Dahlias for free.

[pigletwillie]

If any of you buy dahlia tubers this spring, plant them in trays just covered with damp compost and let them throw up shoots. These shoots can be cut off along with some tuber and potted on to give you several more plants for free. Dont be greedy though, three or four is enough from each tuber.

Remember though that dahlias are frost tender so dont try it until April time and then in a frost free place.

[nick the grief]

If you take some later on in the year ( around march/April time) & pot them into 5" pots then sink these in the ground (with a label in of course) with the pots touching.

Just let one flower open to make sure its right and remove all the other, feed with tomato feed then lift them & lay them on their side under the staging in the greenhouse around October let the tops die off.

Come spring you knock them out of the pots, replant in seedtrays on fresh compost & you have your own pot tubers to propagate from - a lot easier than trying to box up field tubers

[pigletwillie]

Nick, do you ever lift your tubers, I tend to cut mine down to the ground when first hit by frost and then cover with a thick blanket of compost and leave well alone. I rarely lose any this way, but understand many people do lift them?

[burnie]

I have to confess that I'm of the river cottage persuasion and don't grow it if you can't eat it but.........I do like dahlias,will try this later when the poly tunnel arrives.

[Snadger]

I have to confess that I'm of the river cottage persuasion and don't grow it if you can't eat it but.........I do like dahlias,will try this later when the poly tunnel arrives.

When I got my lottie I had no intention of growing flowers, just veg! I have changed my plans now as a bit of colour is nice to look at and companion planting of certain flowers has been proved to work. I also get a few brownie points if I arrive home with a bunch of cut flowers now-and-again (Not too often though, for obvious reasons!)

Carrot and beetroot foliage adds a bit of colour to arrangements and I am sure a lot more veg can be used for floral display! The amount of flowers available compared to the amount of veg, also makes it quite interesting!

The nasturtium is a good all round plant, decorative flowers, good companion plant, eat the leaves and flowers in salads, eat the seed pods pickled as capers, and it's dead easy to grow as well!

[ugly gourd]

farmers always used to use carrot follage and a potatoe flower for a button hole to wear at church on sundays

[nick the grief]

Nick, do you ever lift your tubers, I tend to cut mine down to the ground when first hit by frost and then cover with a thick blanket of compost and leave well alone. I rarely lose any this way, but understand many people do lift them?

Usually yes Piglet. Last year though was a real disaster for some reason. I htink it was the lack of decent daylight early on & couldn't get the damn things to throw cuttings. So when I did get them I left them in their 4" pots & managed to get enough for this year (with a few spares for some friends).

You can do the same with some of the bedding dahlia's as well as they make tubers & if you get a colour you like you can lift them & save them for the following year.

[nick the grief]

I have to confess that I'm of the river cottage persuasion and don't grow it if you can't eat it but.........I do like dahlias,will try this later when the poly tunnel arrives.

Whils I agree with the sentement, a lottie plot without flowers is like a fish without a rucksac

[Grandpadragon]

Nick, do you ever lift your tubers, I tend to cut mine down to the ground when first hit by frost and then cover with a thick blanket of compost and leave well alone. I rarely lose any this way, but understand many people do lift them?

Lifting Dahlias is more tradition and perhaps belt and bracers approach coz back in prehistory when I were a lad the winters were much colder with prolonged periods of frozen ground, so made sense to lift. Now I do as you and also suffer few losses. Our friends farther north might need to be more cautious thou

[nick the grief]

Very True GP, but it also enables me to get cutings a bit earlier as well & no SLugs !!

[Grandpadragon]

I see why you do it Nick, but I dont want any more and I suspect that every couple of years I shall have to split them up as they will be so big(in girth like me ) Will then do as piglet suggests in first post

[nick the grief]

What you can do GP is cut them in half through the stem and dust with Flowers of sulphur & then replant the two halves ( or just one ) bit like you'd treat a Rhubarb crown

[Grandpadragon]

The only treating I do with rhubarb crowns is a big dollop of hot thick custard