It depends on your growing season, whether you prestarted the tuber prior to the last frost date, and your cultivation practices.

In Zone 5/6, I get a bit over a month of blooms from this variety before frost, with several blooms per plant going at one time.

Prestarting, consistent watering and fertilizing, supporting the plant and disbudding the wing buds from each trio of potential blooms will get you the maximum number of properly-sized blooms with good stem length for cutting. Some growers disbud down the next set of buds for longer stems, or for show.

Nice picture ! How tall did your NIck Sr. grow ?

Would a single Nick Sr. do well in a 12 inch diameter pot ? I am buying tubers from an online catalog. They grade them as #1 clump size.

Last year I measured late September, and the Nick Sr. plants were an average of 6.5 feet. Can't find my notes from the year before right now, but I believe it was about the same height.

Personally, I have had lousy luck trying to keep them in pots through blooming season. I've done it, but the plants are SO much healthier in the ground, as I just don't have the patience to hand-water as much as each pot really needs. I MUCH prefer to irrigate each row with a leaky hose, turn on the tap and walk away.

If you must pot them, put them in the biggest pot you can and keep them from drying up under the hot sun and hot roots .... I grew a few in huge 30" pots and they were pretty sad... I don't think they liked the warm roots And staking is very hard to do in a pot with a dahlia that large

Is starting them indoors in 5 inch square pots okay ? Or do I need to go out and buy some larger pots? I am planning to start them under grow lights around mid April and then transfer them outdoors mid May....so about 5 weeks total indoors.

The tubers will be arriving in the mail early April and are #1 size clumps (according to online retailer).

Sounds perfect... Most growers I know use four inch pots to start them, larger if the tubers are large. Just make sure the clump is covered by just-damp potting mix, as it's easy to overwater them before they start to grow.

How many days before Nick Sr. blooms if I direct plant the clumps outside around middle of May ?

The clumps I received were very large...about 11 inches in diameter if I spread the tubers out in a circle. I do not have enough space under my small grow lights to handle large pots.

Be sure not to crack the necks of the tubers when 'spreading them out!' I would estimate late September, if conditions are optimal. Around 90 days for the biggies. This one always takes its sweet 'ol time for me.

Lost it this winter, sadly.

Here in Jersey I thought my Nick Sr. grew abnormally tall. They

(couple plants) grew to about 7ft tall and had to use a chair or step ladder to cut the blooms. Despite the size, they were early bloomers and once they started it was non-stop till frost. They were everybody's favorite at my workplace since I keep bringing arrangements for everyone to enjoy.

Al,

Were the Nick Sr. plants pinched off ? The packaging on my tuber clumps say 40" height.

Three and a half feet? HA! Maybe from Ivory Palace or Kidds Climax (biggies that are short growers), but not Nick Sr! Not if it's requirements for water and fertilizer is met, anyhow. Lack of sun can stretch plants, but my pair was in full sun at 6.5', and that was stopped at three leaf sets for two years running.

Any vendor who grades the dahlia tuber size like it has anything to do with the quality of the plant is likely to not know the details of the specific varieties they sell. Plus, if they divulged 5-6 foot average, it might scare potential buyers away.

It's been almost 3 weeks since I potted 3 Nick Sr. clumps indoors. One pot has a 4-5 inch tall plant. The other 2 pots do not have any sprout(s) yet.

Are these 2 pots duds ?

I'd give it five weeks before declaring them duds. Nick Sr. tends to be slow in everything. One small clump (different variety) I thought was a goner just sprouted for me, weeks after all my other tubers sprouted that were started at the same time.

Make sure the soil is not allowed to get soggy or dried out, either of which will set it back.

The 2 clumps still do not have any sprouting. Are they officially duds after six weeks ?

The one that did sprout is now planted outdoors. It does seem a bit slow to grow.

If I only had limited tubers, I'd give it a burial in an out of the way place, and peek end of June to see if there was any activity. It's fun hearing the stories of wildly successful 'compost' dahlia plants from avid growers. You can never quite tell when the 'dead' will rebound!

By the way, Dan, I hold you fully responsible for me splurging on a very nice Nick Sr. plant at the last dahlia auction I attended. ;-)

This thread reminded me how much I've enjoyed this cultivar, so I bid more then I usually do on the plant. I was able to make three plants out of the one, as it was someone's potroot from last year with only one cutting having been made off it.

Good luck with the Nick Sr. plants and post a couple pictures when they bloom. I hope my single plant will do well.

At 90 days, my sole Nick Sr. plant has a couple buds the size of a nickel...but no wing buds. Is this weird ?