|
| I started my dahlia bulbs in pots in mid April. (I know, late start). Then in May I had to go away for work for 10 days. I instructed my husband to water them regularly- they had all sprouted and had nice leaves forming. Well when I came home the best and biggest of them wasn't looking so hot. Very droopy and looking like about to die. I felt the soil and it was wet, so my original suspicion that it was underwatered wasn't right. Plus the others were fine. The next day the stem and leaves had totally wilted, so I picked the whole stem off. I'm still not sure what killed it. When I transplanted all my bulbs outside today, I moved the bulb in question to a pot. The bulb mass looked good and healthy- not shriveled or diseased. So I put it in the pot. My question is- will it sprout again or is that a one time thing? Is the bulb still OK do you think? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| If the tuber is healthy it could certainly put out new sprouts. Its much easier to overwater them than under water them at the early stages. The tubers can rot, but if yours wasnt soft at all, then you have a good shot at re-growth. |
|
- Posted by HighlanderNorth none (My Page) on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 21:59
| I don't think that starting dahlias in zone 4 in April is late. Actually dahlias are native to Mexico, so they aren't cold weather plants and this season has been even cooler than average in the northeast if not everywhere, and dahlias don't grow very fast when it's cool outside. Plus in zone 4 you probably wouldn't want to plant them outside til late may anyway. I started mine in late April in Delaware, zone 7, and it was so cool here that they have still only grown to 5" tall so far! That and the crazy amount if rain has caused some tubers to rot and die. I tried growing mine in pots then transplanting them in the ground once they were over a foot tall and found that they don't seem to like being transplanted after establishing their roots in a pot, and the ones left in pots faired even worse. I Start my tubers either in the ground in mid to late May or let them sprout in pots them put them in the ground. As far as whether your tubers will come back, I've had a few sprouting stems rot due to excessive rain this spring, but then I pulled the tubers from the ground and dried them off and replanted in drier soil and a few grew new stems. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Dahlia Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
