By Tilly3006
Lancashire,
United Kingdom 
Dahlia's in pots - i need expert advice, so thought i'd ask you all. i will be planting my dahlia tubers in pots tomorrow and will keep them indoors until the frosts have passed. This is the first time i have attempted to grow dahlias and although i have researched this, i am getting conflicting reports on whether i should dampen the soil after planting them or wait until the first growth emerges and then water them. I know they dont like too much water and that this can cause them to rot. But one website even said to plant them in the soil, cover but DONT add any water until growth appears. what do i do? thanks.
18 Mar, 2011
Answers
Good point!! thanks for that Bamboo, it makes more sense now. Thanks for your help.
18 Mar, 2011
Well, strikes me Tilly, that if you chose to just plant the tubers straight in the ground outside next month, unless you put an umbrella over the top, damp they will be getting, so I always pot them up (on the windowsill as I speak) in fresh compost, water, drain well and then keep them inside, obviously, on the windowsill in a fairly warm room without watering again until they start growing. I think the problem might be that if we pot them up inside too early and water, they're just not ready to start growing yet, which is when they're more at risk of rotting. The advice is to start them off in trays in a warm place, waiting for buds of growth to appear, before potting them up, but I don't have the space to do that.
18 Mar, 2011