General Dahlia Chat 2024

Krista · 2024-01-05T01:50:48+00:00

When do we grow up and stop ordering more tubers than we can possibly fit into the space we have, for the next season? Is that something I can look forward t...

Krista

I finally finished planting! And Catalina’s tubers looked like little angels when I opened her box today:

Teddahlia

My tubers look like shriveled prunes compared to these. I planted some prunes today and I bet they do well as they had little prune eyes. My Catalina looked a bit like yours and I do like it and miss the breeder Mike Iler.

blown_dry

BackyardBouquets_17 Ugh, I am sorry. All cuttings that get shipped are in conditions ideal for root rot, no light, possibly too warm, no drainage or air circulation. It may be bad luck, but I am sorry. I had a cutting order this year where they arrived yellowed. This is generally recoverable, but in this case 3 out of 4 succumbed to root rot and the last one is more of a spector than a survivor. Cuttings shipped in paper rather than plastic don't seem to have the "over humid" issue. I think it might be a better method. Hard to tell with such a small sample.

Teddahlia

The ones that I received this year were not in any plastic and the root balls were loosely wrapped in aluminum foil. The box was crammed with marigolds and petunias too. The first cuttings I ever got in the mail were from Corralitos Gardens and they were shipped in plastic clamshells, several in each clamshell. They were smaller plants than the ones I got the other day and grew quicker when transplanted to pots. I wonder if 4 inch tall cuttings with just the beginning of roots would do better?

calico20hill

I, too, was impressed with Corralitos Gardens cuttings and had great luck with them. When they arrived in their little carton, it was just the right time to set them out in my garden (Using an old-fashioned sprinkler in those days) and they took right off. Of course, this was in the Puget Sound area and I did not have to worry about them frying before they were established.

Teddahlia

"Replacement Day" when I use the rooted cuttings to replace tubers that failed or plants that died. First year seedlings had very few and that is unusual. Second year not many failures either. Overall, survival rate of tubers and plants is above average this year. I think I mentioned previously that a second year seedling row had 97% success from tubers. The next row over was more like 90% . Slugs are always a problem but making sure the plants get slug bait near areas where slugs live makes big difference. Once a plant get to 12 inches or so , slugs are not a problem.
Margaret's picture of Letitia from last year. We posted it to Facebook a few days ago.

Teddahlia

Replacement day complete. Immature cuttings are all that is left to plant and not too many of them. Lost a few cuttings to root rot as the greenhouse was very hot and when you even slightly overwater things in a hot greenhouse, you get some root rot.

Krista

Teddahlia I bet it feels great to be finishing up the planting for the season. I know I felt triumphant once I finally got the majority of the tubers safely into soil finally.

I meant to post this photo because the tubers from Catalina are so darn angelic. This photo was taken this June 17th and the tubers looked as good as they did going into storage last November.

Teddahlia

Catalina's breeder was a fierce exhibitor and Mike Iler and his wife Kathy lived on the Oregon coast where the weather is very mild and show flowers can be nearly perfect. The year Catalina came out, Mike showed it to a best in show. award. Yes, the best flower in the entire show.
Fiona was another of Iler's flowers

Krista

Teddahlia Wowwww cool. I did love Catalina last year far more than I was anticipating and I’m happy the tubers stored so nicely!

Wondering about Fiona — would the uneven color distribution be considered a fault?

Teddahlia

Fiona, Ball dahlia: Would the uneven color distribution be considered a fault? Fiona was shown by some top notch exhibitors and exactly as you said the color was not distributed evenly enough for it to win big. Mike Iler had perfect conditions for it on the Oregon coast. Catalina has fewer color problems but form is not quite as good. Mike Iler had a yellow ball seedling that won a best in show too. He took it to a Federation show and it got beat by Clearview Daniel that was new also. Mike even admitted Daniel was better. Mike seldom would agree that someone else's flower was better than his.
Mike & Kathy's flower called Sandrine. It is better than the picture. They call it a unicorn here as it does not make many tubers. We grew once and it was really nice.

Krista

Teddahlia Sandrine is drool worthy!

Teddahlia

Dahlia Talk tonight at 7pm
Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87070954664?pwd=OUhWOG90UUpHNENiMU5sWHZpczFEdz09

Veryzer

Any thoughts on what's going on with AC Jeri? Virus?

Krista

Veryzer I’m no expert, but I reference these albums in Linda Taylor’s Flicker account that focuses on virus.

Bessie

Veryzer there's some grey moldy looking residue on some of the leaves. There's leaf roll, indicating a caterpillar type issue. There's black stuff on the underside of some of the leaves.
I'd like to have more images of the underside of the leaf to compare with the top side of the same leaf.
At the very least, I'd strip the plant of the affected leaves, washing your hands and any tools afterwards.
Keep water off the plant if possible, as some bacterial and fungal diseases are spread by water and splashing up from the soil.

Bessie

Veryzer check out this web page:
https://vegcropshotline.org/article/new-disease-report-target-spot-of-tomato/
Don't let the fact the article is about tomatoes distract you from the basic idea of the damage that bacterial or fungal diseases can cause.

Target spot of tomato is favored by temperatures of 68 to 82°F and leaf wetness periods as long as 16 hours.

Teddahlia

Virus probably and if your plant has irregular veining or swirls on the leaves that is a symptom. Whatever the leaf symptoms, if the plant lacks vigor that says it probably has a virus and it is harming the plant. If the plant is very vigorous and has some leaf symptoms it may be resistant to the virus. Antibody tests are the most reliable way to diagnose a virus. Plant symptoms correlate with tests in that very poor growing plants tend to have virus.

Veryzer

It's still short so it's hard to get a good picture of the underside. The black stuff is soil; we finally got some heavy rain. I'll look to remove affected leaves tomorrow. Thanks, all.

bloomhjelm

I have culled everything with spots and ringed spots and vein clearing and am now just watching some leaves which looks kind of crinkly. Sap sucking insects or leaf curling? Only time will tell.

Veryzer

Bessie That makes a lot of sense. I'm in northern Illinois, so less than 200 miles from Purdue. We've endured high heat lately, and the symptoms appeared after this rainy period. It might end up being a mistake, but instead of culling, I think I'll treat with Daconil (along with all my other dahlias) and see how it goes. I appreciate the help regardless, but if you're right that is a fantastic catch.

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