Who’s growing Dahlias this year

[Onionbhajisandwich]

What varieties are you growing this year? I’ve got some Babylon Bronze and Kelvin Floodlight (among quite a few others) that I’m really looking forward to growing this year!

I'm buying plants this year.

Didn't have a lot of luck with tubers last year.

We moved from a gardenless flat in London to a house with a garden in Hampshire last year and therefore we don't really know what we are doing in the garden at all.

Was weeding and digging around yesterday and came across some strange things that I initially thought were potatoes lol but have now realised (thanks a lot of googling) are actually tubers and i think likely dahlias! We didn't know they were there (and even if we had wouldn't have known to bring them in) so they've been there all winter. Is there any hope for them or shall I chuck them out and get some new ones? They didn't look like they were doing anything but I'm not sure if they are supposed to be?

Is it too late to order tubers from farmer gravy now? I've never grown dahlias but it's been something in my list to try. I'm worried by the time they arrive it will be. Bit late to pot them up?

Will I regret buying the huge ones? I love them! And can I leave them in the pots I've winter (in a greenhouse?)?

Thank you 💐

No it’s fine to order them now, you’ll probably get a bargain. They were selling them on sale in our b&q last week.

I’m in the north and don’t expect to see any shoots for about 3 weeks…

huge ones are ace for impact…but I tend to go for smaller ones as they are less battered if we have dodgy weather….

I keep some in the ground, fairly free draining but I think this winter might have done for them. Some in pots in garage where it is dry, one I forgot about survived in a pot under the eaves. Also this year tried a few with no compost in garage…they seem mostly ok.

this sounds like I have loads, I don’t really.

Now is the perfect time to plant Dahlia tubers and seeds.

According to Sarah Raven the tubers can be started into growth in March or April in pots undercover (in a greenhouse or covered cold frame), and then planted out in the garden in late May and June.

What happened (or didn’t happen)? I’ve planted tubers in pots and they’re in my greenhouse at the moment but I can’t see anything happening yet so am a bit worried.

I have been growing Dahlias for years, l used to prefer the bold jewel coloured pom/ ball ones, but l like to chop and change.
This year l am growing Bishops Children from seed, had a very good germination rate, as well as some collerettes. I put them out in the borders and pots.
I buy the tubers from many different online places such as Halls of Heddon, who are very good, as well as garden centre, Wilko and B&Q.

You're in luck, Farmer Gracy have 20% off plus free postage this weekend. I'm having a hard time resisting, but I've already done absolutely the very last order this year no less than three times.

Re the huge ones, stem length and strength is a big factor but it's not commonly mentioned in the ads, so unless you live near a trial field you'll just have to take a chance.

Overwintering in pots in the greenhouse should be just fine. I had a Cafe au Lait in a big pot in my greenhouse this winter. I put some black bags round it for a bit of extra protection as it went to below freezing in there on occasion. It's now showing the strongest shoots of all my tubers, in fact I've just been able to take some cuttings from it. Wish me luck.

This is so useful! Thank you.

So it doesn't matter that's it's an unheated greenhouse? I've lost my agapanthus bulbs this year (pots in greenhouse) because I think it just got too cold.

I had spotted the famer gracy offer! Although may also pop into B&Q just in case 😄

I have an unheated greenhouse and I take additional steps to protect plants. Our lowest temps in my part of the country have been -3C at night, so I won't have anything in there susceptible to frost and freezing temps as you will lose them

I keep my propagator indoors and only put it in the greenhouse this week keeping the cover on at night. I'd never keep tender seedlings in there, not until they're much more mature.

I have a digital thermometer which I keep visible so I know the temp trends. And keep a daily watch on my Weather App. I checked the other morning and my therm said +2c when it was just below freezing so even an unheated greenhouse gives good protection. The sunshine in the day accumulates in there so at night it mitigates the worst of the cold.

I keep my dahlia in ventilated crates packed around with newspaper for insulation protection. I am going to plant them in pots this week. At night if there is danger of low temps I cover them over with bubblewrap. I will transplant some of them into my border in May and enjoy the colour until around Oct then out they come and into their crates for winter.

👍 re B&Q offer on Dahlia tubers, I've expanded my collection with some beautiful pompoms and spiky varieties ... just need to get out and pot them up today!

oh thanks for reminding me, i'd completely forgotten I've got young plants pre-ordered from Halls.

The not buying any tubers this year worked. For a while.

Peter Nyssen have good prices even when not on sale and a good selection.

Mine are all potted up in (slightly) heated greenhouse. It wasn't planned to be heated but husband put a tube heater in for me to stop it dropping too low

Woolmans have a good selection and as a 1st time buyer you get free P&P.

I planted some tubers about a month ago, in pots indoors. Some are getting really quite big, do you think it's safe to put them outside now? Night temps are around 5/6 degrees.

I think it’s best to harden them off a bit before putting them straight out.
That’s what I’m doing and I’m quite far south west.

Definitely. Especially as the weather is about to get crap. Again. They're quite susceptible to wind as well as temps. That's another reason for gradually moving them

Mine went in pots in the unheated greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, after being stored in the loft.

I dig them all up after the first frost, let them dry and then store them in vermiculite in cardboard boxes. I have about a 95% success rate doing it this way, as we have heavy clay soil here and any I've tried to leave in the ground have perished.

Shoots are appearing on them all now, some more slowly than others.

For the last two years we've also used nematodes to control the slugs in the borders. It's been amazingly successful. We do 3 treatments and the total cost for about 40 square metres is £45. No damage to the other wildlife or the dog, and there are still plenty left for the slug and snail predators in the other bits of the garden.

Planted a few of mine in their final pots today - with some bacopa or million bells for ‘spiller’

I’m very pleased to see shoots on the ones that I ended up sticking back out in pots lat winter when I saw they had started to grow fuzzy mould. I had initially just chucked them on the compost heap to stop the spread to the other tubers but then got them out and potted them thinking at least they’d have a 50% chance.

Its still early days, I’m hoping they all take off a bit now the weather has warmed up a bit.

I am going to be overrun with them this year, all being well.

I grew them last year for the first time in a raised bed. I couldn't be bothered to dig up the tubers for the winter so left them in situ and piled on a thick layer of woodchip. The winter was so cold and wet I had no hope of any of them surviving, but they did and are now just beginning to sprout.

I have also bought a job lot of tubers which are potted up in the zippy, and are also sprouting nicely, so I should end up with a good mix of about 15, but no idea what some of them are at the moment!

I didn't dig mine up and they've been in the beds all winter and now one of mine has a teeny tiny sprout. No sign of any others yet. I'm getting so impatient...!

Ours live at the end of the veg plot the whole time and come back every year but there's no sign of any shoots. We are south and the garden is very sheltered but think those heavy frosts may have killed them off.

I am seriously giving up hope of my dahlias and agapanthus having survived the frost and may just bung some new tubers in 😮

I left all mine in the ground too - building work meant flower beds were inaccessible for a lot of the autumn/winter (mainly) and too many other things to think about (also) - but complacently assumed that I'd be seeing sprouting this spring as we're on chalk. Not a sign - I suspect the hard frosts have had them. And it's too late really to start new ones off. And I was given a vase for Xmas which I've mentally allocated to be dahlias from the garden on my desk every day - not that the office is back in use after the builders. Waaah - things are not going to plan!

If you can get hold of some cheap tubers it's worth a try, particularly if you live in the South of the Country. I potted mine up just before easter and they've only just started sprouting. I also found a pack of dahlia seeds today that I'd forgotten about. I've planted a few because why not see what happens.

Well, I replanted 6 that I lifted and all are now up (Cafe au lait and Cafe au Lait Royale).

The 9 new tubers from Farmer Gracy were pretty dry and sickly looking when I planted them at the same time and there is no sign of them. if they don't come up I shall be very disappointed!

I should have maybe sent them back instead of trying them in the ground