Dahlia Care and FAQ's
Store tubers at 50 to 70 degrees in their unsealed plastic bags with the slightly moist peat, out of sunlight. Do not add water unless very dry, then you may spritz with a few drops of water to prevent shriveling. We like to hang ours from a clothes drying rack to pre-sprout 2-3 weeks before they go out. We then bury sprout and all 5-6" deep into prepared soil. Wait until soil has warmed to 60F.
To prepare soil, we add 4" of compost and a little organic fertilizer and bonemeal and mix it into existing soil. I like to put my dahlia stake in the hole first and then put the crown of the tuber next to the stake. Lay the tuber, eye up. If the shoot has already formed and twisted, I will plant them which ever direction the shoot is headed. Be sure to label your dahlias upon planting.
Do not water your dahlias until the sprout is out of the ground. We are in the Pacific NW where it rains alot. A few good rain storms have not caused problems for us after planting, but our soils will dry out a bit between rains. Do not plant dahlias where there is not good drainage.
Once dahlias are 12" high, pinch out the center to encourage a bushy plant and more blooms. This is a good time to consider how you will support them. Our dahlias often reach over 5' and will fall over if not well supported.
Refund Policy
We ship all tubers after careful inspection for viability and a visible eye. Some may even have a sprout. If the sprout breaks off in shipping, do not fear, the tuber wants to grow and will send out a new shoot (usually 2) where the first shoot breaks. However, if you receive a tuber that you feel is damaged upon arrival, please contact us within 5 days of delivery to request a replacement or refund. Refunds will not be given after 5 days of delivery.
FAQ's
Don't worry, dahlias are not that difficult to grow when you learn more about them. Here are some frequently asked questions that may help you out.
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Do I have to stake my dahlias? YES, almost all of our varieties require staking. We use both tamoato stakes and t-posts. We space the T-posts every 6'. We then using baling twine and do a figure 8 wrap at 18" and again at 36".
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How deep do you plant them? We plant them 5-6" deep and yes, we bury sprout and all if the tuber has sprouted.
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Do I have to dig them up? Well that depends... We are in the PNW where ya'll know how much rain we get. Standing water will rot tubers. That said, I plant lots of my extra tubers around the farm and do not dig them up. It's very rare that they do not come back the following spring. In some areas of our gardens, the areas are tarped for weed suppression and soil preservation. When I pull the tarp back, I have tubers sprouting. If you want to divide your tubers, dig them up in the fall.
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How do I divide the tuber? There are lots of good you-tube videos out there on this subject. I encourage you to watch a few of them for details. You need to make sure each tuber has a crown, body and neck that is not broken. Broken tuber necks will not grow.
Where should I store my tubers? Tubers need to be stored during the winter in a cool 40F climate controlled space. DO NOT LET THEM FREEZE. We store ours in Dollar Store plastic boxes with vermiculite. Ours are stored in a room in our detached garage. We place a thermostat on a heater taht will kick on when temps reach 38F. As temps warm in spring, we allow the room to gradually warm which helps awaken our tubers naturally.