http://www.mygardendiary.com/2009/how-to-care-for-dahlias/ Gardening tips for beginners Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:27:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.mygardendiary.com/2009/how-to-care-for-dahlias/comment-page-1/#comment-1037 Paul Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:39:41 +0000 http://www.mygardendiary.com/?p=1615#comment-1037 Hello I am a keen dahlia grower and exhibitor. I am a member of several dahlia societies including The National, also I am secretary for The West Cornwall Dahlia Club. Regards feeding, I use the Maxicrop range. I use the Maxicrop Growth Stimulant for watering in my tubers at propagating time and continue to use this. After planting about a month on I use Maxicrop Balanced Feed, then when buds are forming I change to Maxicrop Tomato feed (a cheaper alternative is Tomorite). I do not use chemical feeds such as Chempak or Phostrogen etc, thou many growers do, because they are chemicals and must be mixed strictly to the instructions, also they always leave a powder behind in the watering can. I turn the plots over in January, incorporating Superdug, Vitax Q4, Vitax Seaweed granules. Then about 2 weeks before planting I add a base dressing of chicken manure pellets (fish blood & bone being an alternative). Remember the organic belief 'feed the soil not the plants', you must get you soil right. Also after planting I hand weed, never with a hoe because dahlias are shallow rooting, then middle July I mulch with straw (cocoa shells being an alternative). I also used to write a dahlia column for a local free publication called The Cornish Gardener. I have created manhy newsletters, and advise sheets representing my methods from storing tubers to growing dahlias to vasing them up for a show event. If you wish for any more advice dont hesitate to email me, incidentally this is my hobby not my job (I am an Administrator for local government). Also how did you go about creating your website, because this is something I'd love to do in regards to my hobby and our dahlias club. Yours, Paul Hello
I am a keen dahlia grower and exhibitor. I am a member of several dahlia societies including The National, also I am secretary for The West Cornwall Dahlia Club. Regards feeding, I use the Maxicrop range. I use the Maxicrop Growth Stimulant for watering in my tubers at propagating time and continue to use this. After planting about a month on I use Maxicrop Balanced Feed, then when buds are forming I change to Maxicrop Tomato feed (a cheaper alternative is Tomorite). I do not use chemical feeds such as Chempak or Phostrogen etc, thou many growers do, because they are chemicals and must be mixed strictly to the instructions, also they always leave a powder behind in the watering can. I turn the plots over in January, incorporating Superdug, Vitax Q4, Vitax Seaweed granules. Then about 2 weeks before planting I add a base dressing of chicken manure pellets (fish blood & bone being an alternative). Remember the organic belief ‘feed the soil not the plants’, you must get you soil right. Also after planting I hand weed, never with a hoe because dahlias are shallow rooting, then middle July I mulch with straw (cocoa shells being an alternative). I also used to write a dahlia column for a local free publication called The Cornish Gardener. I have created manhy newsletters, and advise sheets representing my methods from storing tubers to growing dahlias to vasing them up for a show event. If you wish for any more advice dont hesitate to email me, incidentally this is my hobby not my job (I am an Administrator for local government). Also how did you go about creating your website, because this is something I’d love to do in regards to my hobby and our dahlias club.
Yours, Paul

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