Dahlia Trouble

[mariak]

I planted several dahlias in a new flower/veggie bed in a soil mix of a great compost, peat moss and vermiculite. It seems like the dahlias hate it. Some of them dropped their petals and others' have leaves that are getting crunchy. None of them have seemed to grow very much at all. Any thoughts? It's my first year growing them and I'm hoping to be a little bit more successful. Also, this may be a newbie question, but after the petals fall out are you supposed to remove the green head?

[bullthistle]

Not that knowledgeable on dalhia's but it would seem to me that your soil is too light with the vermiculite added. It may be that there isn't enough mositure and yes I'd cut off the flower bud.

[CharlieBear]

Sorry, I didn't spot this question much earlier. In their native habitat Daliah are "swamp" flowers. They like heavy and damp soil generally. Unless you don't have room, next time plant them in the soil directly and keep them fairly moist. They are natives of central america according to a grower my father did some work with, but of course they now come in many more colors and sizes than the orginal, thanks to growers cross pollination etc

[mariak]

Thank you for your posts. Very helpful. I think they probably needed much more water than they were getting. Learn something new every day! =)