Blooming Times

Most dahlias will be blooming, on average, 90 days after planting. The earliest blooming dahlias will be most of the Low Growing Dwarf dahlias and early blooming varieties, which will bloom approximately 75 days after planting. While the larger blooms (8" bloom size and larger) will take approximately 120 days from planting to bloom. The great thing with dahlias though regardless of when they start to bloom is that they will bloom through frost. However, this bloom time greatly depends on the growing environment including weather, deep watering, fertilizing, and overall care given.

Cut Flowers

The best time to cut your dahlias is in the cool mornings, although you may cut at any time of day. When selecting your blooms choose blooms that are 1/2 to 2/3 open. Cut your dahlia stems at least 12" long to help your plant. You may be taking multiple unopened buds from some varieties to get the desired stem length. Place the cut stems in 2-3" inches of very hot water, 160-180 degrees (hotter than most standard house hot water tanks, but not boiling).

Put them in a metal or plastic container (coffee can or plastic bucket) and allow them to remain in the hot water until it has cooled, or about 1 hour. Do not use glass containers as the water will cool too quickly. We recommend adding “cut flower” food at this point such as Floralife. Be sure that your bloom heads are above the container edge so that the steam will not burn the flower petals. This is a one-time “hot water” treatment. This will set your blooms and help your dahlias last 4-6 days or more. After this process has been completed, the stem that was in the hot water will show a slightly different color, which is just a watermark on the stem. At this point, you can cut your stems to any length you like, and they do not need to be re-treated if cut and should go in cool tap water. It is best to change your water daily in your vases and keep all leaves out of the water as they promote and create bacteria that will shorten the life of the blooms.

Pruning & Best Practices

Removing dead blooms from your plants and cutting your dahlias will help promote more blooms and stronger plants. The more you cut, the more they bloom! Please remember not all dahlias are great cut flowers.

Lacking Blooms?

Dahlias will hibernate if they are not receiving proper water or fertilizer. If your dahlias are green plants lacking blooms, then most likely they are waiting for more water, food, and/or direct sunlight. Dahlias require deep watering 3-4 times a week by a soaker hose or sprinkler for 60+ minutes each session when planted in the ground, as the water must reach the roots that are 8-10” deep or watered at least 1-2 times daily if planted in pots. Hand watering with a hose or watering can is not sufficient for dahlias and will not allow the water to get deep enough to their roots.

Dahlias also require low nitrogen fertilizer which should be applied about every 3-4 weeks for in the ground plants and every 2-3 weeks for dahlias growing in pots. They also need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day to thrive. If your dahlias are struggling in the summer, please give them 1 dose of high nitrogen fertilizer and ½ cup of Epsom salts (per plant) to help them take off. Two weeks after the one application of high nitrogen fertilizer you may repeat the high nitrogen dose and Epsom salts if your plants have not improved, or you may switch back to low nitrogen fertilizer and apply it every 3-4 weeks. Please increase your water if you are not giving them the suggested amount per our recommendations. They should take off in 10-14 days once our recommendations are followed. Remember rainwater is not sufficient for watering your dahlias.