General Gardening chat

I must say though I don’t rinse off the soil LOL

James, you shouldn’t keep them really in a plastic box, you need to get air to them, I put them in a tray like the ones you get when you buy plants which have slits at the bottom,place them upside down and cover them loosely with a bit of compost, as long as its frost free should be ok, have a look at this page might help http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/dahlias-lift/

I must say I love Zinnias, sown a lot today! if you have loads of dahlias then I can understand your dilemma.

Jill, you mention storing Dalhia tubers in a shed/barn to protect them from the cold. Isn’t the inside of a shed or barn as cold as the outside if they are unheated? As I mentioned, I kept the Dahlis tubbers in a plastic box in the garage but they were no longer firm in the Spring.

I’m beginning to rethink this business of planting tubers that have to be dug up for winter storage because if all those seeds I planted grow a plant, I’ll have a week of back breaking work to do digging this Autumn. I think Zinnia might be a lot easier and surely, the bulbs tulips, dafodills etc. are easier because they only get dug up once every few years.

I dug up my Dalhia tubers last Fall and stored them in the garage but in the Spring, they seemed withered and soft. I replanted them anyway but I think they are dead. I have better luck with the Begonia storage in the garage in the winter. Am I supposed to keep them surrounded by dirt to keep them solid and alive during the winter?

Gosh they are pretty and more upright then the ones over here!

I know but the peonies remind me of Japan. Let me find the picture…

Best of luck!!! I love peonies but they are so short lived and droopy I vote more for dahlias!

Ah, great pic, Jill. OK, so I will do my digging tomorrow. Darn things were too close to the peonies anyway.

You should be alright then Victoria. It is important to divide them so that each tuber has a piece of old stem and a shoot or a bud attached otherwise the tuber will not produce shoots. Have a look at the pic enclosed.

Hi Jill,

I see at least an inch of green.

{Smacks hand to forehead}

Sorry, I forgot that I’m supposed to think metric now. Forget those pounds, inches, quarts and so on. What WILL my children think? I’m an embarrassment, a relic of a bygone age.

Allow me to rephrase…

I see 2.5 centimeters of green, Jill.

(Metric system = death of poetry)

Hi Victoria, I reckon it probably is too late, how far ‘up’ are they?

Well…

Okay. But you have to invite the peonies too.

(they’re straight but they vote Democrat.)

I didn’t know you could grow dahlias from seed. I’ve got quite a few of them in my garden planted by former tenants and I love them. Nothing subtle about them - my mom used to call them the “drag queens of the garden.” :slight_smile: A few of mine are already up. Does this mean it’s too late to separate them, Jill?

Hi James, I think you will find the Dahlias from seed will grow tubers but very small,and in time will get bigger, but a lot of people want to grow the 'true’large tubered Dahlias (F1) ready to plant out to get an outstanding plant of height and shape and colour me included, which you cannot get really from seed,you can split these tubers into more plants in the spring like now for instance,and in the winter dig them up and store them in a shed/barn wherever to protect them from the cold. Hope this helps.

Jacquiline, does that mean the Dalhia seeds planted do not create a tuber that can be over wintered?

James, not sure why you’ve not seen them sold as seed as I know my Mum has bought them (in UK), so guess they are available. I am happy to stand corrected here, but I think Dahlia’s from seed are annuals and the tubas can be overwintered.

Question for the group: I’ve always bout Dalhia tubers and planted them in the Spring. Last year I read that Dalhia could be grown from the seeds. I gathered the seeds and planted them this Spring and sure enough, they are growing. If Dalhia can be grown from seeds, why have I not seen Dalhia seeds sold in the gardening shops?

Munch, munch. Something is eating my rose leaves. Not little holes like slugs,but half the leaves are stripped or munched in half. Any ideas on what it is (too early for grasshoppers) and hot to treat organically? thanks.