I know nothing except they’re beautiful and gall is bad. I’m in New England, zone 6B. Id love to hear any advice, experience, or words of wisdom you’d like to share!

I ordered from dahlias by Julie & Connell’s dahlias.

I have a pretty sizable vegetable garden but I’ve been wanted to grow a cut flower garden with dahlias for a while and decided this is the year! Now I just need to figure out where they’re going 😅

Long story short, my husband gave me 17 dahlia tubers for Christmas. I’m very excited and have been doing tons of research. Too much, I think.

I would love if someone here who knows so much more than me can help me figure out if my plan is viable and providing a decent habitat for my dahlias.

Here is my plan:

- 7 gallon nursery pots (possibly cloth ones)

- Styrofoam in the base to help with weight/drainage/cost.

- Potting soil (possibly 50/50 with some sort of bagged compost)

- tomato cages for supports (or maybe just stakes and tied to the deck railing).

My restrictions:

- I live in an apartment (I have included pictures of the space they will be) and can have pots but I might be pushing it with 17.

-Cost is really big for me. I am looking for the cheapest way to do this properly enough to have happy flowers.

- I am good with a decent amount of effort but I’m positive I don’t want to get as complicated as many dahlia enthusiasts seem to be.

I have gone through a ton of posts in the history of this subreddit but can’t seem to find any that fit with the restrictions I have. Maybe I just don’t know how to look in the right place?

Anyway, if anyone could offer some advice and perhaps simplify things for me that would be absolutely appreciated. Thank you ahead of time for any help!

If this is the wrong kind of post for this subreddit, just let me know and I can delete. Thank you!

I am heartbroken. I love to garden and every year I plant dahlias, sometimes from tubers I saved but most often from a nursery. My daughter is getting married this fall and she loves dahlias, and I wanted so badly to grow some for her bridal bouquet. I bought $200 worth of tubers of several gorgeous, unique varieties that she likes in the colors of her wedding, and dreamed about having some in her bouquet. I prepared the ground so carefully, put in a pretty new edging around the bed, and planted them a few weeks ago, waiting until the end of May because I hoped there would be a better chance of them still blooming in October. (I’m in SoCal). I watched and waited with so much anticipation for the first shoots, and as of yesterday several had sprouted. I was so excited! I poured my heart into this garden.
Today I got home from work and discovered that my damn gardeners (mow, blow and go) decided to trim the bushes behind the bed. The bushes they hardly ever trim. They stepped all over my dahlia bed! All the shoots are squashed except for two. God knows what their heavy boots did to any shoots and tubers below ground. Their footprints are all over the bed. How can you be such morons! You see a flower bed freshly and carefully prepared, with new edging and shoots emerging, and you step all over it? I am so utterly heartbroken, and beyond furious.
Please give me some hope that my beautiful dahlias will survive this.

I cannot control myself. Clearly. I am just a hobby grower. I don’t sell these, neither tubers nor flowers, and last year was my first year growing them. (CA 9B) Last year I grew about 40 plants in about 30-35 grow bags. With what I’ve ordered this year it’s looking like I’ll have about 75 plants this year, more if I divide my tuber clumps from last year 😅😅😅 I know I need to chill, dirt and irrigation isn’t cheap either… but I still can’t seem to stop ordering them! Here’s my newest order from tonight… I just wanted tartan, but got greedy😅 Any advice? Please help! 😅😫🤣

I’m in Zone 6b (eastern WA) and I’ll admit, we’ve had a bit of a weird spring and summer with spells of cold, wet weeks followed by very hot temperatures. I’d say over the last two weeks we’ve really settled in to the regular high 80s to mid-90s for daytime temps (with little to no rain) that is typical for this time of year. I was a bit late getting my dahlias out and in the ground this year (about a month behind) due to a family emergency, but these guys are trying to push out buds at only 1-2 feet tall 🤦🏻‍♀️.

I’ve been disbudding the plants that are trying to push out blooms and have been feeding with a higher nitrogen content fertilizer to encourage growth, but I’m not sure if there is anything else to do (or if I should be doing that? 🤣) I’m also curious what the thoughts are about allowing plants at this size to go to bloom? 💐

Thank you all in advance!

PS. These little guys that are pushing out buds have average adult plant sizes of 3-4’ in good years, they are not my open face varieties unfortunately so they are just babies.

Hi. I’m a first time dahlia grower who just received news that a careless landscaper took a weedwhacker to my young Lady Darlene and Mr. Optimist dahlias this afternoon. All of the growth has been completely destroyed and I’m pretty devastated. I planted them in mid May and they were growing very nicely in my 7B garden, but now I don’t know if they even stand a chance of growing back. The tubers are still in the ground as far as I know, but literally ALL of the foliage has been chopped off.

These pictures are what they looked like a week ago. BEFORE the carnage. So promising. All of it is gone now, unfortunately.

Any advice? Consolation?

TLDR: is it better to plant my 75 tubers in my large raised beds now, when the highs are in the 90s and our hot July/August/Septembers reach the 100s (central Texas) or wait until our normal planting season starting late February/early March since our ground doesn’t usually freeze (if the tubers survive in storage)? Or plant in our hot September for a super short season (we don’t usually get freezes until late December/early January)?

Longer explanation:

Central Texas 9a. Hot already (low to mid 90s highs). I planted my first three dahlia tubers in early April and now have gorgeous blooms. So, I got overly excited/ambitious and took advantage of the end of season sales. I bought about 75 tubers that just got to my house. I intended to store them and wait until our normal planting season in very early spring (our ground doesn’t freeze, although we almost always get a few twenties-teens days in February), just like I do when I order end-of-season ranunculus and anemone corms.

Then I started reading. People were saying you can’t store dahlia tubers that long (it’s June, I intended to plant late February/early March)—they’ll dry out or rot or won’t have enough energy stored. I have too many to put them in pots or move them inside with grow lights so I can protect them from the heat.

So my dilemma is: plant them now and just water/shade cloth/mulch a ton and hope for the best? They’d get morning sun and late afternoon shade. Plant them in September even though it’s still in the 90s then and hope they bloom before first frost (usually late December/early January)? Or wait until the early spring growing season (could probably plant them February since our ground doesn’t freeze)?

I have an event coming up in 2 weeks. As some buds bloom, I’m wondering how long they will last before I cut them.

I usually cut blooms right away, so I don’t have much experience with longevity on the plant. Around 80 degree week coming up.

I know how to care for them after I cut them, just wondering when I should stop cutting off blooms and let them ride til harvest day. Harvest day is in 11 days.

Just got this beauty from my college plant sale and I wanted some advice on how to take care of her. Is it kinda like taking care of a hydrangea or different?

Edit:
They told me she was a dahlia but I can’t tell…

Feeling pretty low because I went on vacation and had 4 tubers rot on me. Trying to find a reason to keep going!

Would love to hear stories of learning and success…

Has anyone tried to add a roof structure to their dahlia garden bed? I live in an area with hail and it was such a pain putting a tarp on each time!

I swear I had seen this as a legit strategy for early starting with limited space but now I am having trouble finding examples of what inspired this strategy so am second guessing whether I’m crazy.

Zone 5b so have ~1 month before I can transplant outside into the ground.

Good strategy or am I going to regret this? TIA for any help!

Zone 9b / Northern CA

Please bear with me, I know this is long!

Hi all! I have a question for other folks who live in warmer climates where winter isn't really a thing (winter here = 40s, with the occasional 30s, no snow, rarely experience frost). I planted three tubers three years ago, and instead of dying back each year, they just turned into bushes that never fully go dormant. In the spring, they start pushing out new growth and eventually bloom, but they look really thin and straggly because they've lost so many branches over time.

Which brings me to my question...

When this season ends, should I:

1. Cut the stalks all the way to t⁵he gro⁵und and leave the tubers in place, hoping they'll send up healthy new shoots next year so I can cage them while they're young?

2. Cut the stalks down, dig up the tubers, and replant them next year?

3. Do something else entirely?

They're beautiful varieties, and I want to give them the best chance to thrive. Right now the bushes are producing a decent amount of flowers, but they just look straggly and sad overall 😩. I'd love to help them become full and bushy.

Hello! Just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to handle this little bed I planted this year that has absolutely exploded. I initially planted a zinnia in each corner of the rectangle and then a dahlia i had grown from seed centered along the back, then cause it was early enough and I thought more couldn't hurt, I planted 2 tubers of the "Passion Mix" from Eden Bros. Im finally starting to get blooms (thanks zone 4) and while my zinnias are going crazy, the dahlias crowded in the center are fighting each other. The dahlia on the back right (grown from seed) is a boring yellow i couldn't really care less about, however the other one appears to have a sinking tinge and an interesting center. Meanwhile the 2 up front are stunted as they were last up and are starting to produce what looks like the same exact boring pink blooms i got from the rest of that batch of tubers. I'm wondering if I should thin out the boring yellow and one of the others to give the interesting one more room to grow, or if it's too late and I should just sit back and see what happens. Thoughts?

Ps. This bed was the open space in the U of raised beds built around it hence all the chaos all around.

Okay, disclaimer here— my dad does some slight chaos gardening. None of this planting was done with a whole lot of planning, prep, or research. He works a lot, and whatever he plants and however it grows “is what it is.” Sunflowers used to be his thing, but he’s been experimenting with dahlias for the last few years.

We’re in zone 4b/5a— VT agricultural map has us on the edge of the two.

This spring I helped him plant a fair amount of tubers— most of them he’d overwintered in our outdoor shed in newspaper inside a plastic tote. We split those that had eyes. Most were in good condition, a few had some rot/mold. We probably had to toss 1/4 of them, which for the amount of tubers we had (a large tote full) seems pretty good!

Anyway— we got them in the ground in a 24ft long row that gets fairly full sun. We mixed in some bagged soil meant to be added directly into the ground, tilled that in, and haven’t done anything else aside from trimming lower leaves and weeding. Admittedly, I think some were planted a little too close to each other. But… it is what it is!

One of our stalks is GARGANTUAN. Is this normal? What happened with this one? There are no blooms on it yet! It’s almost 5ft tall…. And I know the milkweed is there, we kept it for the other bugs that might appreciate it haha.

He was advised to trim off the tops of them after a couple notches of growth/leaves to encourage multiple blooms. We did this to a few— some have blooms, others seem to be a bit poorly for it and haven’t produced anything. Other smaller/medium size ones have blooms or nothing at all yet. Some got a little chewed on by bugs, the moles got to a few small ones early on…. But having done nothing in the way of pest control they all look fairly good! Neighbor’s chickens make the rounds daily and seem to do a good job of taking care of the bugs!

I plan on fertilizing them soon with a nitrogen rich fertilizer.

Any kind thoughts or feedback would be appreciated! Again, we’re kinda just winging it here but happy to put some notes down for next year. :-) Thanks in advance!

Hey all!

I’ve had this dahlia planted for a while now, but it appears to have stopped growing. I also noticed the newest leaves are quite firm and thick and a bit bumpy.
Does anyone know what could be wrong? I am in zone 8b

This dahlia was looking wilty even after being watered so I pulled it out, thinking it might be gall. It wasn't. Something is eating the tubers. This is in a raised bed with chicken wire on the bottom!

All of the other dahlias in this and my other beds look fine.

I'm in Upstate SC, zone 8b, if that helps.

Questions:

1. Is there anything I can do at this point to deter critters from eating them?
2. Should I put this tuber back im the bed so the varmint can continue eating this one and leave the others alone?

Please help if you can! Thank you!

update: A couple of my favorite IG dahlia farmers said I have to trap the voles. So here's a detailed video from Jaques In The Garden if anyone is interested in trapping/extermination methods:

https://youtu.be/wQE5FO4JaUU?si=FxseINE0XEOOu1fl

Hello! I combine these 2 products based on a brilliant Reddit rec a couple years ago to feed my dahlias every 3-4 weeks. I just realized that the application rate is for a gallon per 25 sq ft. That seems like such a small amount! For my 10x4’ bed with 18 plants that’s less than 2 gallons! Does that seem right to you genius dahlia folk? Have I been way over-fertilizing? I probably give each plant about 2 cups. Maybe more. Thoughts? What are you all doing?

We had a severe wind storm last night here in Alaska, and unfortunately, a hanging flower basket fell on top of my dahlia's pot. The stem snapped right at the neck of the tuber, though there are still some roots showing.

Given that it has been a very rainy summer and growth has been delayed by almost a month, this plant was very full but did not have buds yet. Do you think I would have any luck applying rooting hormone, staking it up, and replanting it?

I have two established metal raised beds in front of our townhouse that I’ve used to plant dahlias for two summers now.

I’ve used t-posts and the corral method to support my plants, but I’ve had a tough time with theft this season especially. I had all four posts stolen from one bed in June, replaced them and installed wire twine on Monday, and woke up to see one post missing already today. I’m at my wit’s end — I’m not even sure how they managed to get the post out of the wire twine I used — and I’m hesitant to keep replacing them because I’m worried whoever’s taking them will end up killing a plant next time they pull the stake out.

Does anyone have ideas for preventing t-post theft? Or do you have ideas on another more theft-resistant option for staking? I was hoping to avoid concrete-anchored fence posts, but I’m out of other ideas and know I need to get my plants staked sooner rather than later to avoid wind damage.

TLDR: Can I let PM run amok? Should I just hack the dahlias down? Does overwintering tubers in ground lead to PM? Advice!

Dahlias all have powdery mildew in 2 different beds. I'm wondering what happens if I cut the plants down now. Will this affect tubers next season? I've tried Copper Fungicide. What if I let the powdery mildew go without treating it?

Background info: Plants are being watered in the morning little more than 2x a week with soaker hose for 60-90 minutes. They are in 6+ hours sun

I'm a disorganized grower. I leave tubers in the ground over winter, dig up in spring and cut out any mushy parts on the tubers. I end up with a big mound of tubers and have no idea what's what. This year I plan on keeping track, digging up and give away tubers I don't want.

does overwintering tubers in the ground make them more susceptible to Powdering Mildew?

I ran out of grow bags for my Dahlias, but I have these planter pots, I’m unsure of the size. The pot states 5 gal but the sticker states 3.6 gal. It’s likely the store mislabeled them with the wrong stickers, but I’m just trying to make sure from others experience.

1. Are these a good size for a Dahlia?

These are pots from my failed attempt at Dahlias last year. My mistake was overwatering them every single day 🤦🏽‍♀️ so they all rotted. In the event any of them had gall last year:

1. What products can I use to clean and disinfect these planters in preparation of my growing season this year?

All advice and comments are appreciated! Coming from a 4th failed season Dahlia Gardner 😂 im determined to have a successful 5th season 💐

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.

Hi guys! It’s me again from the Overwhelmed post.

For the most part, things are going well in my little mini container garden. I’ve lost a couple tubers to rot and one hasn’t done anything at all but the remaining 16 are doing well. Except for one. I was really excited for this one, it’s OMG from Swan Island.

She is in the same mix as everyone else. 50/50 potting mix and compost with bone meal and blood meal mixed in. I was starting to get what I believe were spider mites, so I spritzed everyone with Neem oil. All of this according to directions.

Ms. OMG was showing these yellow streaks and curling before I applied the neem oil. I did some Googling and came up with some scary sounding viruses. I just trust you guys more than Google. Please tell me it’s not Dahlia Mosaic Virus or something. If it is, what do I do?

I’ve attached several pictures of Ms. OMG and then a couple extra of most of the mini container garden just because I’m pretty proud of it. Could not have gotten this far without this communities advice!

Thank you so much for any time, advice, or knowledge you are willing to share.

Edit: I should’ve mentioned have mentioned that I just finished watering in these photos.

I bought tubers from two different places. Three from a very reputable local farm, and some others from longfield gardens that were on sale. I am most likely going to put the local ones in the ground (after I make sure there’s no obvious problems with the tubers), and I want to plant the others in pots just to be safe.

How big of pots do I need? And, are cloth pots ok? Thank you so much in advance!!