Bring dahlias forward to flower earlier
Dahlias are not hardy. As soon as the tender shoots get frost, they die. You should therefore only plant dahlias outdoors when frosts are no longer expected. You shouldn't put the tubers in the ground before the end of April.
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However, it then takes a few weeks for the young shoots to cross the ground and come to the surface.
Moving forward saves you the waiting time for the first flowers because the tubers can develop their first shoots in pots, tubs or the cold frame protected from frost.
Prefer as protection from snails
Not only garden fans love dahlias, snails also like to eat the colorful summer flowers. By pulling it forward, you protect the delicate dahlia shoots from falling prey to pests.
Older shoots of dahlias have a bitter taste that snails don't like. Preferred plants leave the snails alone.
Suitable places for preferring georgines
The place to grow dahlias must be warm, airy and light. Good places are:
- Windowsill, preferably to the east or west
- Winter garden
- Cold frame
When moving forward in the cold frame, make sure that the soil is no longer too cold and nice and loose. During the day you can open the cover of the bed, at night you have to put it on again and again.
So prefer dahlias
For driving on the windowsill or in the winter garden, you need pots or buckets that are deep enough. The larger the dahlia bulbs, the deeper the planter needs to be.
Place a pottery shard on the drain hole and fill the pots with nutritious garden soil.
The tubers are placed so deep in the vessels that they are covered by a layer of earth about three centimeters thick. Water the soil only lightly.
Care when moving forward
The dahlia bulbs do not need much care. You do not have to water regularly until the shoots can be seen.
Make sure, however, that no waterlogging forms. It makes the tubers rot.
Put into the open air only after the Ice Saints
You can only put the georgines in a sunny spot in the garden after the ice saints in mid to late May. Before that, the risk is too great that the ground will freeze again at night, which will freeze the tender shoots.
Plant the pre-grown tubers together with the potting soil in the prepared planting hole.
Tips & Tricks
If you want to cultivate the pre-grown dahlias later on the terrace or balcony, you should put them in suitable pots right away. Then you save yourself transplanting.
