General Dahlia Chat 2023

blown_dry · 2023-02-04T23:41:17+00:00

Continuing from https://cubits.org/Dahlias/thread/view/91587/?offset=560#end_of_thread

SteveM

Roundup doesn't have the problem of "fuming" but the herbicide Dicamba, which is sometimes used with Roundup on corn, does have a fuming problem. On hot, non-windy days a cloud of Dicamba-based herbicide can slowly drift over a long distance. I probably would think twice before I planted near a farm that sprayed any Dicamba based herbicides. That is why it is important to get to know your farmer-neighbors. And take their wives a huge bouquet of dahlias once-in-awhile.

NCDahlia

When farmers spray roundup on roundup ready beans, corn they use a safactant that makes it stick to the plants, and they never spray when its windy because drift cost them money. How my uncle does it he farms 4k acres

KitCMC

SteveM Teddahlia NCDahlia janell Thanks for the info. I will do some homework about what goes on in the surrounding fields before making a final decision. I have never heard of Dicambra - I was initially worried about herbicides with pyridine compounds, but it turns out they’re both categorized in the same herbicide group.

PNWGal

Cosey Sure! And I would expect that Swan Island is still selling from that same stock. Curious now to see what the latest Kidd's Climax/Strawberry Ice looks like.

MissyWeitzel

KitCMC My dahlia rows and my big vegetable garden are side by side and end probably 10 feet from our property line, where immediately over the line is farmland that our neighbor owns and rents out. They've grown alfalfa the last 2 years but the years before that was corn and I did not experience an issue with either my dahlias or vegetables in any year. I keep thinking about putting a hedgerow or something between anyway for birds and a dust block, though I do love the uninterrupted view of many more acres we don't have to pay for. 😄

KitCMC

MissyWeitzel thanks, I am more encouraged than I thought I would be!

MissyWeitzel

I have a question for those of you who keep really detailed records of the varieties you grow. When evaluating for bloom production, do you keep track of how many flowers each plant or variety produces in a season or do you have some other way to track floriforousness (if that is a word)? Is it more of a general, "Oh yeah this one makes a lot of flowers" or do you update your spreadsheet every time you cut a flower or put dots or lines on a tag next to the plant? I'm trying to wrap my head around the most manageable way to do this without adding a lot of time to harvesting.

PegMc

MissyWeitzel Really great question - I've wondered the same myself!

Cosey

MissyWeitzel

When you have one variety in bulk it makes record keeping easier. For example, I have a row of 100 Early Girl. I harvest all EG in buckets and keep track of those stem counts for order that week. I also grow a fair amount of Blizzard so I keep those bloom in their own buckets. If I have orders for 300 white, I just note 150 stems were from EG and the rest Blizzard or "others".

You can also do bud counts. On Saturdays I routinely count the number of cracked buds. These will be what I am harvesting Tues/Wed the following week. It's how I can give customers estimates of availability. Do I count every single bloom or bud? No, but it's a good indicator.

All dahlias take a break at some point. Generally after the 3rd flush they slow down. You can tell by the lack of new buds being pushed. Stress causes plants to slow down too.

SteveM

MissyWeitzel When I started selling cut dahlias I would keep track of how many bunches (5 stems per bunch) I sold during the year and then, at the end of the year, I would calculate the average blooms per variety. That got to be work so then I changed to planting 20 plants of the new varieties I was trialing. I expected to get 2 bunches per week (10 stems) minimum, or 1 bloom per plant every 2 weeks, to justify keeping it. (for BB size blooms) This number varies tremendously throughout the year but this worked fairly reliably (as long as the gophers didn't eat part of the trial plants) Now, I just trial a few of the new varieties and can tell if it will be a good cut here. It is more important that a variety does not shatter than it is to get a lot of blooms. If a blooms starts dropping petals after only a few days in the vase it is worthless to me.

Teddahlia

Cut flower people have customers who give them lots of good information. There is a feedback loop between the cut flower grower and the customers. Show dahlia growers do not get to interact with customers and probably do not appreciate what dahlia flower customers want or even what flowers are considered pretty by the customers. Note: All cut flower growers do not have enough white flowers.

Cosey

Teddahlia

Never enough whites! 🤣 Take what you think you'll need and double it. Chances are it still won't be enough. And florist like consistency with whites. Growing a large volume of a single variety is super helpful. That being said if you only have ONE variety of whites your inventory lives and dies by the productivity of that single cultivar.

People joke that you only need to grow Blizzard, but in reality having 2-3 good whites helps keep counts up every week of the harvest season. Finding varieties that have different bloom times can offset peak bloom times. Ex, planting an early bloomer gives you a big flush two weeks sooner that Blizzard but Blizzard picks up when your early bloomer is taking a rest.

MissyWeitzel

Cosey I'm going to grow a bunch of Ryecroft Jan this season. Blizzard hasn't been very productive for me.

Honnat

Cosey I grow Formby Alpine, Brookside Snowball and Blizzard. All seem to shine at different points of the season. Formby Alpine is awesome early, but gets a bit weak stemmed later. That's when Blizzard takes over. You can't beat the stem length of Blizzard; but in my opinion it's not that pretty of a flower. Pure white...yes. But the form is clunky and it always has holes in the center.
In the "minor leagues" (aka...building up stock and trialing) - Hollyhill Wedding Day is becoming my top prospect. I liked it in 2021, but loved it in 2022. I seem to remember it has a bit of an ivory tone to it. I also really am liking Allie White. It's not super productive; but it's a nice showy larger white.
I could convert my whole plot to whites and they'd be sold before my wholesaler even sees them. but, imagine the time in bagging those buggers. And imagine how bored my farmer's market and tuber customers would be.

CollaretteQueen

Teddahlia I live right next to a country club and farmland, so I think that may have been the possible reason several of my dahlias got "burnt". Hope to figure out how to avoid that heartbreak this year.

Cosey

Never enough whites... A bucket of white seedlings. Even though some are not perfect or, gasp, open centered they sell especially in September wedding season.

AndreaB

Cosey Wow, what a beautiful bucket!

Krista

Cosey plus one for AndreaB! How beautiful your seedlings are.

Teddahlia

MissyWeitzel Ryecroft Jan is the best white MFD for showing but is not a very productive flower for cut flowers. When I was talking to Nick Gitts at Swan Island he said their Solo was the best white cut flower they grew and they grow lots of white ones. Bride to Be is the classic white one that is a cut flower machine

MissyWeitzel

@Cosey @SteveM Thank you. I appreciate your thoughtful responses. 😊

MissyWeitzel

Teddahlia Bride-to-Be is by far my most productive white and my white that gets the least petal damage from pests, though it isn't the best for stems. Dang, I have had multiple people tell me Ryecroft Jan was super productive. I traded for a bunch of tubers so guess I'll find out the hard way. 😅

Can't wait to try the new Coseytown one someday!

Cosey

There are a lot of whites on the market but there could be a few more good cut flower options. White Nettie is an super productive plant but the stems get really weak. Others are beautiful but don't push the flowers.

I have been hoarding all my 20th Ave Baker Road tubers since it was introduced. I love it as a pure white ball option. I'm very excited about a seedling I have referred to as H198. It's been the best white my sister or I have grown and it also has super sturdy/firm petals. I wish HH Ms White was pure white.

Many times it comes down to the environment. I know other farms swear by their white varieties but when I have tried them they don't work for me. For the first time ever I had Blizzard shatter last year. Sometimes you just can't plan for odd events.

Honnat

Cosey Oh yes....20th Ave and Baker Road....also a top prospect in the minor leagues. Not as vigorous as I'd like; but really pretty consistent flowers.

« Previous Page Next Page »