Giving Up On Dahlias!!

New to Dahlias over last couple of years with poor success rate. This year I bought two new tubers to try and had a couple which I had lifted and stored from previous year. I decided rightly or wrongly to start indoors. One of the new ones is growing really well with lots of leaves and as yet nothing from the others. I have them in pots on a sunny windowsill. I don’t water except perhaps small bit just to dampen the top. I would love to grow more dahlias as I really like them but is soul destroying! Am I just being too impatient?

 

I have started growing dahlias this year and have started them all off in pots. Out of 5, 4 had shoots after about a month. And the other one has just sprouted this week. So I would give them a bit longer @Kitty52.

 

I'm trying them for the first time this year. I planted 3: 1 is well ahead with lots of leaves, a second just has a few small sprouts, and the third has rotted in its pot and been thrown away!

 

Thanks, glad I’m not alone!! It’s so frustrating.

 

They can seem to take forever to get going so patience is the key or that’s what I’ve just told myself after checking again on mine (in our unheated greenhouse)

 

I agree with give them more time. Just 1 of mine started to show the other day and nothing from the others yet. I overwinter them in dry compost on B+Q buckets with holes drilled in the bottom and just store them in the corner of the shed.. Seems to work for me except or the one bucket I forgot to drill holes in the bottom of, that dahlia turned to mush.

 

Starting them indoors is fine, the key thing is not to over water. I don't water mine until the first shoots appear above the soil [ as long as the compost I planted them in was not bone dry ]
I start mine in a cold g/h, beginning of April, and I suppose I have about 9 out of 60 shooting.

 

As mentioned above, the main thing to remember is to avoid watering when they break dormancy, otherwise the tubers can rot. A firm tuber will already have enough moisture inside to start off the plant, no need to add any. Wait until you have at least 10cm (4' in old money) of growth.

That said, I live at the seaside with very sandy soil so I leave mine out in the ground and have done for years with only the occasional casualty.

 

Thanks all - patience!!

 

I have some dahlia tubers in pots in a plastic raised planter with a domed lid. So far very little is happening. That said it’s still pretty cold at night here in Glos.
Managed to get my carrots away though in the next planter

 

It seems that patience is needed this year, I can’t remember worrying so much about them in other years. Mine were potted up about 20th March and all of my La Recoleta shot up really quickly, as did all the David Howard, I’ve pinched the tips out of these as they’re a bit too tall. But Cafe au Lait is really slow, just small growth. I also ordered 2 new Wizard of Oz tubers and there’s no shoots at all on these. I’ve had them out of the pots twice, in my impatience, to see if they’ve rotted but I can see tiny signs of life so I’m still keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I dug one up that had overwintered last week and it had 2in long shoots.

 

My indoors is never too hot - I'm really mean with the central heating! The one that rotted was outside and I think it just got too much rain and couldn't drain. I poked my fingers in around the tuber and met with mush. The one that's done best started off in my porch - unheated but good light.

I think I probably started them all off too early - as soon as I received them which was in February or March.