Following my article about how to grow dahlias I am delighted to have received some precious advice from a member of the West Cornwall Dahlia Club.

Paul is a keen dahlia grower who has spent years perfecting the art of growing dahlias for competition purposes and I have taken the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

Trelyn Kiwi dahlia

So what is your favourite dahlia?
“Of the 102 dahlias that I grow my main dahlia has to be Trelyn Kiwi, which is a small cactus which you can see in the picture below. This dahlia is a multi winner up and down the country, even to the other ends of the world such as New Zealand.

Its form is immaculate if not the easiest to grow. I usually grow 24 plants but this year I am growing 32 plants of it!

Do you have some advice on how to achieve the best results with your dahlias?
I follow these steps in order to be ready for the annual dahlia show which takes place in Truro next weekend on 16th August: more…

Having recently been asked for advice on how I care for my dahlia plants at this time of year I have the following growing tips for beginners.

Garden Dahlia

In my experience it is important to feed dahlias regularly in order to get a nice succession of blooms. Experts sometimes differ on what type of fertilizers they use to grow their prize-winning blooms (prize winning tips often remain secret!). I find that you can either use a general complete flower fertilizer that you can find in any garden center or better still, I like to use sulphate of potash which is basically the liquid that I use to feed my tomato plants.

I prefer to use liquid fertilizers since they are easier to dilute according to the manufacturers instructions. I also like to make sure that during periods of draught my dahlias are watered regularly and I obviously feed the base of the plant in the ground.
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