10 Tips For Planting Dahlias

I noticed that not every one of you showed up for Mike’s presentation last night, but I’m still going to share some dahlia growing secrets with you. Sure, you could have learned more if you were at the Lake Zurich Garden Club meeting, or at Mike’s presentation at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, but all is not lost.

Here are some tips for planting dahlias:

1 – What are you waiting for? Get that tuber started. In our zone 5, there could still be frost, so plant it inside for now. When it sprouts, start giving it some sunlight. It can go outside as long as the weather permits. If you want to start it outside, that’s ok too, but the ground is still cold, so planting in a pot indoors will expose the plant to warmer temperatures which will hasten the development. If you plant outdoors, watch the weather report. If it freezes, you’ll lose any sprouts that emerged unless you cover them at night.

2 – Don’t have any tubers to start? That’s even better. Get to a dahlia sale and buy an established plant. It will flower sooner anyway. There are sales in the Chicagoland area throughout May.

3 – Put a stake behind your plant right away. Better yet, plant the stake first so you don’t put the stake through the tuber or root system. That would be cruel. Mike uses half-inch rebar painted green. You can see by the picture below of Bodacious that this is not a wimpy plant. Do not use a wimpy stake.

4 – Tape a name tag to the stake. Use an ink that won’t fade in the sun. Mike has good luck with black Sharpies®.

5 – Dahlias love sun. Make sure they get at least 5 to 6 hours.

6 – When the dahlia gets about a foot tall, tie it loosely to the stake. If you get a lot of wind, you may want to do this even sooner. For gosh sake, don’t choke the poor thing.

7 – To fertilize or not to fertilize, that is the question. If you ask 10 dahlia growers, you’ll get 10 different answers. Mike traditionally puts in 1 tablespoon of Osmocote at planting. He puts the Osmocote in the bottom of the hole and mixes it in with the dirt at the bottom. Next he puts the plant in, and fills in the remaining soil. He has used Miracle Grow once a month and other chemical fertilizers, but is using them less and less and less and trying to go organic.

8 – Soak the plant the day that you plant it. Mike puts water with a little Miracle Grow in a bucket, submerges the entire pot, and watches the bubbles come up as it happily absorbs the moisture. When the bubbles no longer come up, set the plant in a place where it can completely drain. You now don’t need to worry about the plant drying out for at least a week.

9 – Want more information? Try the American Dahlia Society or the Colorado Dahlia Society.

10 – Stop reading this. Go and start those dahlias.