[Terrier]

I have never, ever, got Dahlias to grow. I buy the tubers (is that the right word), cover them with damp compost and wait for shoots to appear.. but they never do! Do they have a short shelf life? Is there a foolproof way to get them to produce shoots. I'm told they're easy to grow but I never get a single shoot, they just rot in the compost. Help 

[Trillium]

Dahlias don't like it too wet nor too rich, which seems to be what you're doing. They're also very slow to sprout so I start mine early in pots of potting mix, not compost, about early March and by mid May they're sprouting and ready to go out. I keep the soil mix just slightly damp when I water then let it dry a bit before watering again.

Purchased roots are usually plumped and ready to pot or plant; home stored roots need time to rehydrate before sprouting, hence the early start time.

[Yabba]

Unless you have heated beds you're exceptionally early for dahlias! We won't be sparking ours off for another month and we *do* have heated beds and lights

Leave them until about march/april then put them in a tray ( with drainage holes ) and throw some compost around them, they don't need to be covered, as Trill said, water them but not to much. They should start showing little shoots within a week.

This is how we do ours :



If you click that pic it'll take you to some others.

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[DD.]

I grow mine from a packet of seed every year and treat them as annuals. They'll well admired down the plot.

[Terrier]

DD, I know they're easy to grow from seed as annuals, but it's getting the shoots to grow from the previous years tubers that I have problems with.
The tubers I've bought from garden centres always seem very dehydrated and certainly not plump, should I rehydrate them first and if so, how?
Yabba, I've been covering the tubers with compost whereas yours appear to be on the surface, maybe that's what I'm doing wrong?
Would a mixture of garden soil and grit be a good mix to get them going?
Thanks for your replies, it's helpful to know first hand how others get things to grow.

[mumofstig]

I always just plant the tubers back out in the garden in early april each year and just let them get on with it. Have lost the odd 1 or 2 but most regrow without any probs, they may take a while to show, but get there in their own good time

[Trillium]

The tubers I've bought from garden centres always seem very dehydrated and certainly not plump, should I rehydrate them first and if so, how?

There's no need to specifically rehydrate the bulbs/roots. Just potting them up in a light mix and careful watering will do the job in its own good time. You can't force such things or they'll simply rot on you.

[Terrier]

I've tried putting them straight out into the garden soil after the last frost several times and they just rot. I think I'm just the kiss of death to Dahlia tubers. It sounds like the GP compost I use is just too heavy, I'll concoct a lighter mix and try again this year, just half burying them in the mix.

[Yabba]

Dahlias really aren't to keen on water, they drink lots but they don't like sitting in it. Chances are you're being a smidge over-kind ... I'm just as guilty, takes me a smidge every season to "reset mind" to "baby plants" ... not just dahlias huh?

At home we just leave tubers in the ground and let them get on with it ... look nice for a while but fugly by year 3

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[Abbie Green]

I dont know where you guys are but I'm in wokingham and my in garden ones overwinter in the ground and come up yearly. The pots I put away in the garage then just bring them out in spring.

4th year this year in the ground all year.

[Yorkie]

You can tell where most people are from their profile next to their posts. We have members across the UK and more widely, so we provide advice for everyone rather than just tell them that we don't have that particular problem.

This thread is also 11 years old, so I suspect most of the contributors may not see it anyway!!