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Dahlia's Won't Bud or Bloom

17 years ago

Hi, I am trying to grow new tubers in the high desert of California and they are refusing to bud or bloom for the second year in a row. I am from Washington State and I have grown dahlias there successfully for many years but have yet to have a success here. I lost all my dahlias when we moved from Washington to California and have since bought some tubers through a "reliable" source on ebay. That "reliable" source has yet to respond to my emails asking about the possibility that the tubers are faulty so I am desperately seeking information so I can know I did everything in my power before tossing these plants and starting from scratch next spring. They are very green and look normal with the exception of the absence of blooms. I would love any information anyone may have on the subject. Thank you very much! Tara

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Comments (3)

therahort
17 years ago
I was also concerned about my large decorative type dahlias budding and blooming, but this morning I noticed buds and blooms on a white one, that I have in a pot. Not very a very large bloom, but plenty of buds and one bloom opened. Guess the tubers did not have much depth in the large five gallon pot. It is the only one that is blooming, but the others are in part shade, and this one is in full sun. Also, for about two weeks, we had a drought here, and then when it rained, heaven opened, it poured down rain, and our car got flooded, stopped, and had to be pushed to dry ground, about five feet away, to dry out, before it would restart, near the Atlantic coast in Charleston, SC, bringing my brother home from the hospital, after surgery, last Saturday afternoon, so it received plenty of water, even though we live 50 miles inland from Charleston. It was so hot and humid that it rained at home for about five days last week, and I did not have to water it. I guess the others will follow it in bloom, now that one has led the way.

Hope that yours will start blooming soon.

Anne
sjvg
17 years ago
I also purchased dalhia bulbs on ebay, mine came from an indivudual seller. Like yours they have yet to bloom. I have cared for them just like all the other dahlia I have. The dalhias from HD and Costco are doing great with lots of blooms. It is quite disappointing to spent the all the time and effort to get these results. This will be the last purchase on ebay for plant material I will make.
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Snow is a good thing in winter! It's the perfect insulation for them so don't be worried about them getting snow piled on. You want the roots and crown of the rose to be protected from the freezes and thaws of early spring. You will probably have cane die back but as long as the root and graft union are protected the rose should fine. These sound like they are hybrid tea roses which do grow taller and narrower than floribundas or shrub roses. But with out a picture to see what the canes look like it's hard to say if you've lost your graft and now have root stock growing. Pictures of the canes and the base of the plant where the canes are coming up from would be very helpful. Try and check the base of the rose and see where those canes are coming from. There should be a big sort of knotty looking part where the roots go down from and the canes come up from. That's called the bud union where one variety of rose has been grafted unto a different variety for the root stock. The root stock is usually a variety that is very vigorous so they graft a less vigorous rose to it to make it grow bigger, stronger and faster. If the bud union is killed the root stock may come up from the ground. See if the canes you have are coming from the top of the graft area or from below ground where the root stock is. If the bud union was buried you may have to carefully remove some soil to see where those canes originate from.
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Grannymarsh's recommendation is "right on". I fertilize every week with a fertilizer with a higher middle number. ( not too high, though ). I continue this until the end of August, and I stop fertilizing completely then. My dahlias this year are amazing. The higher middle number promotes the formation of buds. One thing else to consider. Do you have your dahlias in a place where they get a lot of sun? They are much less likely to bloom without it. Perhaps you'll get some yet. The summer is not over for another month, although as I write the temperature outside has dipped to 8 degrees C.
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Ah, I understand what you are saying Poochella. I cut mine down a few weeks ago. I gave my wife huge bundles of dahlia flowers for bouquets. I even made some up for her. Remember she is the one who only goes into the garden to raid it for flowers. LOL. What does she do after I presented her with the huge bundles of freshly cut dahlias? She makes smaller bundles, and unbeknown to me, carts them off to the neighbours for their bouquets. When I came in, exhausted, expecting to see a few bouquets, I was quite surprised to see only one, until she told me what she had done. Go figure. At least the neighbours were happy, but I won't hold my breath about any sort of reciprocation.
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Buds are the developing stage of the flower.... Typically, the larger the bloom or quantity of petals, the longer it takes for the bud to open. Patience, they will come. For heavens sake, if the plant is thriving, DONT cut down the water you're giving! That's what is giving the developing flowers it's 'bang.' This is the time to give the plants a bit of fertilizer, which will help the quality of bloom, too. Looking forward to seeing your blooms!
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xanadu
17 years ago
I'm still trying to figure out dahlias. I'm in the Sierra foothills and it's frequently 100+ and very dry during the summer. In shade they have a few blooms so I planted in sun this year--even fewer blooms that just started in August. Perhaps I don't have them deep enough for the heat, perhaps they need morning sun and afternoon shade (which I don't really have), perhaps I'm feeding them incorrectly or not watering them enough. I see a few people successfully growing dahlias here but I don't know their secrets. My dahlias come from a variety of sources, though e-bay is not one of them.

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