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Dahlia's
ALLOTMENTMAD
Posts: 70
in Plants
Hi,
I seem to be posting on here a lot recently - sorry!
I have bought a dahlia that was potted and in flower from a garden centre (it was reduced) it has lovely flowers on it. I put it in a terracota pot and it seems happy.
I would like to keep it, and have moved it into my unheated greenhouse on my allotment. Will it survive in there?
Any advice you could give would be most welcome.
0
Posts
It's usual to lift dahlia's and turn them upside down to drain off excess moisture from the tubers. The only trouble with leaving them in pots is that they can rot fairly quickly. I'd lift them, brush them off, the frost we will be having will kill off the top growth, turn them upside down for a week or so and then store them over winter in dry compost/ sand/paper bags and start them off in spring. It's better than losing them. Even in GH over winter, rot is the main cause of losing tubers.
Do you keep them completely dry?
I agree with you Verdun, mine are in pots and are cut down before frosts, stay in the pots over winter in a cold frame to protect from the wet.
Verdun - is it more a case of - when it's too cold for them to survive outdoors - ie once there's frost - bring 'em in? I've often found the advice a little odd, as surely they're no different from many other plants which are not fully hardy in most of Britain.
Or am I being simplistic?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Presumably dahlias originate from somewhere where there is no frost
I should know where, but it's very early in the morning and I've only had one coffee
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dahlias are originally from Mexico, higher regions I think.
I have no intention of waiting for frost, I think November is a reasonable time of year to lift them, I will be doing a few today that look tatty and have finished flowering.
Very often I leave them in the ground and chance it! When the top is cleared away and dry they get a generous cover of straw held in place with a piece of enviromesh, itself held down by metal tent pegs at each corner. If dahlias need to be divided or moved then yes, dig them up, dry out and store as advised.
Dug a few up today and some of the tubers are HUGE, all were grown from seed this year, they truly are amazing plants.