Planting Dahlias

I am going to plant my dahlias today and I am unsure of how to plant them? I did a google search and one place said to plant them horizontally about 4 inches deep. Does this sound right? It also said to make sure the bud is up, but not all my bulbs have buds. Does it matter?'

One thing I learned the hard way is that (for me) it is best to dig a nice hole about 8-12 inches deep, put in some nice fertile soil, but not fill up the hole. Then lay in the tubers. As the plant comes up through the soil, keep adding more good dirt, like you would with potatoes. The big ones will probably need staking. The year I left them in the ground for the winter, they did come back up but seemed to have a hard time penetrating the soil. I know other people will have their own methods. :)

We haven't planted ours yet as we haven't had our last frost of the year. I'm not sure what they mean by planting horizonatally so I'll try to describe what we do. Dahlias are one of those plants that everyone has their own unique way of dealing with so I'm sure others will have some great tips for you.

We dig a big hole and dig in well rotted compost (some add bonemeal).

In the middle of the hole we make a small mound of earth for the 'hand' to sit on.

We take the tubers so the old stalk is facing skywards and spread the 'fingers' out around the mound.

We back fill the hole so the roots are about 1 inch below the soil like. We make a small moat like depression around the area dug out, this allows easier watering and feeding when the plant is in growth.

We make sure that the tubers have the buds as we might divide them prior to planting, it's not absolutely necessary but it means we aren't planting anything that's dead and wasting the space, time and energy in doing so.

The important thing is to make sure the frost has gone. If that's going to mean the plant won't have much time to flower before the end of the season gorw them in a big pot and bring them in until after the last frost date and then plant them out in the borders (or leave them in the pot).

I don't know if you would want to plant them any deeper in the north than we do here in GA. I don't see why since they all have to be dug up in the fall anyways. Mine go in with about 1-2" of soil covering them up. The elongated tubers come together at one end into a nub. That is where the plant comes from. when held right side up, the tubers should hang downward naturally from that nub. Plant this way up in a hole wide enough to spread them out a little all around and cover with an inch or two of soil. Any amendments that you would do to the soil around any of your important garden plants would be appropriate for these guys too. When it gets warm they will come up and grow fast!

Thank you all. I figured out why I was confused. I've never had dahlias before, and the ones I got are just a long thing. It sounds like there should be more long things all hooked together? Like an octupus? I only have one of the long things to plant. That's the way they came. So, maybe I do need to plant them horizontally.

Now after reading all this, I think maybe I should plant them in pots. Our growing season is only from about now to anytime in September. So, if they do good in pots, then that is what I think I should do, then I can bring them in pot and all in the fall?

You know, a few years ago I would have just dug a hole in the ground and put them in and not worried about what happened next. Now I have to research everything and make sure it's done right. LOL! Boy, have I changed since finding DG.

Definitely plant it horizontally. That's how they wind up when you plant them in bunches anyways (more or less). A pot might make it easier to bring them in and store them in the winter. I dug mine last year and it just shriveled up like a raisin. Some people have no problem with it though. I'm going to try leaving mine in the ground here in zone 7b this year. I can't be bothered nuturing and taking care of an ugly root thing all winter. :)

Joan

Here's are some photos in my journal of full grown Dahlia tubers when we lifted them last autumn. http://davesgarden.com/j/viewentry/21186/index.html

Ecobioangie

They need a (very) little moisture to prevent shrivelling up in storage. We find it's worth the small effort keeping the old hand because they grow and flower so much better than new stock. We have one now in the greenhouse that remained in a pot on my kitchen floor all winter (my home is very cold), it's now over 1ft tall and will hopefully do much better than the scrawny little thing we received in the post last year. We partiularly wanted to keep this one as it took a lot of time and trouble to obtain it.

Thanks Baa, mine look like the tubers you have laying off to the side. I think I will plant them horizontally in pots, at least for this year.

I can't believe how big that one you dug was. Wow!

That's a relatively young plant at 4 years old, Twilight Time (a Waterlily type) is the cultivar. We've not divided it yet but I think we should have! There's always next year.

my Dahlia imperialis has been outside for about 6 weeks now and is just under 2 feet tall. It's in a 12 inch pot. In the ground it has the potential to reach 12 feet in one year

My other Dahlias are in the greenhouse in 2 litre pots and have growths on them about 6 inches high. They have been potted up for about 4 weeks now. I need to take some cuttings soon to increase stock.

Ecobio the tubers should be more vertical than horizontal. hold the old growth and the tubers will fall into the position they should be planted.

I plant mine about 6 inches deep, and horizontal. Mine are in full bloom right now.. Hooray for the southern weather..LOL..Sorry, just had to brag a bit.. They are all so pretty.. Good luck Joan..

Larkie

Wow Larkie! When did you plant them? I was thinking that I might not even get blooms this year, but maybe I will after all?

Joan,
I planted all the new ones on March 15th, but most were from previous years.. I don't have to dig them here each year..Also for the 1st time I planted a pack of seeds on Feb 5th inside the house..They were set out along with the new tubers in March..They are just now about to bloom..Most of the seeded ones are shorter varieties. The ones blooming now are 4-5 foot..

Larkie

I have mine in a container. They are gorgeous...very dressy.

We planted all our dahlias here just last week, we usually try to plant by the middle of May. Blooms will start late July, early August and flower till frost about mid October.

Mark, I planted a dahlia imperialis also, it is maybe 18 to 24 inches high, I bought it from Plants Delight.
Do you fertilize this at all? Dahlias are such vigorous growers I hesitate to give them much nitrogen.

I did plant three Bishop of Llandaff earlier in the greenhouse and I have had blooms since the beginning of May but that is much earlier than usual.

I add composted farmyard manure to my pots. The main mix is usually multipurpose compost (peat based tut tut) with heat traeted top soil

When I dug mine last year I took a tip from DG and wrapped them individually in saran wrap and put them in a grocery bag in the basement over winter. They were in great shape this spring and hopefully mix lovely with the ones from the co-op. Late planting them this year with all the rain and cold weather, so hope they have time to spring up!

I tried a dahlia a couple of years ago and the two new puppies I got that spring also found the leaves interesting! They chewed on the darn thing until it was a hopeless goner. They stomped on it, peed on it and ate it. I gave up!

Lo' and behold this year it's up and about 9-inches tall with a beautiful bud forming! I'm 5b so I don't have a clue why it survived...our last couple of winters have been so-so (mostly mild but some pretty nasty sub-zero days. The bed is on the south side of my house but in the middle of the yard which faces a 20-acre pasture.

Go figure!

Welcome to DG langbr! It's good to have you here and already you are offering great help and info. What you said gives me hope that my dahlias will survive and I've marked where I planted them, so even if they don't do anything this year, I will dig them, store them and try again.

Hi JoanJ-

I've enjoyed following your posts in Identification.

I spotted TWO blooms forming on my dahlia this morning so I think it's going to be a bumper year for it!! I hope so!
Brenda

Just had a thought.....maybe I should let the terriers at it more often! LOL! I don't think so!