[muckbutno money]

This may seem like a very dim question but I am very, very new to gardening.

When you grow dahlias from seeds do they produce tubors? My grandad always grew dahlias but only from tubors, never seeds.

[GafferGamgee]

I put about 2 dozen dahlia seedlings in a border and they have grown very nicely to about 10'' ....no flowers though....
I will see what happens next year!!

[WG.]

They should still flower this year.

[splodger]

dahlias from seed are generally regarded as annuals - and are easy to grow - but are not so good at producing a good root / tuber stock for the following years.

singles and semi doubles generally perform better from seed.

particular varieties are tricky at the best of times - but i seem to be able to grow them well enough - which means you shoud be albe to too
 

[shaun]

and you never know what your gonna get when growing them from seed  

on the subject of dahlias what do you think is the best way of division would you split the tuber,take a stem cutting,or take a shoot cutting of the tuber ?

[splodger]

i dig up my dahlias once the first frost has got them. i dig them up - cleam them and store them - over winter - then normally sort em out in spring.

when you dig them up - clean them off - get rid of slugs - i store in compost / paper / vermiculite / etc - in my shed (mice and rats love them - so make sure they are rodent free.

in the spring - i tend to split the tubers - normally the tubers with stalks are better - but i've found that many small bits still produce good growth.

i put the bulk of tubers - as they are all connected - in the flowering position and i pot up the loose tubers in pots of compost - that i keep dry - do not over water - they will do better without intervention.

the potted odds will send up shoots - you can either take basal cuttings - or let the tubers swell and plant them up - i do both - depends who whats dahlias - as i give them to local charities.

dahlias are greedy, thirsty, tempramental - but blooming beautiful - i love them.

[shaun]

nice one splodge
when you say basal cuttings what is the process of this method ?ive got a vague idea i think  :?

[splodger]

blimey shaun - that was quick m8  

[splodger]

maye if wg is on the ball - he could put this in the glossary! - probably too much "wg" by now though    

basal cuttings for dahlias :


in late feb  or early march - take out stored tubers. - clean up and take out any rot / disease bits.

you might dust cut pieces with a sulphur compound - but i don't bother  

put tubers in boxes or pots of compost - make it light - cover up to old crown - water just enough to keep tubers moist.

two or three weeks - shoots will appear - when the shoots are about 4 inches tall - cut them off, just above their base.

you can now treat as you would a cutting.

hope that helps shaun - i can give more details if really needed - but not tonight - i'm shagged  :roll:

[weeeed]

blimey shaun - that was quick m8  

In a pot in my garden live 1 ancient begonia and 1 equally ancient dahlia! They live very happily together with no help from me at all! However, my friend's query was do seed grown plants grow tubers or do they just die at the end of the season? :?:  :roll:

[WG.]

maye if wg is on the ball - he could put this in the glossary!

Will certainly put it in the Glossary now that I've found it.   Post other suggestions to Glossary thread though please since I don't read all threads.

[shaun]

any secret remedies to combat rust splodger.i know my old fella used to use parrifin and bleach diluted i'm sure he put other stuff in there too

[Trillium]

Yes, Weeeed, seed grown dahlias will produce tubers. Not particularly large ones the first year, but they're there. As Splodger says, they'll have to be taken up for winter if you want to keep them going.
Personally, I find that available dahlia seeds tend to be for the more dwarf varieties rather than dinnerplate sized ones. Perhaps in the UK you have more variety than we do.  Only catch with growing either seed or tubers, is that they flower so darned late that the frost often catches them first, so plant out very early with protection. (gee, that almost sounds like a condom ad)

[splodger]

any secret remedies to combat rust splodger.i know my old fella used to use parrifin and bleach diluted i'm sure he put other stuff in there too

i have never encountered rust on dahlias shaun - sorry m8

there are several fungicides that work on other (more rusty) plants - but most are skin irritants.

thiram is probably the most useful fungicide - but i very rarely have to use chemicals on my garden - it's far too small - and very well looked after  

[shaun]

i have never encountered rust on dahlias shaun - sorry m8

 :oops:  :oops: thats because there not dahlias splodge there Chrysanthemums , we all make mistakes even me