I was wondering the same thing about watering.. I potted mine up about a week before the heat wave last week and during that time the compost dried out to a crisp (literally) at the top.. as I kept them in the polytunnel and I presume all the moisture had evaporated in the heat (it got up to 34 degrees C At one point in the tunnel) - I even poked my finger through the drainage hole at the bottom and the compost felt barely damp.. so I watered them again.. anyhow I won’t be watering again until next week anyway until I see them again..
I'm not the only one who has seen dahlias "growing" in bone dry compost in the bags hanging from shelves in GCs. It's so easy to overwater them before they really NEED water. IMHO better on the dry side than the damp side.
As Hostafan says, they’ll grow in the bag, dry. I store mine in newspaper for the winter and never put them in compost until they start to shoot, no point in wasting time or soil if they’re not going to shoot. Then I put the small ones in a seed tray until they’ve got good shoots on them, barely damp, the bigger ones go in pots, but barely covering the tuber. I keep any old rubbish compost for them at this stage, when they’ve grown you can pot up in good stuff. Mine are about a foot tall now and out in the cold GH.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
As Hostafan says, they’ll grow in the bag, dry. I store mine in newspaper for the winter and never put them in compost until they start to shoot, no point in wasting time or soil if they’re not going to shoot. Then I put the small ones in a seed tray until they’ve got good shoots on them, barely damp, the bigger ones go in pots, but barely covering the tuber. I keep any old rubbish compost for them at this stage, when they’ve grown you can pot up in good stuff. Mine are about a foot tall now and out in the cold GH.
To be honest, going back to the start of all this, It’s the state of the tubers before they ever went in to the pots that had me worried! (You can see in the original photos that some of the main shoots remnant from last year are a bit flakey). Now having watered them and subsequently read the advice that has come I’m even more worried!
Doesn’t matter what the old flowering stalks look like, that’s dead anyway. I wouldn’t have planted them so deep, I only barely cover the tuber first off, the shoots are then not in wet soil.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Doesn’t matter what the old flowering stalks look like, that’s dead anyway. I wouldn’t have planted them so deep, I only barely cover the tuber first off, the shoots are then not in wet soil.
One thing I should say maybe is that I didn’t soak them for an hour before potting them. I followed a Sarah Raven video on YouTube and only read about the soaking thing afterwards. They are only covered by about a half centimetre to a centimetre of soil.
When I buy new dahlias I don't soak them but I do I water once straight after planting (not heavily, just to make the compost damp) then no more water again until they start growing. It seems to work. I suggest you just leave yours alone now and see what happens.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I have been reading this thread with some interest as this is my first year growing dahlia tubers too. I have planted 4 different varieties straight into reasonably big pots where I am hoping to grow them for the complete season. My tubers didn't look that great on first planting, and certainly a LOT smaller than examples I have seen getting planted up on YouTube! I am not expecting great things this year due to the size of my tubers but am hopeful that I can at least get them to grow. I have a tendency to over think things and worry about gardening tasks that I am carrying out for the first time!
My question relates to the depth I have planted my tubers. I have put them in the pots I want to keep them in this year and instead of leaving last years stems visible I have planted them approx 4" below the surface into slightly moist compost. (I didn't pre soak the dry tubers either.) These are sat in an unheated greenhouse and I am now waiting for a shoot! It has been a couple of weeks and nothing so far. Should I just wait a little longer for a sign of a shoot or have a planted them too deep?
So I feel happy enough about the compost being on the slightly dry side, but what about the depth. Too deep? Any further advice gratefully received.
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It's so easy to overwater them before they really NEED water.
IMHO better on the dry side than the damp side.
I keep any old rubbish compost for them at this stage, when they’ve grown you can pot up in good stuff.
Mine are about a foot tall now and out in the cold GH.
My question relates to the depth I have planted my tubers. I have put them in the pots I want to keep them in this year and instead of leaving last years stems visible I have planted them approx 4" below the surface into slightly moist compost. (I didn't pre soak the dry tubers either.) These are sat in an unheated greenhouse and I am now waiting for a shoot! It has been a couple of weeks and nothing so far. Should I just wait a little longer for a sign of a shoot or have a planted them too deep?
So I feel happy enough about the compost being on the slightly dry side, but what about the depth. Too deep? Any further advice gratefully received.
If the depth really bothers you, gently scrape some soil off the surface.