General Dahlia Chat - 2025

Juliarugula · 2025-01-01T13:30:33+00:00

Justafewdahlias whew! Much better thanks! 😅

KitCMC

bloomhjelm this song is going to be in my head ALL day 🎶

bloomhjelm

I don't think they believed me but then they looked over and AC Freebird was right there also.

calico20hill

Justafewdahlias As a retired flower seller, I think that generally I stripped the foliage from the flowers and added foliage that lasted better. I felt that foliage on the dahlia drew on the nutrients stored in the bloom/stem. etc, and that the flower would last longer without having to support them. Besides, other longer lasting foliage gave me more scope to play with colors and textures and shapes in the arrangement.

silvarerum

calico20hill Yes this is definitely true re foliage. Which makes sense bc you'd never leave foliage on a sometimes tricky to hydrate flower like hydrangea. I think it's also nice to include sturdy stuff that will look pretty once the wilted dahlias are plucked out, or that people can swap out with their own flowers. (Maybe I just imagine them doing this because I am a compulsive flower arranger and swapper outer.)

silvarerum

Justafewdahlias Apologies for commenting on a month old topic (giving growers opportunity to evaluate dahlias as cut flowers) but this is similar to what the ASCFG (association of specialty cut flower growers) does with their trials. They have a bunch of growers grow the plants and report back and publish the results.

https://www.ascfg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-ASCFG-Perennial-Trial-Report.pdf

It seems many of the newer dahlias seem are bred for social media and the "unicorn" tuber biz. Once the bloom is off the rose, pun intended, and the tubers can no longer fetch $35 we can see that the flower itself isn't that spectacular unless photographed in a particular light during one particular week of the year.

It's all psychological.

I don't want to harsh on specific dahlias but there are a few I just *had to have but couldn't get, $$$ tubers failed, weakly rooted cuttings rotted en route. Now that they are more widely available I see they aren't that amazing after all, the form looks sloppy, people say they are blah growers, they are inconsistent. Now I no longer want them. It was just the rarity and cost that made them attractive to my stupid animal brain. AKA the Veblen Effect.

Justafewdahlias

silvarerum Couldn’t agree more! The only $$ new intro dahlias I considered buying were ones I saw in person several times over the season at the trial garden. I’m not wanting to waste my space, time & effort on something that is just so-so or less than average.

silvarerum

SteveM

So interesting to me. I have Allen's Starfire in yet another Cowlitz cart. The pic is red, but when you google it the flowers are a super beautiful faded salmon color.

Teddahlia

Dahlia Talk is at 7PM today. I am doing a presentation on fertilizer.
Teaser:
Fertilizer Myths
Dahlia Talk 02-25-25

Presenter: Ted Kennedy Hollyhill Dahlias

Dahlias require a low-nitrogen fertilizer. We recommend using a fertilizer with a higher percentage of potassium and phosphorus.

Manure is good for your garden

Bonemeal is excellent for dahlias

Lawn fertilizer is bad for your dahlias

There is no cheap time release dahlia fertilizer

Fish fertilizer has too much nitrogen for dahlias.

You cannot add too much organic material to your garden

Epsom Salts is one of the best fertilizers.

Dolomite lime is always good for your garden

bloomhjelm

Teddahlia I'll be there with bells on. I recently learned the processing difference between fish emulsion and fish hydrolysate. There's always more to learn.

SteveM

Teddahlia

Ammonium Sulfate is the best form of nitrogen to use in all PNW gardens

calico20hill

So far our soil tests have showed about the same profile from year to year. I think this year we are just going to look at them and see on average what is recommended and add it. We know our soil is a little on the basic side, not acid, it will need some additional nitrogen and I think it usually calls for sulfer but I could be wrong on that. I know we added chicken feather meal last year. I also add a bit of osmocote when planting. Husband will know what else plus we have the copies...hopefully this will work out this year.

Teddahlia

Ammonium Sulfate is one of the most acidic nitrogen fertilizers. To quote the most reliable source of information, Wikipedia: " Ammonium Sulfate: The primary use of ammonium sulfate is as a fertilizer for alkaline soils." One of the best uses for it is adding sulfur to alkaline soils deficient in sulfur. Here in the PNW most soils are acidic and ammonium sulfate makes the soil even more acidic. Urea is also a bit acidic. Calcium Nitrate is neutral but expensive.

SteveM

Teddahlia One of the best uses for it is adding sulfur to alkaline soils deficient in sulfur. Here in the PNW most soils are acidic and ammonium sulfate makes the soil even more acidic.

That's why I included it in your Ferti;izer Myths. I don't have a mic or camera on my PC so I can't contribute but I look forward to your presentation.

Teddahlia

Gypsum, the drywall stuff that is calcium sulfate, is sold here in Oregon to supply your garden with sulfur. It is a neutral chemical neither acid or alkaline. People with clay soil can also use it to break up the clay as it drills minute holes into the clay soil .They use it in our trial garden at Swan Island.

bloomhjelm

Goodnight Dahlia Talk! I invited about ten of my dahlia friends. We are all in a range from novice to small commercial I think. There's a ton of value to the community in these chats. I would consider hosting a newbie night where those social media neophytes get to go full bore with our thoughts.

For the record I asked about Milorganite. 😉

SteveM

bloomhjelm For the record I asked about Milorganite. 😉

I didn't have a mic (and didn't see the Chat box until later) but have had some experience with Milorganite that might be useful: Years ago I got a great deal on 6 tons of Milorganite and used it as my sole source of nitrogen for about 3 years. There was too much phosphorus in Milorganite to use it as the only source of nitrogen and I ended up "poisoning" my field with excess phosphorus. I would put Milorganite in the same class of fertilizers as most of the other manure fertilizers and use it sparingly, especially if your soil already has ample phosphorus.

Teddahlia

Tomorrow, I get to write the summary of the Dahlia Talk. I was too busy talking to listen much. I enjoyed talking to Steve Boley as we go way back and do not get to see each other very often. Enjoyed hearing some opinions that did not agree with everything I said. There are many ways of doing things that can work very well. I will try to state the differences in the summary. 75 participants!!!

SteveM

Dahlia Talk: Thank you Ted for the excellent presentation on fertilizers. It was a very informative Dahlia Talk.

katyaker

SteveM When you are on a Zoom meeting, be sure to open chat right away. You can only see what is added to chat after you open it. Anything posted before won't show up.

Can't believe I forgot Dahlia Talk last night! I was finishing up my dahlia storage vault addition and didn't come in the house until 8:45 last night.

Teddahlia

Fertilizer is the most "popular" dahlia subject. Most of the problems people have with it is the old "Too much of a good thing is bad thing" principal. Nitrogen is not the "bad guy" but it is phosphorus.

BarryO

Ted, a very informative dahlia talk last night. (I asked about seaweed/kelp fertilizers.) Was surprised to learn that fertilizer broadcast over the top of the soil, without integrating it into the soil, can lose about 20percent effectiveness.

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