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Tuber Planting Tips

🪴 Optional Pre-Sprouting

Want to get a head start? You can pre-sprout tubers indoors before planting outside.

  • Plant in lightly moist (not dripping wet) potting mix.

  • Place under grow lights or near a sunny window (preferably south-facing).

  • Only water if the soil has dried out — tubers can rot before they sprout and form roots.

 

🌞 Location Selection

Dahlias thrive with:

  • Full sun — ideally 8+ hours daily

  • Well-draining soil — standing water can cause tubers to rot

Tip: Raised beds or adding compost can help improve drainage.

 

🌱 When & How to Plant

Plant your dahlia tubers after the danger of frost has passed and your soil temperature is at least 55°F (13°C).

To plant:

  1. Dig a hole 4–6 inches deep.

  2. Lay the tuber horizontally with the eye facing up. The eye should be about 2 inches below the soil surface.

  3. Cover with soil and wait to water until you see green growth above the soil (unless the soil is very dry).

 

🌱 Space to Breathe
Plant tubers 12–24 inches apart depending on variety size. Good airflow prevents disease and gives plants room to thrive.

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🪴 Support Early

Install stakes, cages, or trellises when planting or just after sprouting. Search the Florida Weave method if you are growing a large number of dahlias. It’s much easier to stake early than try to manage floppy plants later!
✨ I use rebar stakes and tie with twine for reliable support.

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🌿 Pinch for Bushier Plants
Once your plant has at least 3 or 4 leaf pairs, you can pinch out the top growth to encourage branching and more blooms.

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🌼 Disbudding for Larger Blooms

If your goal is fewer, showier flowers, try disbudding:

  • When a main bud forms, remove the two smaller side buds for the 2 leaf pairs below the main bud.

  • This channels energy into the central bud, resulting in larger, more striking blooms.

 

✂️ Harvesting Blooms

  • Cut deep when harvesting stems—about the 3 leaf pairs down from the bloom.

  • This encourages more lateral shoots and more blooms throughout the season.

  • Harvest in the cool morning or evening, and place stems immediately into warm water.

🌿 The more you cut, the more they bloom!

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🪲 Keep an Eye on Pests

  • Slugs, earwigs, and aphids — check regularly and treat with organic options or hand-picking.

  • Beetles and grasshoppers — protect developing blooms by covering them with a drawstring organza bag once they start showing color.​

 

🥀 Deadhead Regularly
Removing spent blooms encourages the plant to keep producing new flowers all season long.

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