Purple stems - is this normal?

21 years ago

Hi,

I'm a first-time dahlia grower. I planted 6 tubers early, late March I think, and they sprouted so high I had to move them outside (back inside for frost watches, np). I topped the tall ones like i was supposed to, and i noticed that when I moved them outside, they grew much more slowly (thank heavens - they were taking over our tiny laundry room).

Anyhow, I noticed the the two tallest ones seem happy except for one thing. Their stems, formerly a nice, normal green, have gone a deep rich purple. Is this due to the cool temps hardening the plant? Should I move them back inside? Do all dahlia stems go purple as they mature? How come the smaller ones haven't gone purple?

Sorry if this is a silly question, I did a search and coundn't find anything. Thanks for your help,

Christine

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Comments (5)

jroot
21 years ago
I have some with purple stems, and others with green stems. It may be the variety.
Poochella
21 years ago
Yes, it is likely the variety. I've noticed some eyes on heavily purple toned flowers are purple, if you cut into the tuber, IT has a purple tinge just inside the skin, and it applies to the stem as well. I don't think you have anything to worry about, except the frosty nights- and those are manageable as you said.
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plantlady2
21 years ago
A lot of dahlias get dark purple stems in the fall when the nights are colder so it was probably the cold that did it. A lot of our newer seedlings have purple stems & they look really nice with the pale pink or orange blooms- we even have a few that have burgandy stems & deep dark blooms- lovely!!
ladychroe
Original Author
21 years ago
Thank you! Glad to know it isn't anything to worry about. I think it might just be the variety, since I have 2 colors - yellow and red - and only half of them have the purple stems.
mollyzone5
21 years ago
The red ones have the purple stems.