When to plant Dahlia Tubers

[so lucky]

In zone 6A, is it time to plant the dahlias, or am I late? Our typical frost free date is about April 15. (I bought a couple bags of tubers to try. If I can grow them, I may be willing to buy some more spendy ones) I planted them today. It got up to at least 82 degrees here today. You forum members who grow lots of gorgeous dahlias, have you planted yours yet?

 

[journey11]

They are very frost sensitive. I put mine out in early May. Maybe you could go sooner if you mulched or covered them?

 

[digitS']

I won't go much longer. I bet they are starting to sprout.

Getting them into real cool soil is kind of scary. Still, having tender green shoots on them - and then, putting them into real cool soil is scary.

I don't know. I talked to a guy who grew dahlias commercially in Oregon once and he said that some folks can get by where he is by just using a heavy hay mulch over winter. I know his environment. There's plenty of frost and a little snow every year but that mulch will keep them from freezing.

They are certainly down below 50 nearly all winter in my basement. That lower-than-50 is considered proper storage temperature for dahlias. Unfortunately, it is already 54 in their room :/. They absolutely cannot take freezing but I don't think they will venture above ground if that ground temperature is down near their storage temperature.

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

If worried, start them in gallon sized pots indoors, moist and warm, good sterile potting soil.

 

[so lucky]

Mine were starting to sprout. And the soil seems pretty warm. No frost predicted in the next week. Here, it's will probably become summer instantly. That's what usually happens. We jump from winter to summer, with no "nice" spring weather.

 

[catjac1975]

I am in zone 6 and would not plant them until mid June. For me I get the best flowering if I start them indoors a few weeks before planting outside.

 

[digitS']

Wow!

Are you potting them like Marshall suggests, Cat?

I can imagine a dahlia going all Happy about finding itself in a big pot of warm soil. Even if you force it out into the big, wide world later in its season, it is going to make good use of any time in some spring warmth.

Steve
where is that "dancing dahlia" smilie?

 

[catjac1975]

No I just start them in a flat with a bit of potting soil on top and moisture. If I were to put them outdoors now they could freeze. But it is more just to get them to break dormancy. They would sit it the ground until it gets really warm. I forgot to plant my dahlias last season due to crazy too much gardening to do. I'm sure they will be all dead and I will have to start again with my tuber collection. They are one of my favorite cut flowers and my tubers had expanded so much over the years. I have just gotten too daylily crazy!

 

[GardenGeisha]

I'm in Zone 6-7. Last year I planted my dahlias outside about May 9, and they were not happy. One of them took 10 1/2 weeks to emerge! Very slow to sprout, all of them.

Then I learned that most dahlia growers start theirs inside in pots in March and set them out when they are nice and big, getting a jumpstart on the season.

I have spider mites in my solarium so I don't dare try that, although I do have a volunteer dahlia, or one I forgot to dig sprouting in a pot in there.

I am going to plant my dahlia tubers in big huge wash tub sized pots outdoors around May 7, so I can move them inside where it's warmer if it turns freakishly cold, as it sometimes does here.

I find huge tubs work better than planting in the ground. I had some terrible snail/slug damage lat year to those I planted directly in the ground, and like I say, it took them forever to emerge, making me think they were goners, while waiting. I didn't care for all that stress. And a tree the neighbors felled, fell on them.

So it's back to pots for me.

 

[897tgigvib]

Get rid of those spider mites!!!

Make that priority 1. All else can fail because of spider mites.