Vox Humana wrote:
I planted some large dahlias this year using a support system that someone
(here?) recommended. It consisted of tomato cages that had the lets cut
off. You put the cage on the ground, large circle down, and fastened it to
the ground with the wire legs that you cut off.

All went well for a while. The dahlia got to be about 6 feet tall and were
covered with flowers. Last nigh we had a moderate storm with some big
gusts. One neighbor lost his Bradford pear (not that it was a shock). The
wind broke off my dahlias about two feet from the ground. They are all bent
over and pinched tightly on main stem. I doubt that they could be uprighted
and live? Any advice would be appreciated. At this point I assume that the
only thing I can do is cut them off at the ground and let them start over.



Vox,

Sorry to hear about your Dahlia. I have had that happen to
several Dahlias in big storms and what I have done is
carefully upright and brace the plant. In cases where the
plant broke off I just trim up the plant and let it grow.
Sometime the plant blooms that season, if not, you can try
again next year (the plant should develop a good tuber for
next year if you let it continue to grow).

As for protecting your Dahlias from that happening again, I
recommend using the tall round tomato rings and for really
tall Dahlias using a tomato ring and a wood stake to brace
the plant. DON'T beak the legs of the rings off; stick them
as far as possible into the ground (so that the first ring
is about 6 inches from the ground.

I have over 60 Dahlias this year. For pictures of them go
to my web site http://members.iglou.com/brosen/dahlias1.htm

--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Digital Camera: HP PhotoSmart 850

For pictures of my garden flowers visit
http://members.iglou.com/brosen

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