Dahlias Again - What do YOU do With Your Tubers?

I seem to post something about Dahlias once a year - so here's my 2023 version
I was going to hijack the recent 'Dahlias' thread started by JOHNBHOY but thought I'd best start my own.
Last year I grew compact/dwarf Dahlia from seed and whilst they were fine, they were almost all yellow when I'd been hoping for a mix of colours. Lovely, light, lively, bright and sunny yellow - but still. YELLOW. As you can see in the photos
So, currently I have some great looking tubers I bought from Peter Nyssen, that arrived mid Feb. They're resting quite happily in a darkened room [I wish I had time to join them!!] but should I leave them there and plant outside when it's past 'frostie' time or plant them up now in pots and sunny windowsill them?
What do others do?
I'm in 2 minds you see. I have a yarden and they'll mainly be in pots when they go out [I ordered Gallery and Compact varieties] .... but I get a huge amount of slugs chomping away every year at everything they can get their sluggy mouths around and I know how much they would delight in adding new Dahlia growth to their pesky diet ....
If I start them off indoors [I guess about now is a good time for that?] I suppose that would give them more chance of seeing the season through rather than be eaten alive when they start sprouting if I plant them outside later. You know what .... I think I've decided indoors is the way forward but am always interested in hearing what others do and which way generally produces the best results. Or perhaps they're both as good a way as the other ...

Cheers
Deborah

 

Hi there @DMM

I leave most of mine in the borders ,mulched and covered in upturned pots for Winter.
Now is the time I regularly check on them, a couple are throwing up shoots but only tiny ones so I've removed all the mulch and replaced the pots . Give them a few more weeks and then the pots will be removed and clear plastic bottles( with their bases removed) will be placed over the shoots. (bottle tops removed). This protects them from slug attacks, I have always found that once growth becomes more vigorous and well established the slugs aren't interested anymore.

I also have some in pots that have overwintered in the greenhouse. I recently emptied out all the pots and gave the tubers a health check before returning them to their pots with fresh compost. Some are also starting to throw up shoots now too.

I have bought a few new tubers recently and they were potted up too and will remain stored in the greenhouse until mid May.

On nice days I place all the pots outside. I'm hoping to get all the potted ones permanently bedded into borders this year.

 

Hi @DMM, I pot all my new ones in greenhouse (170 this year) then plant out in borders when warmed up. I put a ring of gravel around mine to stop slugs and snails and seems to work well. Sown some Black Beauty seeds this year. Dwarf and hopefully they will be really dark. Your yellow ones look lovely but understand you would like a mix of colours.

 

Thanks Upsydaisy and Dahlia Queen for your responses [love both your nicks btw !] and really useful info ...... really appreciate it. I've tried crushed eggshells to keep slugs at bay and I think it may have helped a slight bit but your you're both so lucky to have greenhouses .... I'm immensely envious! My next house [well garden actually - the house itself will have to come second!] MUST have enough room for one! I'd spend more time than ever in it I just know I would!
You're lucky too Upsy that you can leave yours in the borders. I tried that with those yellows - lol - but being 'up north' they just turned to mush with all the wet and cold. Hate it when I lose things but I guess it's part of the gardening experience.
Dahlia Queen - 170 !!! ??? You truly live up to your name on here then. - a total DQ ... lol WOW !! That ring of gravel idea sounds like a good one .... will try that.
Thanks again both ...

 

Morning @DMM, I totally agree with you on garden first, house second. Bought my cottage for the size of the garden (not that gardens are ever large enough of course!) Really hope you get a good size garden with your next house and the greenhouse of your dreams. I love mine (called Favolosa) and jammed packed as usual. 40 degrees in there yesterday with the autovents open. A good place to be when it is cold, windy and wet outside over the winter, pottering around and checking sweet peas and whatever else I have started off to germinate.

I think grit worked for me as it is so sharp, also my chickens helped to remove the slimy creatures sometimes. Not sure if my girls will be out this year to help (depends on bird flu and the current lockdown) but a thick layer of grit definitely helped. Clear plastic bottle suggestion from Upsydaisy is a great idea, more of a total defence that my grit too.

 

I've planted the tubers in pots indoors now - in my spare room which has to double up as my greenhouse @ this time of year. Didn't want to leave it and risk the inevitable slug attacks. At least this way they'll be off to a good start.
Sorry for delay in responding - have been making the most of the beautiful weather spending as long as I possibly can outdoors getting little jobs done ....

Happy growing to you both for 2023 ...

 

Lovely to be outside, agree wholeheartedly with that.
Good luck with your tubers. Looking forward to seeing some blooms. Happy growing to you too

 

I read recently that soaking dahlia tubers in warm water before planting helps them to strut sooner.

Does anyone do this ?

 

No, never heard that before .If and when I have new ones I just plant up in a pot in March and give them one good watering and leave them under the greenhouse staging and they soon start to shoot . They then get planted out in May. They are so easy to get going anyway. I know that really wet tubers get mushy very easily so ,personally, I wouldn't soak them.

 

No, I want mine to stay where they're put; not strutting around knocking things over.

 

Could be they meant sprut ?.????

though whoever wrote the article did actually write strut

Maybe depends on the locals "twang"

 

It could help if the tubers are very shrivelled, but when they say soak i presume it would only be for 24 hours at the most.

 

Whenever I've grown Dahlias from tubers I've never done anything else other than plant them directly into a pot of compost & away you go!

 

I've soaked some of the dry shrivelled things you get from DIY stores overnight in cold water and then planted up the next day.

 

I think it's like all gardening, there is always more than one way of doing things.