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 have 3 with shoots and one no show yet. Unfortunately I didn’t label them so no idea which is which.

I didn't lift my Dahlias. After reading Sarah Raven's book I just heavily mulched and crossed my fingers. I live in the the South and have a sheltered south facing garden .

Today I had a good look and there are 4 shoots from 9 . Very pleased. Hoping for the rest.

I had almost given up hope but this weekend the four in a container finally have shoots a couple of inches tall.

The Farmer Gracy that did nothing last year is about a foot tall.

Hello all. Some advice please.

My new big ones have sprouted and are 50cm tall already but only a single shoot.

To encourage branching I've pinched it out.

Anything else I should be doing ?

Thx all

Hello all. Some advice please. I bought tubers a couple of months ago and completely forgot about them. I planted them in pots last week and have left them outside (I’m in the south east). How long would you expect it to take for them to sprout please? I’m not watering them as they haven’t sprouted yet, so please tell me if I should!

@WellTidy they won't sprout without any moisture, but don't overdo it or they'll rot. The soil needs to be barely damp, certainly not moist.

Be careful if you've put them into peat free compost, a lot of us have found that it goes from rock hard to soggy in the blink of an eye. I lost a few dahlias this year for the first time ever due to overwatering. Less is definitely more.

Thank you @MontyDonsBlueScarf, I have indeed used peat free compost. We’ve had no rain in the week since I potted them up so I think I will water them lightly. And keep my fingers crossed!

Agree they need to be damp and not dry out, but not soggy. Some of mine haven’t sprouted yet, it can take a while, but the ones that put up shoots later seem to catch up quickly, they just flower a bit later in the year, a good thing really. The one that stays in the soil all year in my garden flowers pretty late, each year I think it must have died and a week or later I see the first leaves.
(Although this year it may actually have died, as the Winter was so cold , I hope it has survived).

I've given in and had a (gentle!) dig around.

4/12 dahlias that have not sprouted ARE sprouting below ground.
3/12 are not sprouting but the tubers do not look totally wrecked.
5/12 tubers are the texture of sloppy mashed potato

I'm off now to the dahlia shop....

I gave in and dug a couple up too.

Typically, the expensive special ones I bought especially from T&M last year 2 out of 3 were rotten mush. One was slightly firm so I’ve repotted that in new pot/compost to hope for the best.

The ones that are all sprouting are ones I grew from seed. 1 of those not sprouting is rotten, there are around 6 I just couldn’t face digging up so I’m ignoring just now but out of around 20 from seed I have 11 or 12 definitely sprouting so not bad, but not going to be quite the display I had last year.

I've got 4 showing themselves now. Only a couple of inches but it's a start

My crème de cassis has flowered!

Gorgeous Thursdaylastweek

If they are showing no signs of sprouting yet and you've planted them in pots, I would make sure you've positioned them by a sunny warm wall, to get a bit of light and heat onto the compost.

Water them once, if you haven't already, just so the compost is nice and moist, then just check them every few days, you should find that the next 2-3 weeks will show signs of life. You still have plenty of summer left for them to grow and flower right up to the first frosts in .Oct/Nov.

@daisychain01 thank you, they’ve sprouted! Well, six out of the seven. I think that’s pretty good going seeing as I had just left them in the Sarah Raven box they arrived in for about two months in my sunny sitting room. How much growth do you think they should have before I plant them in the beds?