Dahlia

Last year I bought two dahlias, planted them out but they didn't flower! then before the frosts I dug them up and overwintered them in compost in the shed.

They are showing no signs of life yet! Have I lost them?!

 

No, what you can do now is put them on a bed of compost in a seed tray and start spraying them with tepid water. Keep them indoors, obviously.

 

Most of mine Stingo, are showing no signs of like - although some are. I think what they want, at the moment, is heat. Heat tells the tuber that spring is well under way, so its time to get going.

 

I thought it was a bit early to start them off. Is there an optimum temperature to get them going? Maybe this is a daft idea, but would a heated propagator help them along?

 

Terrier - I suspect that it would - except that Dahlia tubers are a bit big. It even passed my mind that you could put them in the airing cupboard. They don't need any light until they start to grow. Once started you could then move them into the light.

For Stingo, its best to be conservative and just wait a bit. But if you have a lot of tubers, it would be worth doing an experiment. I spoke to some people from the GB Dahlia society at the Harrogate Flower Show a year ago. And they explained that the tubers needed to be baked by the sun to get them going, which is why they don't completely cover the tubers with compost until growth has started. But if I were a tuber, I don't think I would be able to differentiate between sun baked, airing cupboard, hot centrally heated house or heated propagator.

 

Thank you Peter and David

 

Mine have been kept in a coldframe over winter are are now showing signs of life but different things come up at different times in different areas of the country