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| I would have posted this on the dahlia forum but it looks like there is not much activity over there,...so thought I would try here. I bought a seed pack assortment of flowers to start indoors for my flower bed. Included were dahlias. I seeded them around the middle of Feb and they are already six inches tall. I was doing some research and found that dahlias cannot be planted out until all danger of frost has passed which on average here would be May 1. I am wondering how huge these babies are going to get in the next month and a half and if there is any chance of planting out sooner since they were started from seed and not tubers. Thanks in advance for any advice. |
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| Dahlias are very frost tender whether seed or tuber raised. Any hint of a freeze will turn them to mush. I wouldn't risk it. Have you got somewhere you could put them to slow them down a bit: light, cool but frost free? |
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| Yup. Maybe put them outside during the day and bring them in at night? You would get a head start at the hardening off process so once it's warm enough to plant them outside you would be in good shape. If they get too tall, pinch 'em off. In the long run that will result in bushier plants - a good thing. Kevin |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 18:19
| flora said: Any hint of a freeze will turn them to mush. and i will say that any hint of FROST.. will do mostly the same ... ken |
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- Posted by AiliDeSpain 5a (My Page) on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 19:13
| Thanks for the advice. What's the best way to pinch them off and will they be okay in their three inch pots until transplant time? |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 7:42
| if you look.. VERY CLOSELY ... you might.. its been a very long time.. see tiny dormant buds at each leaf to trunk interface ... you could cut above any of those.. to trigger them into growth ... just as i used to do.. when i was cutting flowers from them ken |
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| Ken is correct. You can pinch them anywhere along the stem and they will send out new shoots from where the leaf meets the stem. It's hard to say if they will outgrow their 3 inch pots. Keep an eye on the bottom of the pot. If you see a lot of roots coming out the bottom drainage holes, it's probably a good idea to repot into something larger. Kevin |
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| they should do ok in small pots. It slows them down somewhat, a kind of Bonsai effect, but that should be helpfull in your case. After starting annual stuff from seeds for the balcony and potting up Dahlia tubers to give them a head start for several years now, I am delighted every season about the kind of growth explosion the plants go through after being transplanted into open soil or window boxes. As long as you get your Dahlias through to the transplanting without overwatering (fungus) or keeping them too warm, they should recover. And do prune them after transplanting in case they got extremely leggy and have thin stalks/shoots that tend to bend/break. They regrow new sturdy shoots in no time in a nice sunny border. |
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