Dahlia Season 2017

[Raymond]

diggie slow and steady you have plenty of time as johndoe says they will wake up when they are ready to. They do drive you a bit crazy though wanting then to wake up. Not all mine boxed up I finished trimming up yesterday evening . Will set them away on sunday.

Split a couple of winholm diane that I think the neck was going so to keep them viable had a look for dormant eyes and split in half and cut away the soft neck it was starting to go near the crown so thought better safe than sorry. But I have plenty of wdiane tubers so will select the best solid ones.

[johndoe]

I'm already for the off now .  New blades at the ready, fresh pot of Strike, sterilized water, and new cell trays.  Hot bed set at 16'C.  Going to be the last year of cable heating for my cuttings. Will be extending the bed by another 40 inches, so will be ordering a bed from hotbox, which are much more efficient and easier to move around than the sand filled trays.  My cutting mix is 2 parts clover compost to 1 part horticultural sand, and 1 part vermiculite.  Works for me .

[Cat]

looks and sounds great. Happy days

[johndoe]

Thanks Cat. How's your little champion doing? Not getting you running around too much with dahlia planning, I hope .

Went up to the allotment for the first time since Christmas, to see how my weed killing was going on my new plot.  Very happy with the results, everything brown and dead, and just about ready for ploughing.  Also my old plot behind the new one is looking good to. Pulled back the covers, and not a sign of any weeds. I've got two tons of horse manure coming soon to dig in the old plot, as recommended by the RHS soil testing team.  The new plot should be okay, as nothing has been grown on it for two years. Will give it some growmore when I rotovate it in March, then Q4 as a top dressing three weeks prior to planting out.

My first plot in the background with the covers pulled back. Just need to start pulling down the old wood structure, and get the new polytunnel frame up

Everything nice and dead, ready for the plough. I've got enough polytunnel frame to cover both plots. All I need now is to grow better blooms than I have before!!!

[diggie]

Hi johndoe, Have now got all my tubers on heat. As you say be patient. Still only 3 have woken up.

[Cat]

johndoe the boss is quiet at the minute...too quiet lol. We are off next week and that's when we make a start with a stock check, planting a few precious ones for bringing indoors and having a final sort out. Will be good to start something some folk are WAY ahead but hey that's how it is...yet it only takes one winning vase

[Deleted]

Your plot is looking promising JD. Shouldn't take too much work to clear the dead weed prior to rotovating. Looks even better on a bright winter day! Mine is well dug, covered in semi rotted horse manure which I'll turn in this month. (old school hand-draulic style) Then it will be all systems go in a few weeks when the tubers come out (and into my propagation tent in the large greenhouse) and loads of veg to get started. Like the look of Rossendale Hero btw, lovely small ball.

[johndoe]

Feb 6, 2017 18:32:47 GMT Cat said:

johndoe the boss is quiet at the minute...too quiet lol. We are off next week and that's when we make a start with a stock check, planting a few precious ones for bringing indoors and having a final sort out. Will be good to start something some folk are WAY ahead but hey that's how it is...yet it only takes one winning vase

Don't you worry about being behind.  You can only do with what you have. I'm pretty sure that sometime in the near future, you'll have heat mats and all the other bits of kit.  As you rightly say, "it only takes one winning vase".

Good luck

[johndoe]

Sounds like you're ready for lift off David!! Saw your pictures you posted earlier, everything was looking pretty good. Good luck with the hand digging, I'm aching just thinking about it. Not a job I'm looking forward to .

I'm hoping to do well with it this year, then getting enough stock of it so others can have a go growing it, that's the plan.....anyway.

[Raymond]

Looking great johndoe . I could take some oakwood goldcrest cuttings but leaving them for now. Taken off the heat as.moving to fast. They will slow down but that is fine. 

6 of the 7 oakwood awake , 5 of the six cherwell awake and both jersie field tubers.

Just getting signs of life in Mary's jomanda, jomanda and robs symbol. 

Everything else on the go now bar collerettes I split them today and will get them going mid  to end of the month. Always feel brutal doing it but glad I did as a touch of rot in two seedlings that I caught in time which I carefully removed and treated. 

[Raymond]

I like you @davidv got a lot of hand digging to do ! Me back

[diggie]

I am getting very envious Raymond, mine are still not moving.

[Raymond]

Feb 8, 2017 23:23:19 GMT diggie said:

I am getting very envious Raymond, mine are still not moving.

Still got to root the cuttings diggie and I am not very good at that. 

Goldcrests need a bit more heat to get them awake I found. Jersie the same as bred from cherwell . 

You could mist some hot water on the crowns and if you have a propagator but the tubers in it just until you see eyes . 

[Deleted]

Three more weeks before my tubers come out of storage! Impractical for me to start sooner but should still be takings cuttings mid April onwards. Gives me plenty of time for activities like our old fave, digging! Our plots have very light free draining soil (unlike your heavy London clay Raymond) so it's not that difficult. I dug it over roughly late Autumn and spread manure, now in the process of turning it in. see pics. I trick myself by using lines and doing one strip at a time. I have a newish stainless digging spade and an ancient forged steel spade. I've found the old spade lighter, cuts into the soil easily. They don't make spades this quality now so I'll be looking out at the carboots this summer. 

Extremely boring pic


Stainless versus Forged steel, no contest

[diggie]

Hi Raymond, I have a purpose built hot bed with an enclosure covered with bubble wrap and fleece with the roof covered with loft insulation. The soil temperature is 18/19'C and the enclosure temperature of 10-14'C. My tubers should be nice and cosy but refuse to wake up.