Dahlia Tubers – Care & Growing Guide
Welcome to Kindred Circle Farm! We’re thrilled that you’ve chosen our dahlia tubers to add beauty to your garden. This guide will walk you through every step, from unboxing to post-harvest care, ensuring you enjoy vibrant blooms all season long.
Unboxing & Storing Your Tubers
Upon receiving your dahlia tubers, carefully unpack them.
Storage (If Not Planting Immediately): Leave the tubers in the bag they arrived in. Be sure to open the bag to let them “breathe” and regulate humidity. Store the bag of tubers in a cool, dark, dry place (off the cement floor) until you're ready to plant. A temperature between 40-50°F is ideal. Do NOT store them in a place that dips below freezing.
When to Plant
Timing is essential for healthy dahlias.
Plant After Frost: Wait until the danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature consistently reaches 60°F. For most areas, this is mid to late spring. Once your ground is past the last frost date, you can go ahead and plant them outside.
In warmer climates, you can plant dahlias earlier.
Alternatively, start them in pots indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost, if you want to get a jump on the season.
Soil & Site Preparation
Healthy soil is the foundation of thriving dahlias.
Sunlight: Dahlias thrive in full sun (6-8 hours daily).
Soil Type: Loose, well-draining soil enriched with organic matter is ideal.
pH Level: Dahlias prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH 6.5-7).
Soil Prep Steps:
Work compost or aged manure into the soil to a depth of 12 inches.
Avoid synthetic fertilizers; opt for organic alternatives like bone meal or fish emulsion.
Planting Instructions
Depth & Spacing: Plant tubers 4-6 inches deep with the eye (growth point) facing up. Space them 18-24 inches apart to allow for airflow.
Watering: Hold off on watering until sprouts appear. Overwatering before sprouting can cause rot.
Ongoing Care
Staking: Dahlia plants grow tall; use stakes or cages to support them.
Watering Schedule: Once established, water deeply 1-2 times per week, allowing soil to dry between waterings. Adjust for rainfall.
Feeding: We like to use homemade foliar sprays every two weeks until our plants are well established and starting to bloom. Most growers suggest applying an organic, low-nitrogen fertilizer every 3-4 weeks. Overfeeding nitrogen can lead to excessive foliage with fewer blooms.
Deadheading: Regularly remove spent flowers to encourage continuous blooming.
We do not use any pesticides! The only method we use to protect our dahlia blooms is placing organza bags over the swelling buds. This is extremely time consuming and most growers do not have the time or want to look at organza bags on their dahlia blooms, however, it works for us.
Post-Season Care
Overwintering:
In zones 8-10, tubers can overwinter in the ground with proper mulching.
In colder zones, dig up tubers after the first frost blackens the foliage, dry them, and store in a cool, frost-free place for replanting in spring. We do not wash off the soil from our tuber clumps until February, usually when the sap starts to run in our beautiful state of Vermont. However, many growers wash off excess soil and let tubers dry for a week in a cool, dark place. Store in crates, paper bags, or sawdust at 40-50°F.
Label each variety to make spring planting easier!