Teddahlia Letās call it 5,000 ft, give or take a few hundred depending on how close you get to the Rio Grande. The peak of the Sandia Mountains to the east is 10,000. There are some microclimates, especially in the river valley where I grow. Iāve lived in TX, IL, and GA, but this is the only place Iāve grown dahlias. The biggest difference here, in general, is the puckering lack of humidity and rain. The UV level is tough, but I do use shade cloth from June to September 1. I visited a farm in Redmond back in September. It was interesting to see how much bigger their bloom sizes were compared to mine. It could be a combination of things, including the EMP from their enormous power lines, but they were definitely larger and there were a LOT more on each plant. The really interesting thing I discovered is that all varieties seemed to do well. I was concerned that the more ādelicateā ones like WLs wouldnāt do well. Thankfully, they great. Balls were certainly the most hardy, but there really arenāt any I wouldnāt grow again bc of UV or heat. Iām sure there are other elevation impacts (CO2, crazy spring winds, fast evaporation, etc.). Below ground they seem to do great. I was worried about my clay, so added 8 cu yards of compost to half of my 1/8 acre plot. I started with a majority of cuttings so I could expand without breaking the bank, but even those exceeded my expectations for tuber production. Interestingly, the tubers I planted didnāt do great as plants or make many blooms, but they made a LOT of tubers. I think I need to up the nitrogen in the holes so they get a jump start and get up out of the clay faster. Thoughts on that? Most of the tubers (some tall varieties) never got higher than 2-3 ft.
