Planting Depth

12 years ago

My 89-year-old dad has been waiting for months to get his dinnerplate dahlia bulbs. He told me the instructions said to plant to a depth of 24 inches, so he dug down as far as he could, which was about 12 inches and planted them.

I thought that sounded awfully deep so I looked on Breck's website today, and it said planting depth of 2-3 inches!

My poor dad is getting so frail and his mind is starting to go, and I just so want his dahlias to come up. It gives him something to look forward to, and at his age, there is not much keeping him going.

Do you think his dahlias will come up anyway? He planted them 10 days ago.

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Comments (5)

linaria_gw
12 years ago
What zone are you in? If the tuber was straight from the bag it would just start to wake up after 10 days. And a newly bought tuber is usually quite small, so much easier to lift than an established one after a growing season. I would dig it up carefully, first uncover its top and check for growth, then lift it and replant, at 2-3 as recommended.

12 inches is quite deep, even in sandy soil, and it would take the tuber a lot/ too much energy to grow that far without light.

All the best for you and your dad, bye, Lin

Oh, and do make sure to stake them, each single stem if it was my dinnerplate D
graciemaxx
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Linaria
I looked at Breck's Website where he bought the bulbs from and it says Zone 10a. Does that mean anything to you? Because it doesn't to me, I'm not the gardener in the family! (I'm in Southern California.)

Thanks for the explanation. The tuber came from a bag, so I feel okay that we can rescue them and get them in the right place by Saturday. And will stake them too.

Thank you all again for your help!
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mandolls
12 years ago
Dinner plates are usually planted about 6" deep. 2-3" is very shallow (12" is definitely to deep). They are going to get 5-7 foot tall, and a strong wind could knock them over if they are not planted deep enough and staked well.

Southern CA is generally hot and dry. Dahlias like warmth but not super hot, and they need plenty of water once they get growing. It may be a struggle to grow them where you are.
graciemaxx
Original Author
12 years ago
mandolls
On the website it says full sun and 2-3 inches depth of planting, and they have a guarantee so I'll just go with what the website says and if they don't come up maybe we can get some more. Will have to wait until they come around again. I honestly don't know how much longer Dad's going to be around :( Has been having heart pains and won't to go to the doctor. I have literally gotten on my knees and begged through tears to no avail.. (Maybe he is just ready to go.) Mom calls him a stubborn Norwegian.
Thank you!
mandolls
12 years ago
They will definitely come up planted more shallow - but the bigs ones may topple easily, just make sure they are staked well.

I am in WI, near the MN border - stubborn Norwegians are the rule here :)