5 ft - 5 Ft. tall. Many of mine grow more like 6-7ft due to lack of full sun. Most people "top" Dahlias after the 3rd or 4th set of leaves. Meaning they break off the central growing tip. It forces the Dhalia to bush out more instead of just growing one long tall stem. Most Dahlias need to be staked well to keep them upright. Yours looks a little spindly from not being topped, but otherwise fairly normal. In most parts of the country people don't expect blooms until late June early July at the earliest. Most of mine won't bloom until August here in WI. I would go ahead and snip off the growing tip to force the lateral growth, but I have to admit that it will slow down the blooming time - still, in the long run you will get a stronger plant with more blooms. |
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| Does seem pretty leggy...maybe too much shade ? |
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- Posted by dannierose 7 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 5, 14 at 20:32
| Thanks so much for your response! :) That helps a lot. So I guess I'm gonna be cutting off quite a bit off the top. I have 2 more but they aren't nearly as tall, but they probably need to be topped also. And they do have quite a bit more shade than I intended for them to have. The flowerbed they're in is a new one and I thought there was at least 7 hours of sun but it's more like 4-5 hours. |
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| 4-5 hours of sun is pretty minimal for Dahlias. They will probably still bloom, but you won't get a lot of blooms and the plants will definitely be taller than usual. It is early enough that it might be worth moving them to a sunnier spot if you have one. I grow mine in 6-7 hours of sun, and wish I had 8-10 hours. |
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