Dahlias 2012 season

[Tel]

Jul 2, 2012 7:51:57 GMT Lou78W said:

Thats a shame Tel. Could you post a pic of an affected plant....so we all know what to look out for?...please.
I can't imagine you NOT growing dahlias

Here is a bit of smut Lou. ;D

[Cherry]

That is bad Tel and it must affect the flowering, even if it is just a little.

[Tel]

Jul 3, 2012 18:41:02 GMT Cherry said:

That is bad Tel and it must affect the flowering, even if it is just a little.

If i keep on top of it with the spraying, the side shoots that form and will have the blooms, on should stay clear of the smut and the blooms will be ok.

[Lou78W]

;DThanks for that Tel....not the sort of "smut" I'm used to....lol

[dcdahlia]

I just live with it tel,if you are growing a few hundred its just not possible to rest any ground and spraying regularly keeps it at bay so it does not effect the blooms.

[scrumpy]

Ever thought of using armillatox.
It can be used for clubroot, maybe it may help with smut?
Depending on how big your plot is, a 5 litre bottle of it should make up 500 Litres of solution, which will cover about 40 foot by 40 foot.

[scrumpy]

Jun 26, 2012 20:05:34 GMT scrumpy said:

Started tying in the mediums and giants today. Removed some early buds off Pim's Moonlight. Plants looking nice and growing quickly now, cannot make my mind up if they are ahead or behind. Think they are ahead. This time next week will give me more of an idea.

They are all shooting up nicely now. Never seen them looking so "green", which suggests that a lot of nitrogen has been released in the soil. I'll be fertilising now with this

elixirgardensupplies.co.uk/gardeners-shop?page=shop.product_details&flypage=yagendoo_VaMazing_1.tpl&product_id=694&category_id=94&keyword=elixir+1+2+3

not tried it before but the low nitrogen high potash seems an ideal formula

[Tel]

I will be going down to the allotment today, i have 3 bread trays full of stock plants in 3in pots, going to move them into the greenhouse, just in case the weather forecast is correct for tomorrow, because i do not have enough life jackets for them all.

[Cherry]

You are a ball of fun today Tel! ;D

[Tel]

;D

[Lou78W]

Be positive Tel.....the forecast is not always right

[scrumpy]

It's time to let a few plants produce some early blooms.
I'll be letting the crown bud flower to see how they grow to their full potential, and hopefully in about 3 weeks time they'll be ready.
The ones I'll let flower are Ruskin Bride and Barbarry Melody. They were the two I had last year that I think have lots of potential but were grown off very poor plants. So I'll know if my instincts were right.
The others are Senzoe Ursula and Winholme Diane. The stems on Senzoe will tell me how much Potash I have in the soil. Winholme will tell me if the thrips will be around.

[Tel]

Senzoe is a cracking bloom, its a shame it does not have the stem to go with it, like you say plenty of potash.

[scrumpy]

it also likes a bit of sunlight....it had about 2 hours today until the rain came again

[steve2t]

I hope everybodys plants are doing better than mine, I'ts very hard watching your plants drowning, at this rate I wont be showing anything. The only plants that look like they might produce blooms are 35 Franz Kafkas. Steve in the Lancashire Everglades!!!! I think It might be water lilies next year! (or carp)