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Dahlia leaves 'drying' out

Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
in Problem solving
Not sure what's happening here. I've for strong growth on 3 other tubers as well and this is the only one like this-



Here's the other dahlia of the same breed for comparison (night butterfly)-


Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Something’s having a nibble maybe?  
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    What I thought but no sign of anything on the underside. I keep all my tubers together and the others look fine.

    Not sure how that last photo appears on your screen but those leaves are noticeably paler.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    If it were mine I would just cut those leaves off, the new ones are ok and it will grow lots more by the summer.   Dahlias are big hungry plants, they will need to go into much bigger pots and need feeding once a week, unless you intend putting them in the open ground. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • pitter-patterpitter-patter Posts: 2,429
    Has it been a bit cold maybe? The leaves usually become discoloured and they dry if they’ve been cold.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I would have said that if it was the whole leaf, but it’s just the top green layer, that’s why I thought of some burrowing insect.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    It's the same on the underside of the leaves.

    Definitely not too cold, more on the warm side if anything. Keep them in the conservatory and it gets warm (around 25 degrees) from mid-afternoon.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    So the greens gone on the undersides as well, just leaving a brown leaf, very strange, cut it off, go and have a cuppa and forget it. I’m sure it will grow on just beautifully.
    they are lovely plants, with even lovelier flowers.   What’s a bit of leaf damage in the grand scheme of things,
    You can see what sort of gardener I am😀
    Just a though, has some condensation dripped on the leaves? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    Cutting it off is what I shall do. I've sprayed all the ones with strong growth with resolva to hopefully keep the greenfly away.

    There won't have been any condensation dripping on them- the conservatory isn't a standalone one, it's attached to the back of the house so it's very dry, despite the flimsy roof!

    Thanks for your advice as ever. Got me any 20" pots yet?
  • pitter-patterpitter-patter Posts: 2,429
    I have a Night Butterfly that was looking similar a week or so ago, but it my case it was cold damage. Thankfully, the cold acted as a pinching out and now it’s growing even bushier. 
  • mandystarrmandystarr Posts: 19
    I have a similar issue with one of mine which is planted in my garden. I’m thinking that the increase of very hot weather (currently headed into day 4 of a heatwave) is the cause of stress or sun scorched. But not 100% positive of the cause. This is my first time growing dahlias. 


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