Dahlia Plants: Pre-Sprouted 5" Potted Plants, Varieties TBD in late April

Dahlias typically are placed in the ground as tubers once the soil has warmed to around 55-60 degrees F, and once nighttime temperatures are reliably at 60 degreed and above. Here in Maine, if we farmers wait until that late date, our flowers wouldn’t bloom until September! Well, on our farm, our dahlias are producing their first flowers in early June. To accomplish this, we take our tubers out of storage in February, pre-sprout them in our warmed germination chamber, then pot them up once they are showing eyes a few weeks later. Once growing, our 5” potted dahlias are placed under 14 hours of daylength and cuttings are taken. When the cuttings are rooted a couple of weeks later, we pot them up into new 5” pots to grow on as full-fledged plants, just bursting with new life and energy, just like children. Pre-sprouted cuttings are full of vigor, and will produce a plethora of flowers as well as tubers in their first year! They are not less productive than planting tubers, and in fact, we belive they are MORE productive! The potted dahlias below have gone through this lengthy, laborious process so that we can cut our first flowers in June, and have three additional months of dahlias here in Maine’s short growing season. Each purchase below is for one, 5” potted dahlia plant ready to go in the ground around June 1st, or in a covered greenhouse/high tunnel space around May 1st, or get potted up again to grow on into a larger plant for either a potted dahlia, or planting out at a later time. Dahlias must not be exposed to temperatures less than 40 degrees, and thrive when they are at 60 degrees F and above. Water your dahlias with about 1” of water around once a week, and fertilize with either a balanced fertilizer or fish and kelp emulsion, as we do. Dahlias love cooling mulch like leaves, organic compost, year-old wood chips, etc. to keep their roots cool, retain moisture, and prevent weeds throughout the growing season. Dig your tubers out of the ground after the first frost, rinse, and store in a 40-45 degree basement with very high humidity for the following season. You can divide your tubers up before planting the following year, and have even more beautiful blooms in the future. Pick-up is on-farm in Pittston only, and purchasers will be notified via email of a good pick-up date, most likely around the middle of May. If you have a covered growing space, you may pick up at the beginning of May. Varieties are mostly blush, peach, orange, burgundy, and pink tones.