If you dont ahve them very deep in the soil (just so the tuber is covered) they might be up before to long. If you planted like 6 inches down then it might be longer. If you have them in a pot inside you might want to set the pot outside on a warm afternoon in the sun it will help give it a boost too. It really is hard to tell but you'll know it when you see it! have fun

Thanks Dapperdahlia :-) I am still waiting for signs of growth. I scratched the surface of the soil a bit and I saw a stick like thing, but I think its part of the tuber. I only put a layer of about 2" thick soil over it. Making sure it gets lots of light.

I know its really hard to wait. Me being as impatient as I am i had to dog up the no shows after a while and yell at them (poochella's advice) and it helped them out a little. good luck!

Did it have eyes?

GrannyMarsh---No I dont see any eyes. But do you mean if the tuber had eyes? I posted the pic of the tuber some time back because I couldn't make out head or tail of it. We concluded that it might have had an eye but couldnt be too sure....Do you think I should dig it up or just leave it?

GENTLY emphisis on GENTLY dig it up just in case it does have an eye on it ( I've knocked a few off being impatient ) It might be that an eye developed on the underside and is still trying to find its way up.

As instructed, I gently dug up the tuber. I did see what looked like eyes, but they weren't green in color so I am not too sure. But I did take some photos. I know its difficult to tell from photographs but I will appreciate any ideas. I did put the tuber back in the soil and this time covered with less soil.

View #1:
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View #2 (could the rounded portion in the top right hand corner have an eye on it?)
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View #3:(ooppps. This photo is upside down, or more like 90 degrees off)

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oh my, well none of my tubers looked like that...mine all looked more like potatoes. This looks like a piece of tree bark. Hate to break it to you but A, i dont see any eyes, and B i dont think its going to do much..there arent even any root hairs on it... sorry cant help you any more than that. I dont know much about the growing season in the Bahamas but maybe you could buy another tuber or if this one came from a company that offers to replace tubers that dont sprout call the company. I dont know...

Thanks DapperDahlia. Actually it looks better now then it did before I planted it LOL so I naturally thought soemthing was happening. Its pretty funny actually. I am laughing to myself right now. I bought it from a nursery over here. They have been around for quite a long time. Last time I checked they were not selling any more dahlia tubers, I think I might have gotten the last one in the box.

Thank you for your valuable opnion and time :-)

Hi Dazed,
Oh my...
I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure you have an offspring of this creature from the movie "Alien" in your garden. I believe it should be installed shallowly in your nearest compost pile where you can watch it for some growth but I wouldn't spend much time waiting. I do not see eyes there no matter how long I stare at it. I have never seen anything like the black goo on the right of view #1 and I have never seen a tuber look anything like this either. My free advice would be not to buy from that particular nursery again.
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Hi there Poochella :-) Here I am again with my endless Dahlia questions :-).. The 'Alien' is hideous LOL. I hope my offspring are prettier than him! Yes, I am not bothering about it anymore and not expecting anything either, but I did put it back into the gallon container that I took it out of. I have no use for the container right now anyway. Oh the goo in view #1 is actually black soil that I didn't spray off. The soil was kind of wet when I took the tuber out and I just dunked it in water to rinse out some of the soil that it was covered with. I will let you all know if any miracles occur over here :-)

Thank you very much!

hi dazed.
how do you store your tubers, , they seemed totally dried out for me

Hansevaldsen--I planted it almost as soon as I bought it, after spending some hours asking here on how to identify the parts etc. The nursery that I bought it from had it in a brown box on a shelf in an air conditioned room. I don't know how long its been there for, maybe since the beginning of the season, but it was I think the last in the box. I haven't thrown it out. Its lying in the same container at the back of the house.

Hello

I planed my Dahlia tubers about 18 days ago and I do not see any sprout, I followed the instruction that came with them how to plan and grow dahlia tubers. However, the next day after I planed them it was raining here in NYC for about three days continuously. Do you think that I have to wait more time or is there any thing that I can do. Thank you

Isn't it still too cold to plant out in NYC? Dahlias like the ground temp. to be 60* or better & will either just sit there & sulk until it warms up or they will just plain rot. You can gently dig around the neck & see if they've started to sprout. If they have, cover them up again & pretend you didn't disturb them! If they've rotted you're out of luck & will have to start again when the weather warms up more. It also depends on how deep you planted them. We always just cover the tubers with about 1/2" of soil & as the sprout grows we fill in until the ground is either level or slightly mounded around the stem-- the sprout starts sooner because it's not as deep & the ground is warmer because you have a bit of a hollow to hold the heat in.

if i hadnt known that was a dahlia tuber.....i would have never been able to guess.....its ugly....i remember a few that i pulled out of storage...that looked a bit similar...shriveled....gave me the giggles though.....thanx

Measured soil temp with dial thermometer last week, temp was 63 degrees F at about five inches down.

Dahlia planted middle of April came up this weekend.

Live in Central NJ not that far from NYC.

Hi,
Well I planted my dinner plates a week ago when it was warm, but now we have had a low pressure system hovering over us for 4-5 days of low to high 40's and rain all the time! Should I dig them up or wait it out?

Good day...
intercessor
This is my first dahlias or gardening year for that matter...

I know this is an old post but figured I would comment just in case someone stumbles upon this hoping for advice~ it looks like it has been over watered. Dahlia do not like to be over watered and are susceptible to root rot. Plant them in well drained soil and allow them to dry out completely between watering. Hope this helps someone ;)

I'll add to Jennie's thought. Dahlia tubers really aren't supposed to be watered until you actually see it sprouting through the soil. Then it's ok to give them a good deep watering.

Great points, cici! I live in the pacific northwest where bone-dry soil is practically unheard of. lol

Very helpful advice cici and everyone. I planted good looking tubers with eyes 3-4 weeks ago and a few have started to sprout but unfortunately I think bunnies might be getting to the 2 or 3 that sprouted. The other 10 or so have not come up at all. So my question to you all is can it get to hot for the tubers to send up their shoots? It has been HOT here on the western slope of colorado zone 5a/b. I have watered once a week as our soil does not stay moist long. It is well amended soil. Also, can you plant too deep? I think I planted mine 4 inches deep if I remember correctly from my instructions. Thanks!

Four inches down should be fine, and will insulate the tuber from any excessive heat you might be experiencing. If they are sprouting out of the ground, their shoot is probably 3-4 inches long... most likely your tuber has rooted, too. If your soil tends to dry out, start watering the sprouted ones more frequently. I run my soaker hoses every couple days for short spurts to keep the ground moist but not soggy. I believe that dry soil causes interruptions in the growth of the dahlia, which is more obvious when you are grooming a specific bloom for show.

Bunnies are a whole different topic--- once they get a taste of dahlia, the two best options is shooting them or fencing your dahlias off. Once the dahlia is over two feet, rabbits and slugs generally leave the plants alone.

Thank you for the GREAT advice cicivacation!

I've planted dahlia tubers for the first time in pots four weeks ago. The Temp lately in Arizona state was triple digits. Now the monsoon rains every night.Are they over watered? No sign of growth coming up yet. I'm afraid they are dead rotten!

One way to find out... upturn one, and check for growth/rot!

If the potting soil you used has good drainage (ie, not too much peat moss that holds moisture in), then the excessive rain shouldn't matter too much. I'd worry more over the very high temps in a pot that might absorb rather then deflect the heat. Planted in the ground, high heat shouldn't matter, as the earth surrounding the tubers help keep temps moderated. Pots, especially small black ones, can be a death sentence.

Good luck!
CiCi