Spring officially arrives today! It’s time to think about getting our dahlias off to a great start! We will cover several topics that may be of interest.
Should I buy dahlia tubers from the big box stores?
The photo on the package is beautiful and you can’t resist the bargain price! Just be aware that tubers sold in the big box stores are “imported Dutch tubers.”
These tubers, sold as “clumps” are sorted by machine and are not carefully inspected by knowledgeable people! The photos on the package may not be the variety you actually receive. Also, the quality of these tubers is poo. You will notice that there are often tubers with broken necks. The tubers with broken necks are not viable, and will not product a plant. Furthermore, these imported tubers are often infected with leafy gall or crown gall. You may not notice the disease right away. It can take two years for a plant to develop it. It remains a bacterial disease for which there is no known cure. The bacteria can spread to other nearby plants through water draining into the soil or insects.
If you have recently purchased imported tuber clumps, return them for full refund. If you choose to keep the imported tuber clumps, plant them in a 7 gallon container where they will be isolated from your other plants. Continue to grow the imported tubers in a container for two growing seasons. If by chance it is free of gall, it should be safe to plant it directly in the ground the following year.
I received tubers that I ordered in the mail. Now what do I do? I can’t plant them outside yet!
- Know what growing zone you live in.
If you don’t know, just Google it! “growing zone for zip code —–“ - Know when your last frost date is predicted to be.
Remember, it’s only a “prediction”!
If you don’t know, just Google it! “last frost date for zip code —–“ - Have a good local weather app with a 10 day forecast on your phone. Pay close attention to the high and low temps near the last frost date.
That being said, there are two options for you!
Option 1
- Remove the tubers from the plastic package they came in.
- Store the tubers in a plastic box with a top.
- Layer the tubers in one of these packing mediums: Vermiculite, peat moss, or hamster bedding shavings.
- Place the box in a cool, dark location. Ideal temp of 45f degrees. All tubers should be totally covered in a packing medium.
- Plant outside after the last frost date, when the soil temperature is at least 60f degrees.
Option 2
You may choose to begin to “wake up” your dahlia tubers 6-8 weeks before you would plant them outside, after the last frost. “waking up” refers to bringing them out of cool, dark storage and into warm, 70f degree house temperature with natural light. By doing this, you can get a jump start on the growing season and enjoy those beautiful blooms two weeks earlier in the growing season! Here are two methods to “wake up” tubers!
Method 1 (good for 48 tubers or less)
Materials Needed
- Two plain plastic garden trays.
- One or two bags of Jiffy Brand Organic Seed Starting Mix, available at Home Depot or Amazon
- One or two black Sharpies
Method
- Use a black Sharpie and write the name of the variety on each tuber for identification purposes.
- Pour some Jiffy brand seed starting mix into a garden tray until it is half full, then level the mix out nice and even.
- Using the long side of the garden tray, lay 12 tubers horizontally on each size of the tray, so you end up with 24 tubers per tray.
- Then, cover the tubers with additional Jiffy Seed Starting Mix. You may leave the crowns of the tubers uncovered if you wish.
- I do not water the tubers initially,. I find a new bag of Jiffy Seed Starting Mix to be the right amount of moisture. After a week or more, the soil may feel dry. Then, you can use a spray bottle of water and lightly mist the top of the mix. Do not over-water, as this action can rot the tubers.
It can take several weeks for tubers to fully “wake up” and begin to form eyes on their crowns, followed by small white sprouts!
Then it’s time for another decision!
- You may leave the tubers as is in the garden tray and plant them outside after the last frost.
- If a tuber has sprouted you can pot it up and place it under a grow light so it starts to grow taller, form leaves and turn green! Then, simply transplant your plant outside after the last frost! Be careful not to over water, because it hasn’t developed a root system yet so it can’t take up water. You may lightly mist the top of the soil if it feels dry. You may gradually increase water after the stalk is 3″ above the soil line.
Method 2 (The Baggie Method of waking up tubers)
Materials
- Ziplock sandwich baggies (not the slider type) (1 baggie per tuber)
- 1 or 2 black Sharpies
- White address labels with adhesive on one side (1 per baggie)
- 1 or more packages of Jiffy Brand Seed Starting Mix from Home Depot or Amazon.
- Garden trays or a portable clothes drying rack.
- Metal curtain hooks with clips if you are using a portable clothes drying rack. These are available on Amazon! You may need to enlarge the hooks to fit the rod of your rack; I used pliers.
Method
- Use a black Sharpie to write the name of the variety on each tuber.
- Use a black Sharpie and write the name of each variety on a white address label. Stick the label to the corresponding baggie.
- Place about 1 1/2 cups of Jiffy mix inside each baggie, then make the mix level.
- Lay a tuber horizontal on top of the mix. Make sure the tuber does not touch the plastic sides of the bag. The tuber should be centered in the mix.
- Completely cover the tuber with a cup of additional Jiffy mix.
- Hold off on water initially as the Jiffy mix is damp enough. After a week or more, if the mix feels dry, use a spray bottle with water. Lightly “mist” the inside “plastic” bag. Allow the mist to run down the sides of the bag to the soil. Avoid Watering the soil directly as this could rot the tuber or increase chances for moldy tubers!
- Fold the baggie half open to allow for good air circulation. Never seal the baggie shut!
- Using the curtain hooks/clips, clip the baggie and hook it to the clothes drying rack. Do this for all your baggies.
- Check the tubers weekly. Look for eyes and sprouts!
- Another decision for you to make!
- You may leave the tubers in the baggies until you plant them outside
OR
If the tubers have sprouts, you may pot them up and place them under grow lights. We recommend lightly “misting” the top of the soil if it feels dry. But be careful not to over-water the tender, young sprout as it hasn’t yet developed a root system yet! Tubers can easily rot with too much water. When the sprout is 3″ tall above the soil, you may begin to gradually increase water as the stalk grows taller. The new plant will be working on establishing a root system and leaf production in those early stages of development. This is necessary before any buds form leading to those beautiful blooms!
- You may leave the tubers in the baggies until you plant them outside