Dahlia flowers opening prematurely

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locoboy0712 Miami, FL(Zone 10b) Sep 10, 2011

Hi, I have dwarf dahlias and the buds are always opening up while they're still too little and no color, sometimes petals don't even open because they haven't even created themselves. I don't know why this is happening. They have a lot of flower buds but opening too early. What do I do?

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Sep 14, 2011

Are these bedding dahlia's or are they tubers you planted???? as there is a difference in their care. Can you have a really close look at the buds and check to make sure nothing is eating the buds (while still being formed), are they getting enough water, is anything else in the same area the same, (called blind flowering) the kind of things that eat away the flower buds of Dahlias are caterpillars, but top of the list is ear-wigs, that is the insects about quarter inch long body with 2 pincher's at it's hind quarters, these are ferocious feeders on Dahlia's, they are difficult to find as they hide away inside the flowers or inside stems etc through the daylight hours and come out at dusk to feed all night, the best way to trap them is to stick an upturned plant pot onto a garden cane same hight as the plants, fill with straw/shredded paper, in the morning, knock the straw/paper out into a bucket of water and look see if there are any ear-wigs, other than that, look to see if there is enough moisture at the roots, stick your finger down into the root to see if the soil is dry, if so, water more, have the plants been fed, check all these things first.
Good luck. WeeNel.

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