There's always grow bags (and pots)

Teddahlia · 2024-03-09T16:38:58+00:00

We have in recent years grown some dahlias in pots. A 15 gallon pot is ok for 4 foot flower but we used mostly 20 gallon black pots (new ones cost $10.00)...

calico20hill

Krista Ha, I don't remember but lead me to the fertilizer row at Portland Nursery and I will pick it out fast enough!

Teddahlia

On Dahlia Talk, an experienced nursery man who grew plants for landscaping, recommended 14-14-14 Osmocote in the 4 month release formula and it comes in a 50 pound bag that costs between $100- to $150-. He gave a 50 pound bag to his brother as a Christmas present. I am sure smaller sizes are available at retail stores. We use Haifa Multicote 14-14-16 in 4 month release, and last year it was about $75- . It uses the same technology as osmocote and has minor elements as part of the formula. I expect a price increase as it is made in Israel. Haifa is the largest fertilizer company in Europe. I bought a 12.5 lb box of Miracle Gro at Costco for $25.00 and it is a good back up fertilizer if I cannot find my Plantex (or Jacks is good too) 20-20-20 greenhouse fertilizer. The Miracle gro has more nitrogen (24%) and I bet it would not be as gentle on greenhouse plants but it is about 35% less in price. I have used it before and it worked OK. For sure I will use it on flowers other than dahlias and I will always remember the old TV commercials for Miracle Gro done by the character actor James Whitmore. He was one hell of gardener😳.

Krista

Teddahlia Thank you, I know this isn’t the most enthralling topic but I super appreciate knowing what folks are currently using. It helps narrow the list of options. I may consider giving the fertilizer a whirl that came up in the most recent Dahlia Talk this season too.

blown_dry

Krista It's an important topic! If you type "fertilizer" into the search bar up top there are lots of results.

katyaker

bloomhjelm
That is awesome! I would totally purchase a t-shirt with that graphic on it.

bloomhjelm

katyaker

Can I make my attached images in these threads smaller? On desktop it's HUGE! Sorry.

NCDahlia

I have used grow bags for dahlias they do OK but need excessive watering. I have grown pretty much any veggie u can think of in the 100 and 50 gallon grow bags. I also have 90 blueberry bushes all growing in 25 / 30 gallon grow bags and they thrive. Bc shallow root system also get air pruned constantly in the bags.

I have ordered 400 1 gallon pots (nursery pots) and dahlias will grow in those with same soil I've used over year. Hardware cloth on bottom so no voles. The 2 gallon pots had the holes on the sides and about 1/2 inch above the bottom don't want standing water.

NCDahlia

Well they did not send me all my pots. 200 1 gal 200 2 gal, I only got mailed 88 in total lol. But happy with the 2 gallon.

9 inch across, 9 inch deep. The bottom is a tuber of HH Serenity which are fairly longish tubers. So it work out fine as I can have at a slight angle.

Bottom has decent drainage. I will likely take a drill bit and put 2 more holes in there since I'm getting 1/4 hardware cloth on the bottom of every pot.

Going to take me 2x as long to plant but i'm paying $15 - $25 for a tuber might as well protect it vs seeing $1,000's lost again.

Krista

I’ve got a few rows of dahlias in grow bags on top of our paved driveway and I really struggled figuring out how to stake them. I’m sharing the cringy method I came up with because I couldn’t find inspiration online. I am positive there are better ways, and if you’ve got wisdom, please please share because I do not know how well this is going to work as the plants get bigger!

I found that 5.5” square nursery pots slip inside the holes of cinder blocks quite nicely. I jabbed a wooden stake into the side and filled them with pre-mixed concrete. One cinder block with two potted stakes are parked on either end of each row. And they’re strung them up with twine.

Hoping someone here has a more secured method to share for so I can replace this rag-tag setup asap 🫠

DarcyD

Krista I think that’s pretty slick, actually 😁 When I was first reading I thought you were doing one block for a pot or two. That would have been ragtag for sure 😂 You made yourself the coral method on concrete! 🙌🏻

Juliarugula

Krista I dunno - I looked at that and thought “well that looks clever!” I’d probably add one more set of stakes in between and call it a day.

MissyWeitzel

Krista looks good to me!

Flowernut

Krista Sorry I'm late to the party, but I was going to add that if you used t-posts in the concrete blocks, you could set up hortonova netting to keep the dahlias corralled.

Krista

Well gosh, I’m so happy to hear this feedback! DarcyD Thanks for seeing through to the end goal! I really wanted to try Ted’s corralling method this year and was racking my brain trying to figure out how to do it on these plants on the driveway!

Great call, Juliarugula, I’ll add another cinder block halfway down each row on another visit back out there. That’ll be great insurance as fall time gusts of wind pick up!

JessieC Thank you! The potted stakes are nice because they can be removed individually before moving the cinder block around which lightens the load and makes the setup more manageable. We could have done a neater job pouring the concrete which I’ll strive for next time. 🫠

calico20hill No staking of any kind for your plants in grow bags? I’m not worried about the bags blowing over, more about the plants snapping.

JessieC

I love it. Very clever use of materials, and looks tidy the way you have it set up. 🙌🏼

calico20hill

I corralled my growbags last year but found that even with the strongest winds they were heavy enough that they did not move or tip. We probably do not get the strongest winds in that area, but I am just not going to worry about it this year. I used 15 g bags.

JessieC

Krista The potted stakes are nice because they can be removed individually before moving the cinder block around which lightens the load and makes the setup more manageable

Yes! I was thinking the same thing. In fact, I may “borrow” this idea myself. I love the fact that you can disassemble the base. This time of year brings storms and the plants are heavy. I use netting for support, combined with twine. One of my stakes snapped last week and the ground is so dry that I couldn’t get another stake in, even with a mallet. So this could also be a useful way to supplement support in the regular in-ground beds. Thank you for sharing it!

calico20hill

As to wind snapping my plants...We are actually down in a little pocket of land at the base of a mountain. My friend on the next farm up above us does get some wind. It mostly blows over the top of us. So I would not trust that what survives unsupported here would work for anyone else. I probably will run twine around at several levels just in case.But that will just be an "insurance policy" in case we get some weird "out of pattern" wind. A far bigger problem for me than wind has been powdery mildew. It likes the "no wind" weather and spreads like crazy once it starts.

Krista

JessieC supplement support in the regular in-ground beds

Oh that’s such a great point! I also have a few bagged dahlias in an area where I’m not confident I drove my stake in well enough due to the dry, dry earth. Maybe I’ll employ these there too — thanks for this idea!

Flowernut t-posts

Whoa, that’s so true. I haven’t used Hortenova netting but for folks who do, t-posts are a great replacement! Or even just to make this more durable. Great idea, thank you!

Dahlia53

Krista that's a really cool idea! I hope you update us with more pictures when the dahlias are blooming.

Krista

Dahlia53 Thank you! I will be heading out to the dahlias again this weekend and I’ll be able to share photos of how this is going — tbc!

« Previous Page