How To Grow Dahlias, Lifting And Keeping Tubers 2011-12

Tips, Tricks

1. the voice is terrible
2. that's fine for garden colour. but not practical for show work. fair point and we'll said. they are herbaceous perennials after all.
3. Or, forget all this and leave them in the ground over winter if top of tubers are 4 to 6 inches from surface they will survive most frost, f you are set for a big frost or hard winter put a couple of inches of mulch on top, my dahlias have survived the last three winters in south derbyshire in a fairly high clay content soil, though the last three winters have been mild, also save seeds for back up they will grow warp speed and give you flowers same summer !! (very good video by the way)
4. dont forget growing from seed !!! dahlia seeds grow at warp speed, you can sew even dinner plate size and they will flower that summer from seed !!! although you will lose some characteristics of your original plant from seed they are a great back up in case your tubers get devastated by frost, flood, slugs or disease !!
5. say "worst of the soil" one more time. the first 34 times were not enough
6. Wow.  It must take you a month of sundays to dig that lot up Dave.  I'd be very tempted to get some skint students in to help me with that massive field of dahlias.  Just looking at it makes me tired.
7. Cerys Roberts. I cant directly reply for some reason so hope you read this. It often happens a little. I would add some ventilation if you can and maybe give them a dusting of yellow sulphur. They should get through ok.
8. Hi   I have been watching your  videos since last xmas  and so far had a successful year of propagating and growing dahlias 
   I have just got to the stage of overwintering and am devastated to find powdery mildew on the tubers after only one week in a cold  greenhouse  on dry peat 
    is there any hope  for them ?  what can I do ?   From your video guidance I presume its poor ventilation .  can you please advise  
   
   Thanks 
9. Thank you !!
10. Hi, this was very helpful because I am trying to learn how to take them out of the ground.  1st year growing them.  They bloomed really late starting in the beginning of Sept!  Now I have all these pretty flowers and it's going to frost soon.  One of my dinner plate dahlias just grew huge with no flowers.  Any advice on why? 
11. Dave, are you still out there?  I'm Erick, I live in the US and grow Dahlias for a hobby in the courtyard of my 100 year old apt.  This year I'm doing 32 different varieties in nursery sized pots.  I wanted to ask, would you recommend my using the lawn fertilizer in the pots?  Last year I used bone meal to start and then moved on to Miracle Grow's "Bloom Booster" as the season progressed.  I've learned from you that I needed to pinch my plants back..I had just let them grow and some only had one stem....a few more had multiples.    ANY advice you can give me I'd totally appreciate.  I'm a HUGE fan of your videos here and sadly miss seeing more.  Please contact me at this address:
    erickjon1@wi.rr.com
    
    Thanks, Erick
12. They are mushroom crates. you can pick them up from fruit and veg shop or any place that uses them in cooking. Should not cost anything. Dave
13. Where do you get the blue crates from for storage. I found three on my allotment years ago but haven't come across any freebies since. i will need some more after being inspired to grow many more dahlias after watching your videos.
14. You need to feed with a high potash feed from mid July and remove side shoots from the flowering stems at an early stage to strengthen the stems. Hope this helps. Dave
15. How to keep ahlias from the flower dropping? MIne are all over the place and the flowers are huge and heavy.i would appreciate any insight anyone has. Thanks
16. Many thanks Dave
17. Great video, really helpful, congratulations on your Dahlias. from Lisbon, Portugal.
18. @DaveGillamDahlias thanks for the tip, il definitely start some of mine this week as I was slightly worried if mine would last till mid feb
19. @Robertoid94 I get them started as the tubers start to shrivel and go backwards the longer they are stored. Once they are started they can be kept cooler and early cuttings can be taken. These can be mother plants if stock is short.
20. @DaveGillamDahlias I best get started with mine then, I've been reading online about the topic as well and most sites seem to suggest mid feb for putting the heat on, is the reason for putting them on now just down to the shear quantity of cuttings you want to take or another purpose?