Dahlia 'David Howard'

David Howard is coming along very well!

Starting to sprout finally! @bluefox23 @ublaszko

That's fantastic 👍 No sign of life on mine yet but I only planted about a week or two ago. Might move them closer to the radiator, it got cold so I stopped bringing it outside during the day. It's so exciting to grow something for the first time! 😀

@ublaszko Yeaaah can't wait! Such a shame to look outside today and see frost :(

It's certainly unexpected. We had snow last night and my plants looked very sorry for themselves.

No sign of mine either but might have planted mine a bit deep!! @ublazsko we had snow briefly too, and hail. Tulips really don’t look happy!!

I picked my tulips for indoors as they turned out to be the wrong colour anyway. I ended up replanting one of the dahlia tubers as I buried it deep and then saw everyone planting their shallowly. I really should read up on how to look after dahlias 😁😁 @bluefox23

I might replant it on the weekend! @ublaszko

They can take up to a month to start growing new shoots. You could just scrape off the soil from the top rather than replant the tubers. I've been reading about how to start dahlias and some say to cover the tubers with an inch of soil but others say 3 inches. I really don't know 😥 I suppose if you're going to take cuttings it's better to cover the tubers with just an inch of soil so it's easier to cut off the new growth but probably doesn't matter if you're not taking the cuttings.@bluefox23

Do you think i should start to water it now there is new growth? @bluefox23 @ublaszko

I have no idea haha! Mine sprouted the day before yesterday and I haven't watered them yet. Theresa @trees said to water them a tiny bit. I might try one dahlia first and see how it responds and then do the other ones. I haven't done dahlias indoors before and the advice online is quite contradictory.

@ublaszko I'll wait a bit then, thanks! :) be sure to tell me how it goes

I would say check if soil is damp. If it's bone dry, maybe water a tiny bit as @ublaszko says. I would wait till much more growth before lots of regular watering.

Put this dahlia in last weekend and have watered it probably twice since. I have just read you shouldn't water them until the green grows as it will encourage rot. Is this correct? If so, is there a way to prevent this now other than ceasing watering? Also is my pot too small? And how long will it take to start sprouting? Sorry, it's like the Spanish Inquisition but any help will be apriciated! #advice 30.03.19

Don't know for definite as my first year growing dahlia after overwintering but I would have thought just don't water it. The pot is probably too small for it in the longer term but it will probably be ok until it starts to grow and then you can repot it.

@bluefox23 thanks! :)

I put my dahlias in small pots too so they don't take up too much space while they're in the house but can repot once you see roots coming out through a drainage hole. I watered the first dahlia I potted up and I've been moving the it outside during the day to help the soil dry out but I don't know how long it will take for new shoots to sprout.

@ublaszko Thank you! Never grown them before and they're kind of an integral part of the display so I want to get it right haha

This is only my 2nd year growing dahlias so others might have a better idea what to do. The soil looks moist rather than wet so it should be ok but you could put it outside for a couple of hours if the weather is mild. It felt almost like early summer for the past few days so I've been able to keep my dahlias outside during the day so they light and air.

@ublaszko good idea! It has been lovely hasn't it? Now - what it the stump coming out of the pot? That sounds like a stupid question but I dont really know what it is haha

That's last year's stem that has dried out. 😁

@ublaszko ahhhh ok! So another stem will hopefully come up next to it?

There will be new stems coming up around it. One of the dahlias I just planted had the woody old stem and tiny new shoots popping up around the old one.