Dahlias 2017

Thank you for that link; it means there is hope for the ones I put in the ground last week

I was quite put off growing them before, thinking they needed greenhouses/molly coddling.

 

I bought some dahlia whatchamacallits yesterday. Some violet tones and yellows. Then I read the instructions - I didn't know that you have to take them out of the ground every fall. Guess these will go in pots.

Does anyone know what the smallest size pot is that I would need for one of these?

many thanks

 

depends on the size of whatchamacallits . Some dahlias are very big.

 

12 inches but like Harry said

I find they dry out quicker then get blown over, being top heavy.

Mines are going in the ground and pots, I pull up end of Oct, I don't wait for frost though and do as JWK says except wrap mine in last years xmas paper and label what name/colour they were.. check every few weeks for mould

 

The thingies are about the size of a quail's egg.

I don't mind watering lots as most of my pots have their own watering lines.

I shall buy some more soil and get these fellows started.

@Linz thanks for the heads up about the pot size and labelling.

 

You'll be surprised what comes out of the "quail eggs"! Beautiful flowers though

 

I lied. What I was looking at was only part of the thing. They were packaged in compost and it wasn't until manhandled the package that I felt the bigger bit. Kinda like this

Not as many of those tubie thingies but the same shapes. And it is about the size of a hen egg.

 

Planting Dahlia tubers is like planting a set of bagpipes. You're not exactly sure what goes where when you first start ! ( the tuber in the photo is the right way up )

 

Thank you @HarryS. Bought 250 liters of potting soil today so I'll have lots for these guys and the rest of my seedlings

 

Just been looking on YouTube on how to divide Dahlia tubers. Quite a good video below which shows how to spot "eyes" on the tuber , and cut them away. So you are now left with a single tuber to plant.
Do you plant this flat in a pot , or straight up - eyes at the top ?
How big a plant would you get from this tuber division , would it still be full size ar a first year plant.?

 

I will bookmark the video.

I put my bagpipes in big pots this afternoon. One says it's Blue Boy but the picture looks purple and the other is Yellow and called Kelvin Floodlight. There were some little weenie green shoots on them so I made sure to water lightly.

I put them in the small greenhouse. It isn't heated but we are now into spring with overnight lows hovering just above freezing plus I've got lots of other pots full of soil in there so the mass should retain some heat daytime heat overnight.

 

*BUMP*
Anyone on the tuber cutting questions above ? Thanks.

 

I split 2 lots last year but didn't just leave one tuber attached more like 3. Wasn't as big, still a good (but later) show. Might split the 2 that have sent out red shoots.. not had dark stemmed/leaved ones before.

On a side note, I also restricted shoots to 1 and 2 per plant and left the rest..didn't like doing it. Just didn't look as full. Kind of straggly and again flowered later, I found. Not doing that to shoots this year just leaving them be.

Edit. I will be pinching them out though