GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

gasdoctor · 20-07-2005, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jupiter

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 07:04:51 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 21:08:35 +0000, gasdoctor
wrote:

Hi,

Ive got quite a few dahlias in pots, (mainly cactus types), they have
flowered and look great but now something is devouring (destroying) the
flower buds before they open.

Any ideas, and more importantly a remedy?

Isn't it earwigs that damage dahlias? I've never grown them, but my
father-in-law used to. The traditional way was to fill a flowerpot
with straw or crumpled newspaper and invert it on a cane to the height
of the flowers. The earwigs are supposed to go inside the pots at
night and you can dispose of them each morning.
However you say it is the buds being damaged, so maybe it is slugs or
snails.

Pam in Bristol

Slugs and snails will normally eat the leaves and chew through the
stems on young plants, so there should definitely be other signs of
attack as well as the buds. Dahlias are very thirsty plants and need
a lot of watering - up to a gallon of water per day per flowering
plant, when in the ground, as well as regular feeding. I've never
grown them to maturity in pots but in the hot dry conditions we've
been having I could envisage having to water more than once a day.
Under drought conditions, the buds can drop off before flowering.
Earwigs don't really cause a lot of damage, they're more of an
aesthetic problem and if you cut flowers and take them in the house
you'll have earwigs everywhere. Dahlias are also prone to aphid
attack. Blackfly on mine has been particularly bad this year. They
congregate thickly on the flowering stems (along with the inevitable
ants) and if not dealt with the stems are severely weakened, causing
poor blooms or bud drop.

Cheers, I suspected slugs, after a bit of surfing and napalmed the mollusc population (sorry to song thrushes, but the cat would get you anyway) but the water issue is interesting coz they are growing on a very hot patio.

Thanks again, hopefully the blooms will return.