Forum home Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Dahlia Problem

harmonyharmony Posts: 403
Hi, up until a few weeks ago my bedding dahlia's were flowering ok but now small buds are forming but not flowering and turning to mush. I've never grown them before and i'm really disappointed as they were lovely. Any idea's whats wrong.




Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    When you water them, do you put water at the roots or spray from overhead?
  • harmonyharmony Posts: 403
    Hi, I water into the compost, they are in pots  (3 plants with lobelia) I have been feeding them with miracle grow and the leaves look healthy enough but wondering if the pots are not big enough.. I have a gap in my sunny  border and was wondering whether to pop them in there so their roots have more room to spread. 
  • soulboysoulboy Posts: 429
    Hi, there are obvious signs of leaf damage, too, which suggests some sort of pest is eating parts of your dahlias, quite possibly caterpillars of some type. There are plenty about in this hot weather. It could also be slugs or snails but there are no slime trails and they've been hiding from the hot sun.

    Earwigs do eat dahlia flowers, https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=494 , though they are unlikely to causing the flowers to be 'mushy'. I did notice some small black spots on the leaves so maybe there's some kind of bacterial infection as well.


    And a very useful checklist on the National Dahlia Society website http://www.dahlia-nds.co.uk/about_dahlias/Pests&Diseases.htm

    In the meantime I would remove the affected flower heads to combat any disease spread, if there is one.

    My guess though is that it's caterpillars.



  • harmonyharmony Posts: 403
    Thanks for the info I appreciate it. 😊
Sign In or Register to comment.