My plan is always to put them in large terracotta pots eventually and it's what I've been doing for a few years now but my concern, especially with freshly bought (and therefore small) tubers, is that they'll end up sitting in wet compost before they're growing properly and rot if I choose too big a pot initially.
The pot 5th from the left is a David Howard that did absolutely nothing for weeks, I thought it was a goner. I'll have a look but I wouldn't be surprised if I tried to take that out the pot and a load of compost falls off cause the roots haven't filled it.
This usually isn't an issue with older tubers that have been able to get to a good size which I start off in large plastic pots.
I do the same Fire .Huge pot with the two bishops in ,York and llan ,just bung the tubers in and leave ‘ em to it …….have done for years . Then the pot goes in the woodshed over winter ,tip ‘ em out in spring ,new compost plant the bits of tuber I want and off we go again .
I have a lot of dahlias in pots, so I don't really have room to put the all in a shed, so I just cover mine in plastic and then fleece. I don't suppose I really need the fleece; but it's always worked. The fleece has lasted well over ten years, as it's only used to cover these pots in winter - I then put it all back in the shed.
I have lost some sausages to rot, but never a whole hand. In the April I peek and see if the shoots are coming up. Once they are, I uncover the pots, split them or repot them if they need. Add some new potting media and some fertiliser and off we go.
Alan Gray recommends Salvia patens "Giant Form". It creates a tuber and can be treated like a dahlia as it's borderline tender. It could look tall and amazing with dahlias. I might have to try it. [Pic from the site below].
One thing I've noticed with Matilda @Fire, and no other dahlia that I've grown, is that the petals close in very slightly every evening. I thought the flowers were fading when I first witnessed this and was going to deadhead them, but didn't!
My first Matilda blooms are a bit mangled. But I do love the colour. I will keep an eye out for the closing.
My first Karma Choc are out and they do smell very strongly of chocolate. I'm not sure if I missed pinching them out, somehow, but the habit is not at all bush - more like a tree - which is a shame. Not much branching or many buds. I will leave instructions for myself for next year.
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My first ever coccinea species bloom. In a pot the plant is now as tall as me. I don't have much, if any, orange in the garden, but this is a great addition and a keeper.
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My plan is always to put them in large terracotta pots eventually and it's what I've been doing for a few years now but my concern, especially with freshly bought (and therefore small) tubers, is that they'll end up sitting in wet compost before they're growing properly and rot if I choose too big a pot initially.
The pot 5th from the left is a David Howard that did absolutely nothing for weeks, I thought it was a goner. I'll have a look but I wouldn't be surprised if I tried to take that out the pot and a load of compost falls off cause the roots haven't filled it.
This usually isn't an issue with older tubers that have been able to get to a good size which I start off in large plastic pots.
At some point, but maybe not at this house, I will want to get dahlias in the ground to see how they get on to save worrying about this quite so much.