Anonymous wrote:Do you dig your dahlia's up in DC?

This is my first year planting them.

You can if you want to preserve them for next year. I treat them as annuals and don’t dig them up. Sometimes they come back if the winter is mild and not too wet.

Do you dig your dahlia's up in DC?

This is my first year planting them.

I bought mine from Costco about 4 years ago. Started with 5 tubers and now have about 15. I plant about first week in May and flowers start blooming late August. The more sun, the better. I get about 100 blooms.

I've bought from Longfield Gardens and from LIDL and both kind were very healthy and bloomed well.

Anonymous wrote:Hmm... I wonder if there are advantages to planting late in this area. I just got cheap tubers last year off amazon, planted late May (perhaps it was even early June). They came up late but very healthy and were constantly blooming through Sept. I was encouraged and bought a ton this year and planted late April. While they are doing OK (in terms of sprouting) I am noticing that some have already been nibbled down (slugs?) and I am worried about how totally soggy the soil has been for the last weeks. Perhaps I'll wait until late May again next year!

Once they’ve sprouted I don’t think rotting is as much of a concern. I have to keep chicken wire up around mine or the rabbits (my personal yard menace) decimate them. If it’s slugs, put down sluggo. It’s just iron phosphate so it’s not like it’s the end of the world if that’s not the problem, you know?

Hmm... I wonder if there are advantages to planting late in this area. I just got cheap tubers last year off amazon, planted late May (perhaps it was even early June). They came up late but very healthy and were constantly blooming through Sept. I was encouraged and bought a ton this year and planted late April. While they are doing OK (in terms of sprouting) I am noticing that some have already been nibbled down (slugs?) and I am worried about how totally soggy the soil has been for the last weeks. Perhaps I'll wait until late May again next year!

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Anonymous wrote:Ok to place in ground yet?

Yes.

I was hoping to do mother's Day gardening, but will it be too wet to dig and plant dahlia tubers ?

See how your patch of ground looks. If it’s too wet hold off. I always start my tubers in pots. I use old potting mix because you don’t want fresh fertilizer on the tubers. I haven’t lost any to rot this way.

Longfield Gardens is having an overstock sale and there are a few specialty dahlias in there for 50 percent off. I was tempted but I ordered mine back in the winter and I really need to stop adding more!

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Anonymous wrote:http://www.dahliaaddict.com/suppliers.php

Go right to the source! Check the reviews, which are from dahlia addicts (Swan Island has pretty low reviews, fwiw).

I placed orders with Dahlias by Julie, Columbia River Dahlias and I forget who else (I chose, I paid, now I get to wait and let the surprises-by-spring arrive!).

The boutique suppliers are either entirely sold out or the best varieties are gone. The big growers still have a decent variety of stock left.

Right. If you want the boutique suppliers, you order in November with the rest of us. My experiences with the big growers has me never buying big again.

Dahlias aren’t fussy except when they are. They don’t like much water until they’re above ground and then they need a lot of it. All the big growers say to pinch them out for bushier plant and more blooms, but I live in a short growing season place and that sets me back 2-6 weeks so I don’t do it anymore. I do use the best fertilizer I can find and from the most natural sources possible to feed the microbiome (fish guts vs chemical factory, for example). They’re happier in some places in my garden than in others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok to place in ground yet?

Yes.

I was hoping to do mother's Day gardening, but will it be too wet to dig and plant dahlia tubers ?

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Anonymous wrote:Swan Island and Brent and Becky’s have plenty of dahlias still available. Also Longfield Gardens.

Thank you, are these good quality? The ones I bought last year did not bloom.

That’s probably a growing problem and not a tuber problem. No offense intended, I just can’t think of
anything that would be wrong with the tuber that could cause that. It could not grow or have disease but I don’t think that would cause no blooms. Maybe not enough sun?

Poor quality tubers can have blind eyes. Those tubers will never sprout.

In that case it would not grow. It would not grow but not bloom, as Pp indicated.

OP here--not sure what happened. Several grew and looked like they would bloom but turned black and died. The others never broke ground. Planted in sunny spot of lawn.

If they are too wet, they will rot. I start mine in a shallow plastic dish with a little soil and a grow light.

Anonymous wrote:Ok to place in ground yet?

Yes.

Ok to place in ground yet?

Any buy tubers from Eden Brothers? How did they do?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swan Island and Brent and Becky’s have plenty of dahlias still available. Also Longfield Gardens.

Thank you, are these good quality? The ones I bought last year did not bloom.

That’s probably a growing problem and not a tuber problem. No offense intended, I just can’t think of
anything that would be wrong with the tuber that could cause that. It could not grow or have disease but I don’t think that would cause no blooms. Maybe not enough sun?

Poor quality tubers can have blind eyes. Those tubers will never sprout.

In that case it would not grow. It would not grow but not bloom, as Pp indicated.

OP here--not sure what happened. Several grew and looked like they would bloom but turned black and died. The others never broke ground. Planted in sunny spot of lawn.

Dahlias tubers will rot very easily if the ground is wet before the sprout. I start mine in containers and then put them in the ground when they have a few sets of leaves. I also apply a lot of Sluggo until they get well established. Slugs can really do a number on the young shoots. Stake the dahlias when you are planting the tuber and tie the stem as it grows. Or be lazy like me and just use a tomato cage. I also pinch out the top shoot when the dahlias have several sets of leaves. This encourages them to form lateral branches and you will get a nice bushy plant with lots more blooms.

PP, what type of containers do you use and what type of soil? When do you transfer?

I just use regular 2-gallon nursery pots. Dahlias should not be fertilized before the tubers sprout so I use the spent potting mix from previous years. If you have room you can start them indoors and use lights. That will give you a longer bloom season. I don’t so I start them in containers as soon as the last frost date passes, and then move them in-ground mid to late May. If it is excessively rainy I will wait longer.