I'm not certain about the z6Pa frost zone, but I would think it might be too cold to plant in the ground. It seems to me that dahlias like the soil to be warm. Here in zone 5, it is just starting to get warm, and we KNOW that there will be frosts which will kill the dahlia plants. Hence we pot the tubers, and get a head start that way, and plant out at the end of May or early June when all danger of frost is over.

That being said, and realizing that you "planted" on April 14th, and today is April 18th, I think you have a few weeks before the shoots come, but that depends on the weather. If it is warm, they can shoot up in a few days. If it is cold, it will take longer.

I potted mine a few weeks ago, and am still waiting for some tubers to sprout. I'm not worried though, as I have more than I can use which are up already.

Its been 75-80 the last couple of days, no rain, and full sun. I was talking to some growers i know in New Jersey and they told me taht i could safely plant.

A frost will likely kill back the foliage, but it won't kill the tuber. I have some in a raised bed and some in normal garden soil. The ones in the raised bed are just starting to come up and I am 6 hours south of you. I would think yours won't be up for several weeks to a month.

It really depends on your tubers. A couple of mine had already started to show growth when I planted, & after a week they are out of the ground. The ones with no growth there is no sign of yet, but I know from experience that they will be up. Patience :) It has been warm here too for at least a week.

Invariably I run out of patience and dig up the slow ones carefully to yell 'HURRY UP' at them. Every year, like clockwork. I say I'm not going to, and I always do : )

A friend of mine, received a dahlia from me, and set it out on her driveway. Unfortunately she forgot to bring it in one cold day, and it froze. She figured it was lost, and almost ditched it. I suggested she leave it alone, water it, and see what happened.....nothing ventured, nothing gained. Well, today she informed me that it now has 3 stocks coming up where there had only been one before. Tough little devils aren't they.

So, DapperDahlia, you may indeed by okay to plant, but I tend to agree with Bill

The rule of thumb in my area, is to test the soil temp. If the soil temp is 70 degrees, plant. I have planted at lower temps but they just sit there until it warms up and you take the chance of rot. Here it takes any where from aweek to two weeks depending on the variety. I'm like Poochella if they are slow, do a gentle dig and talk to them reminding them that the sun will feel so good and Hurry Up! LOL My neighbors think I am nuts until they get that yearly bouquet.

PS Poochella, The ? all got eyes, I am so excited, Thanks

Well i planted another 23 tubers yesterday bringing to total to 84, and i can see 2 sprouts. 90% of the tubers i planted had visible eyes so i'm not worried. I took poochella's advice and dug one up and yelled at it. I realized i planted it to deep and it wasnt getting the sun so most of the tubers i planted are shallow and i will pile dirt around to support stems once they come up. Woo Hoo i feel like a gardener!

LOL! I've created a monster. It wasn't exactly advice Dapper- it was more of a silly thing I do because of lack of patience. But if it gave you some measure of satisfaction to yell at the tuber, then all's well.

I also do this to see if the slow tubers do indeed have eyes/sprouts or if they are rotting. It's not a lot, but a few get the 'dig-em-up' treatment each season. You don't have to yell at them, you can gently say "What's wrong? Are you shy?" "Having problems?" then yell "Get with the program! I don't have all year."

We have another glorious sunny day in store and my shovel's at the ready. All this talk about planting has my trigger finger itchy, but I know it's too early to plant here.... sigh

RE: > You don't have to yell at them,
you can gently say "What's wrong? Are you shy?"
"Having problems?"

then yell "Get with the program!
I don't have all year."

HILARIOUS! I'm lovin it!
Can't stop laffin...