Hi Christy: I know others will chip in with advice about watering - I personally water the soil on top very lightly if a new tuber - but most experts say you shouldn't or don't need to until they are at least 6 inches grown. What I will comment on is that you are about to enter the wacky world of dahlias - where sometimes up is down and vice-versa. IMO, dahlias have a mind of their own. I take notes every year and last year my notes say my 'B-Man lookalike' (don't know the real name) gave me a first bloom in late June. This year, it has already bloomed in early May. Most growers will tell you that early bloomers will bloom within 90 days, regular dahlias 105 and late bloomers 120 days. I have rarely found that to be true. Too many variables - amount of sun, how much you did or didn't water them, how good the soil is, whether snails get their feed bags on and destroy the tender shoots, whether you fertilize them and how often, etc, etc. Overall however, the 90-120 rule is close enough. I love my dahlias but they are fickle. Best thing is to just do the best you can getting them going and then they pretty much do whatever they want from there on. Of course I leave my in ground year round so I don't go thru the digging, storing and re-potting every year. Good luck.

IF you watch the cutting & just as the first root starts (as a swelling on the stem) & then transplant to any potting soil & mist the cuttings it will continue to root & you loss will greatly be reduced.

A RO filter system. You can buy them in Lowes or Home Depot. You can hook them under your kitchen sink. They filter out everything and are great for drinking water as well. You can buy one for about $80.00. I have used them for years on my orchids and houseplants when I lived in NY. Since moving to Florida, I have one under my kitchen sink and use it for drinking water and for some orchids. I do use rain barrels to water all my orchids now as well as my large container plants. Well worth the money. No more bottled water and great for your plants. Jane

Fox Farm Ocean Forest "potting soil" is primarily a soil-less mix so is what Barrie (and most experienced growers) recommends. It contains only a very small amount of sandy loam mixed in with peat and compost. So it's label calling itself "potting soil" is misleading in many ways. But it does contain some soil Same goes for using compost - it is NOT soil unless one adds soil to it. Most products labeled "potting soil" are made up of dirt (top soil) with a few other non-soil additives mixed in and should be avoided for seed starting and use in containers. Pays to keep in mind that what one calls "best results" would be another's "poor results" so one can only evaluate results by trying both approaches before committing. Decades of experience has proven repeatedly that potting soils for seed starting and container growing leave a great deal to be desired in germination rates, growth rates, and drainage issues - thus all the mixed reviews FF gets. As for using 8" pots for germination vs. shallow cell packs/trays? Those problems are also well documented in the industry. Would you start your young child out in the kiddie pool and gradually move him into the shallow end of the big pool or just throw him in the deep end and expect him to do well? ;-) Dave PS: "Peaty mixes tend to dry out pretty evenly IME - meaning if the surface is dry it’s pretty dry throughout." Sorry but that isn't my experience. The surface tension, temperature, air exposure, and evaporative rate on the surface is substantially higher than it is even 1/2" down.