Not a tuber to be found

bloomhjelm · 2024-10-18T20:36:25+00:00

I've seen an increase in photos from many growers of KA's dahlias which haven't produced any tubers in 120+ days. Obviously these plants have to produce so...

Emilyp

I don't like to say a harsh word about fellow dahlia sellers, so I have to edit my comment. It feels yucky to be negative. I think that everything that has gone down over the last few months has a lot of growers on edge.

Teddahlia

Root Riot may be one to avoid unless it roots any thing in a day or two.

GoldenTurtle

Teddahlia
Bought cuttings are generally grown in root riot now. I'm looking at some of the varieties that were cuttings started in root riot, they don't have the same vigor, and the tuber production is not great either. These include non-KA varieties as well. Maybe next year, I'll have to experiment for comparison.

calico20hill

Teddahlia I have not been a fan of root riot cubes . I am all for the natural ways of doing things. To me that means if I want to grow a cutting I pinch off a piece of a stem and stick it in the dirt beside the mother plant in its pot. I pull off the bottom set of leaves and let it grow. When I plant out I plant those now rooted cuttings in a “community” of that variety. Mostly they grow just fine.

DarcyD

I have mixed feelings on this matter. I’ve been in the trenches with it…as I was one of the admin that actually was deleting the comments about SH using growth inhibitors in the KA friends group last year. BUT, it’s still happening this year to way too many people. It happened to me with my SH cuttings and I blamed myself. It will be interesting to see KA cuttings from SH vs Triple Wren this year. Something is going on and it’s probably something innocent like a pesticide or rooting hormone.

blown_dry

DarcyD No need for mixed feelings. It's totally a thing for cuttings or even sometimes tubers, not to make [more] tubers. I think it's already known that a non-zero number of KA's are divas in the tuber making/keeping department and there could easily be something about a particular production method that makes that worse. It's the jump to it being a conspiracy to do people harm that is really out there and... seems like an effort to do people harm.

Jenny

Krista I agree it’s premature to assume malice as to why this is happening. That said, from a scientific perspective I’d like to know why this happens. Could it be an unintentional consequence of the tissue culture process? It’s an interesting discussion to have and we can all learn together.

Krista

Jenny Oh yes, I’m happily here to learn!

calico20hill I plant those now rooted cuttings in a “community” of that variety.

Love this, Noni! Also, does this mean you leave your cutting to grow outdoors right Nextdoor to the mother plant or do you tease their roots apart and move it farther away?

calico20hill

Krista I leave it there until I want it elsewhere. once I can see that it has taken hold and while the weather is friendly to moving it I do so. I may
just let it form a “family” clump that will bloom together.

Krista

calico20hill What a great method, thanks for details. Maybe I’ll start doing this too! I love you’ve titled these as “communities” ❤️ makes them sound so friendly and warm.

calico20hill

Krista I was "processing" tubers for storage today. I had received some lovely cuttings rooted in root riot from an on-line friend. As I went to cut up the clumps there was that spongy root riot material in the middle....I was delighted to get the plants and they grew well for me but it reminded me again of how much I don't like root riot. I think in the future once they are rooting and have recovered from their journey I will break away the root riot before planting out. The good news is, however, that it was on my Clearview dahlias and they did reproduce and had nice tuber divisions...Clearview Pataha and Clearview Ginger.

wildabundancemi

Hi! I need some advice on this topic. I bought a few SH cuttings in the spring, did not make cuttings of them to save as pot tubers. A couple had OK tubers that I will probably not divide, but one in particular (Mocha Jake) really just has thinner than pencil roots coming out of the neck. In order to save this plant and get it through the winter, would it be a good idea to pot it in some soil and leave it in the basement with my other tubers, so that it doesn't dry out? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

blown_dry

wildabundancemi That's what I would do. And take some care that the soil doesn't become bone dry.

Teddahlia

wildabundancemi to pot it in some soil and leave it in the basement. Not just soil but good potting soil. Potting soil encourages hair roots to form in storage and they would help. I tried storing tuber sin potting soil but they were covered in hair roots at shipping time. Not sprouts, hair roots.

wildabundancemi

Thank you! I will do that.

wildabundancemi

Teddahlia Thanks Ted! I appreciate the confirmation 🙂

drewtheflorist

SteveM The UK exhibitors grow almost exclusively from cuttings --- they dig their clumps to start the next year's cuttings.

SteveM

drewtheflorist I do similar -I plant 95%+ from cuttings and mark the best plants to dig and use for next year's cuttings.

Krista

calico20hill Happy to hear Clearview Ginger did well for you, mine was a little shy on production this year. Did you get tubers from Clearview David as well? [Edited: I believe I sent you a tuber of Clearview Ginger, no?]

MIDahlias

I think I've only ordered from SH a couple of times. The plants always gave me something I can plant the following year. However, I never get more than two or three tubers from the tuber and I don't recall a year where I was able to plant more than one after storage.

I realize everyone's experience is different. My thought is if KA is hybriding within her own garden, genetically down the line some may not be good tuber producers.

This is one reason I love the extra work added to the CT website. LH calls out good and not so good tuber producers. Before this year's Trademark Chaos, the good and not so good tuber producers always sold out. I hope CT makes some changes to the terms and conditions. I believe LH keeps great records and puts out a great product.

Dahlia consumers have to decide what we're shopping for. Blooms, tubers, both, addiction or FOMO.

calico20hill

Krista You did send Clearview Ginger...Not sure I have processed her tubers yet but will take note of how many I get and be delighted if I can share some back. I don't think I had Clearview David however...unless it snuck in without a name tag. I will keep my eyes out for it.

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