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Pinch, feed or what?

15 years ago

My dahlias are only about a foot tall but bushy and healthy. They get TONS of sun. I noticed today that Pennsgift is starting to form a bud so the others must be close behind. Will the plant continue to grow taller through the season or no? Should I pinch the buds or feed it something that will encourage top growth? (Time for more Jobe's tomato food spkes?)

I am just wondering in light of the fact that Pennsgift is supposed to make these big honkin flowers. In fact, three of the four are dinnerplates. I didn't have this issue two years ago when I grew them in another place. They all reached a nice 3-4 feet tall.

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Comments (3)

pdshop
15 years ago
I need to know the same thing! Some of my 4 and 5 ft plants are getting buds at 2 and 3 ft?
plantlady2008
15 years ago
The plant will continue to grow & get to the usual height. We've had such a miserable wet, cold spring that everything is slower to gain it's growth. Now that the warm weather has hit hopefully we'll get some real growth going on. You can pinch out the center bud to make the laterals grow from the next leaf joint. Give it a well rounded fertilizer-- we use 10-20-20 when planting & they're just starting to get their feeder roots down to it now.
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triple_b
Original Author
15 years ago
thank you!! Inquiring minds wanted to know.

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