Giving Up On Dahlias!!

As of today I'm only waiting on Bishop of Llandaff to shoot, Moonfire, David Howard. Twyning's After Eight, D coccinea (several), D excelsa, D campanulata and D imperialis are all shooting in the greenhouse. Outside nothing yet probably be May before the outside D imperialis and D excelsa pop up.

 

I only grow the single flowered Bishop series of Dahlia (good for pollinators) ; mine are growing in massive pots now for the past four-years . They're fed once a year with slow-release fertiliser which seems to work well .
All are showing a good 6" of growth already ; the plan is to plant and leave them out in the garden where they can take their chances .
Quite honestly I've seen enough of them now ; either grow or go!! ; that's my policy .

 

I've just sown more of the Bishop ones I grew last year from seed @PaulB3 . I know what you mean though - you grow something every year, then one day, you think - right, I'm a bit fed up of you, I'll try something else if you don't make it.
I think D. Howard is the one I have a bit of growth on, so hopefully it'll be ok. It was one of the ones that needed to be in the 'water protection' system, which really helped to keep the slugs off. It was being annihilated.
Arabian Night is lovely @smallkernowgarden . I lost all of them after growing them a couple of years ago - a cheap buy from B&Q. Might have a look and see if they have some again...

 

I've only chosen the single flowered ones too; I'm not attracted to the pompom type flowers and I also like to treat the pollinators! I chose a dwarf, dark leaved variety - "Wishes and Dreams" thinking the foliage would make a good contrast on my patio. That's the one that's doing well for me. My other survivor is "Edge of Joy", a cheap supermarket buy, that one's winning in terms of number of sprouts. They've both been outside for weeks now. I don't have a greenhouse and needed my indoor space for the tomato seedlings!

 

Update on Dahlias. Well no progress on my other 3 dahlias. However I have a question. I very gently removed compost close to the top in case I had any growth - none so decided to lift them from the pot and see what was going on, if anything. There are roots from the tubers so my question is should I maybe just plant these out and see what happens as from what I can see there is no sign of anything coming from the top.

 

If they dont have the remains of last years collar then they will root but cant grow shoots.

 

I agree with @pete. They have to be viable at the crown/main stem in order to create new growth.
My overwintered ones are all growing, and Ambition and D. Howard are doing nicely - undercover at night and out during the day - weather permitting. Neon Splendour is also doing well - the original plant especially, but the cutting I took from it last year isn't so good, but it only has a makeshift cover as I don't have room for them all.
The 2 new ones I bought are only just starting to have a tiny bit of growth. Both are in the house to get enough warmth.

 

@Kitty52 - I think one of your stubborn ones is a new tuber when referring back to your original post so that’s disappointing. Any pictures? As @pete says, if the crown/collar has been removed, they won’t sprout again. I would at least expect the new tuber to be ok unless it was a poorly taken cutting last year - they can be ‘blind’ in the following year if so.

 

Sorry but don’t know what you mean by last years crown/collar. Agree that it’s not good if one is a new tuber.

 

I will take out of the pots tomorrow and take photo. Otherwise I'll just give up on them this year.

 

@Kitty52 - here is a photo of one of my tubers this year. The area circled in blue is what is known as the crown/collar and it is from this area where new shoots will form as they are here. You can often see the ‘eyes’ by looking for little raised nodules (as per the two at 4 o’clock). They may be pale green or reddish. Often they are slightly shiny compared to the surrounding area on the tuber.

I wouldn’t give up hope yet. I am in the Midlands and I reckon that my dahlias are about two weeks behind where they would be normally at this time of year.

 

Thanks Ezzie. I’ll look at what I have tomorrow and take a photo. I understand now from the photo you posted what you mean about collar.

 

That's a really good pic for illustrating the point of the change between the tubers themselves and the emerging buds @Ezzie . Sometimes those tiny new shoots are very hard to see too, and they can come slightly sideways from the crown too.
If you grow peonies @Kitty52, it's quite similar, and it's why you have to be careful about the planting depth with those.

 

Photos I’ve taken. Not that good though.

 

I've got some Bishops Children growing from seed this year. Should I pinch them out to increase bushiness? They're about 4" tall at the mo, pricked out into 3" pots, outdoors during the day but in the "blow-away" at night. It might be ok to leave them out... the last frost, in the 5 years we've been here, has been no later than the first week in May, but I think I'll play it safe for another couple of weeks.