Hi Kathy, thanks for your question. Yes you are right my tubers are planted quite high, they are routinely mulched so end up deeper. New tubers develop at or below the level of the originals in my experience so by the time they are dug out they are plenty deep enough. Hope this answers your question and I hope your growing season is going well.

Yes some cuttings are just stubborn by nature. In this circumstance I would get one out and examine the cut surface. If there are no roots at all after weeks then they are unlikely to develop. You can try hormone rooting compound on the new cuttings next time around. Also I usually protect the cutting from drying out with a plastic bag until rooted.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers Thanks 🙂

Hi Leslie, searing is a technique we use for difficult flowers such as sunflower, but we don’t sear our Dahlias. If they are wilting we might add citric acid to the water to increase the rate of water uptake. Hope this helps.

Hi thanks for your words question. I think we estimated and then added a margin. The plastic is then wrapped around the wood and clamped to take up the slack. Hope this helps.

Hi Thanks for your question, Yes you can certainly plant the tuber out after taking some cuttings, although the tuber will become depleted as more cuttings are taken, and they are usually smaller than a standard tuber clump so there is less "headroom" to start with. I hope your season is going well.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers thanks

Thanks for taking taking the time to comment, its appreciated.

Hi, yes sorry I didn't touch on this here. It usually holds itself together without fixing if the wood is heavy enough, but if wind gets very high we secure the ends of the plastic cover with heavy stones, The wood could be tethered to metal ground pegs set at right angles to the pull.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers okay thank you!

Hi thanks for your question. We replant in the same beds each year, although we rotate the varieties in any one spot. In instances of disease such as Virus or Gall, it is normal practice to avoid using the same spot, or attempt to replace the soil. Hope you have a great season.

Thanks for your comments Pamela.

Thank you very much for your kind comment.

Hi thanks for your question. Once each flower begins to fade you should remove it by cutting the stem below it. This will allow more flowers to come, and they should keep flowering right up to the first frost. If you let a seed pod form the plant will "switch off" and stop producing flowers. Cut away your seed pods now, and after a week or so your dahlias will start to produce flowers again. Good luck!

Hi, this is very odd indeed. Was there perhaps another common factor? For example they were all exposed to a high temperature near the time? Very odd.

Hi Stephen, sounds like a great idea!

Hi thanks for your comment. Yes I agree, it would support shade cloth too. The conduit lasts well held by canes and we don’t routinely do anything else.

Thank you Sara for your kind comment. Yes you can start all your hardy annuals in this way in autumn for early flowering in Spring. Good luck with your sweet peas!

Hi thanks! Hope it works well for you.

I just was able to punch my dahlia.. thanks 😊

Hi Angela, thanks for your question. Yes! Exactly that. The pot is buried in and dug up at the end of the season, ready for storage. B

Thank you for your kind words, I am glad you found it useful. Hope your season goes well!

Hi thanks for your question. We are mixing peat free with sifted topsoil here. Seed starting compost has very little fertiliser so not suitable, potting compost is more like it, but it’s composition can be so variable .

And thank you!

Glad it was helpful, and thanks for taking the time to comment, it’s appreciated.

Thank you for your comment and support, it is appreciated.

Thank you, it's appreciated! And good luck with yours.

Hi, it's 12.5mm overflow pipe.

Hi Mintgreen, yes it’s just a few minutes job to roll it up and carry it away, although ours are so long that it takes 2 people to carry.

Hi, I hope your Bishops Children do well. I must say I have no experience of growing from seed, but the principles of pinching out are the same as tuber grown plants. So long as they have enough time and conditions are good, the stems will bulk up nicely and you will have good sized plants. I would not automatically pinch out every secondary shoot as the end result will be a plant with maybe too many side shoots, and smaller flowers as a result. You will get a sense of where to pinch out, and where to let the shoot grow and produce a flower. Good luck with your adventure.

Hi thanks for your question. I can't offer advice based on experience as I don't grow them in pots. But I can offer some general advice on potential pitfalls. Firstly choose a variety that is small enough to grow in pots - I suggest nothing over 2ft high and only one plant per pot. Use as large a pot as possible - porous such as clay is best. Use a mineral based compost such as John Innes No 2, standard peat free composts will quickly dry out as dahlias are very thirsty. Lastly, in a pot you will need to add feed regularly as the small volume of compost will rapidly deplete of nutrients. A healthy dahlia in a pot is a thing of beauty - good luck!

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers Thank you for your advice. I actually did not know that different composts dried differently.

I'm sorry about that, thanks for pointing this out.

Hi thanks for your comment. Yes that works well. I hope you have a great season.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers We've had an awful lot of rain here, high on the Pennines of West Yorkshire, but now the sun is making an appearance, things are going well.

Thank you!

Thank you very much.

Hi Beverlea. I use an indoor area with light and heat to get them started. Then later move them to usually a polytunnel to grow on. A greenhouse is ideal if heated. Hope yours are doing well !

Thank you Kate, I hope it all goes well for you.

Hi thanks for your question. This bed is 8 meters in length, the pipes are 2meters long and it's 21.5mm overflow pipe. Hope this helps.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers What length are the stakes on the side? And what did you use to make the stakes?

Hi they are plain bamboo canes, about 60cm long - the length is not critical.

Hi Denis, thanks for your question. It's usual to limit the number of shoots no matter how they are grown. I suggest 3 shoots but 5 or even 6 is commonly advised and that is fine. It is the same for pinching out, choose how far up each shoot you are going to pinch and do them all. Hope you have a great season.

Hi Monnie, yes you can cut away any of the tubers which are rotting, so long as there is some healthy tubers remaining in the clump. I hope it works out for you.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers what about an individual tuber?

Ah, ok I understand you are referring to a single tuber. I would say a single tuber with some rot along the side it not salvageable.

Hi, yes it will be fine at 8 inches. Good luck with them!

Thanks Julie, it's appreciated.

Thank you Mary.

Hi thanks for your question. It is useful to keep them warm after first potting up, this will help the roots to establish, a slightly lower temperature (15-16C) would be perfect, for about 2 weeks. Space becomes the issue if you are growing more than a small number, and leaving them without heat is satisfactory if needs must. Good luck!

Thanks Mary, it's kind of you to comment.

Hi Mary, sorry to hear yours are not doing so well. I would need more information to be sure, but tall and skinny is usually due to not enough light in the early growth phase. Drying leaves is usually a water issue - if the pot is too small for example, the compost will dry out very quickly. If you want to post more details I can be more specific.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers thank you for your response. Not enough light make sense. I bought led lights and my tomatoes and celery are starting to look good now. The pot is big enough I think, 10x10x10 inches. It is the same one they were in when I bought them last year. And I clean it last fall. I’m new to this as I retired early and need to keep busy. I always want a vegetables and flowers garden but never had enough time. Perennials are easy but I have a lot to learn. Like to pinch my Dalhia. Well, I hope I don’t kill them and will do a better job next year. Now that I know they grow so fast, I will start them under light begging of April instead of March. Oh and my leaves are also curly… well thank a lot, I was not expecting an answer but I really really appreciate it. And I live in Quebec, Canada so I kept the tubes in vermiculite last winter.

Well done Mary you have the right approach, there is always more to learn for all of us. Good luck this season.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers just to let you know, I plant my dahlias outside on May 15th and my god it looks like they love the outside more than the inside! They are looking good by the day! The pinching is helping a lot. The leafs are not curling anymore, they look healthy (that is my impression since they look so much better). Now, I cannot wait to see the flowers blooming and appreciated them with my grand kids. Your videos were big help! I will continue to watch them! Thank and have a nice summer!

Thanks again Leslie, yes each variety is different in this way. I am glad you are enjoying your growing.

Hi Ian, yes that is correct, heat is needed in the early phase when conditions would otherwise be too cool to initiate growth. Alternatively you could start later and use natural Spring heat in a greenhouse or polytunnel for example.

Hi Thomas thank you for your question. Yes you are correct, single tubers can be at some disadvantage, and need more time to produce a bulky flowering plant. But if you have heat and light during the early season (February in the Northern hemisphere), then you can produce a plant that is full size by the time flowering starts. I hope you have a great season!

Hi thank you for commenting. I would be happy to try to help if you have a specific question about fertilizers.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers That is very kind of you. Currently, I have on hand, regular topsoil, a good potting soil with no peat, vermiculite and pearlite. I have to use large grow bags for my dahlias because I’m totally out of the large pots and garden space what mix of that soil do you think would work well? Thanking you very much in advance for your help.

Perlite, not pearlite

Hi, ok so once in growth your Dahlias will need some feed so your potting compost it likely to have this for the first few weeks. I would add either Vermiculite or Perlite at about 20% and you are good to go, the larger the bag the better. I hope they do well for you.

@@MoorfieldFarmFlowers I can’t thank you enough for this advice. And your timing is perfect. I was just researching once again about planting dahlias so I could pick up what I needed when I run my errands this morning. I will follow your advice and I certainly appreciate your help. Take care and thanks again!

Thank you Maureen, hope you have a great season.

Thanks Christine for taking the time to comment, it's appreciated.

Hi Christine, well yes inevitably it does prevent that shoot from producing it's flower. But then you get at least two flowers in its place. Good deal?

Thanks Christine.