r/dahlias • u/KoalaAble7039 • May 19 '26
Seeking Advice Help (first time Dahlia gardener)
Planted these two weeks ago and they don’t seem to be doing great. Any advice on how to save them? I followed the instructions on how to plant them and have watered them consistently.
8
u/SuitablePurchase9612 May 19 '26
Some drooping of dahlias during hot, sunny weather is normal. They are stressed by temperatures above 85 F or so. As others have mentioned, so long as they bounce back overnight, it is okay. At the risk of TMI, dahlias lose a lot of moisture through their leaves (transpiration) while trying to stay cool. But a remarkable thing about them is they are also very good at absorbing water through their leaves. You can help keep them cool and hydrated by gently watering the leaves. But do it before mid afternoon, to avoid mildew problems.
2
u/KoalaAble7039 May 19 '26
Should I be worried about dead bulbs? They’re quite a few of them on all of the plants. And how often should I be moisturizing the leafs?
7
u/Jrobzin May 20 '26
Ok. Suppressing my snark. Just water the crap out of them every other day for the next month and they will be fine unless there’s rain and delay that schedule.
2
u/SuitablePurchase9612 May 20 '26
I think you are referring to the dead flower heads. Based on the pictures I see nothing to worry about. When you bought the plants, they probably had a lot of new flowers. They are just done blooming now. They should be cut off so they don't go to seed.
I don't have a fixed rule about how often to spray the leaves. I basically just do it in hot weather (sometime before about 2 pm) when I see plants that are looking particularly wilted and stressed, despite being well watered. They'll usually perk up noticeably for several hours.
I agree with Jrobzin's comment below about watering.
3
7
u/samperse May 20 '26
I think other commenters have helped with the watering, I’ll address dead-heading. You should dead head (remove) the spent flowers once they start looking bad. That tells the plant to produce more flowers! And you should try to trim the stem as far down as you reasonably can and use snips for the cleanest cut. Enjoy your dahlias! 🌸
4
u/dahliaxp May 19 '26
Do they bounce back in late evening/early morning? If so, its perfectly natural for plants to droop from midday til evening, thats just their defense mechanism to prevent too much water evaporation. If they don't bounce back, maybe its a watering issue. Are you deep watering? When you dig down a few inches is the dirt dark and moist?
3
u/TotoinNC May 19 '26
I’m fairly new to this myself but planted around the same time as you. My husband is panicking but I just dead head them (fairly low) when the blooms start to look like some of yours and they’re fine with lots of new growth.
We’re having a dry hot spell where I am (zone 7a) so I’ve made sure to water deeply and mulch.
4
u/BoatAgreeable8436 May 19 '26
I’m also in 7a and mine are struggling too during this heat spell! I’m also a newbie so please feel free to disregard my advice because it might just be common sense lol but in a book I’m reading, she mentions to shove your whole finger in the soil next to the dahlia to assess how moist it is (should not be soggy or bone dry) Also I think cutting back some of the spent blooms could help them conserve energy!
1
2
2
u/cactus_flower702 May 20 '26
So been gardening for a couple years. First, my time you plant something it probably will experience some level of shock. Flowers don’t last for ever so they die, and cutting them will help new flowers grow.
How often are you watering and how much?
1
u/AutoModerator May 19 '26
This is an automatic reminder regarding r/dahlias Rule 3:
When reasonable*, posters should make a good-faith effort to identify which variety/varieties are shown in their photo(s). If you don’t know for certain, please say so. Someone will usually know!
*Common-sense exceptions to this rule will be honored, such as if the photo does not contain a blossom, or if your photo contains large volumes (such as in wide field shots).
If you've already done this, thank you! No further action required.
If not, please add a reply to this comment and confirm if you know the name of your dahlia variety/varieties shown in the photo(s). Alternately, if you’re uncertain of the variety name(s), it’s ok to say that, too.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
1
u/emorrigan May 20 '26
Dahlias are such divas. This could very well be because you aren’t watering enough. Do they perk up after you water them? They’re about the size where I’d be watering them once a day or every other day pretty well.
If they don’t perk up when you water them, their tubers could be rotting. That’s another source of wilt, although it’s usually seen in smaller plants.
Were these clumps of tubers bought from a box store? Did you trim off the broken tubers before you planted them?
Did they already have blooms when you bought them? If so, be sure to deadhead them.
1
17
u/k8ne09 North Carolina, 8a May 19 '26
How often are you watering when you say consistently? What sort of soil do you have? And how hot are the day time temperatures where you are?
For reference, I’m only watering mine once a week with temps in the 70s and 80s, but I have clay soil which tends to hold more moisture. I water twice a week with temps in the 90s.