jay65
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Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 25, 2016 17:56:30 GMT
hi jay 75 welcome and where are you based Hi Robh. I'm down near Oxford by the way.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 25, 2016 17:55:41 GMT
Hi jay65 Raymond re the jack's magic I had exactly the same problem with watering last year and I do not like it sitting rather than soaking away. I think some of my watering issues were due to jacks magic, which is a shame as i can get it at a very very good price. I f anyone has any suggestions then tag me too - lol I think all you can do is mix it with Perlite or Vermiculite to help with drainage, but obviously that dilutes it's effect to some extent, and means the tubers may need a feed a little more often. As for cuttings, my preference would be to not use it at all.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 25, 2016 16:51:47 GMT
A welcome from me jay65 I have used Jack's magic for my tubers. Seems to be ok. I used it last year and worked well. I mix mine with perlite rather than vermiculite. Won't be using it for the cuttings though. Noticed your growing Ruskin avenger one I hope to grow this year myself. All the best I think any media can vary slightly from batch to batch. But I'll just treat the tubers with kid gloves as they've already rooted in the main. And I'll either add more vermiculite to aid drainage or go back to last years Sinclairs Potting/vermiculite 50/50 for the rest of the cuttings this year. Ruskin Avenger was a decent performer but I wanted to try Ruskin Harmony as well this year. I have taken some pics today of my set up and progress so far this year. so I'll post them a bit later this evening.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 25, 2016 12:43:20 GMT
I'm new to the forum, so be gentle guys eh? Just wanted to share my year and get some ideas and pointers. Well, all my tubers have been set up on my heat benches for a few weeks already. Most are going well, but still a few slow starters I'm afraid, but guess that's normal. Fingers crossed for this year. Hiya Jay, Looking forward to reading your posts and getting to know you more - I am expecting to learn a lot more from you than vice versa. The more I read from other reading other people's posts is that there is a huge range of ways of growing dahlias. Never a single right way of growing, more a case this one has worked in the past for me and this way I am going to try and do it...
Hi Moonlight. Hope you are well today? Nice to meet you. I think there is always things to learn, no matter what the subject or how long someone has been doing it. I think my main issue at the moment for me, is medium for cuttings. I know there are a lot of views and ways discussed on here. Last year I used a mix of sieved Sinclairs Potting and Bedding media mixed with vermiculite around 50/50. This year I'm using Jacks Magic and vermiculite to try and get my cuttings to strike. I'm finding this batch of Jacks Magic to be a little odd. When you water it, you have to virtually drench it to get it to drain to the bottom, and if you water less it just hangs around on the top of the mix with soaking evenly to the bottom. One risks damping off, and the other risks transpiration. I could add a touch more vermiculite I suppose to try and get it to drain better. But I've just gone and bought some the stuff I had last year to see if that does the trick. Unfortunately my tubers are already in the Jacks magic, so I can't change that, and when I water them, you really have to soak the baskets to get it to drain to the bottom of the trays, and this also leaves the surface 'boggy'. Obviously this is not good for the tubers. I can change the media for the cuttings, no issue, but the tubers will have to be treated with kid gloves I think.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 24, 2016 21:56:14 GMT
Hi Cat, Dave's choice is a miniature Dec white with a lavinder flush, Winkie Lambrusco is a red pompon it won the seedling class to years ago at Harrogate it is rather a big Pompon so could be grown as a large Pom. That's right. If I get some good cuttings from Winkie Lambrusco, I'll see how the sizes differ depending on how many up I will grow it. So that will be a good experiment. I only received my Winkie Lambrusco tubers this week, so they're only just set up, and obviously still asleep. Whereas some of my early tubers that were set up around Christmas are galloping away. Kenora Challenger is doing well, and Hamari Girl are going nuts. I had 3 tiny awful looking weedy Hamari Girl tubers and thought they wouldn't be up to much. Just shows that sometimes just because a tuber is fat and plump, doesn't guarantee success. My Oakwood Goldcrests are still asleep after 1 month on the benches (nothing new there), and Red Diamond too, and my Bracken Ballerina are shooting only from the top of the stem, which makes the shoots very thin, small and weedy. At the moment, I think they're the ones that will be my main issues this year, but still very early to tell obviously, just a feeling! It's a shame about Bracken Ballerina because it's my fave Waterlily. I may pick up some mini plants from Halls of Heddon, so that I can grow them on and have a better stock of tubers next year.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 24, 2016 21:36:57 GMT
Thanks Cat. I really look forward to picking up some tips as I go forward, and maybe posting some Pics of how my set up is progressing through the season, but for me, this is all about learning. I had a really good year last year, so I thought I would expand things quite significantly this year, much to the frustration of my long suffering 'other half'.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 24, 2016 21:26:21 GMT
Thanks guys.
Yes, I know I'm pretty early, but I wanted to kind of trial a few varieties because with only 3 years experience, I have a lot to learn when it comes to knowing what works for me, and what doesn't. So the way I look at it, is that if I were to go with lets say Dikara Superb, and it didn't propagate well for me, then I would be kind of 'stuffed' for a small Dec for example. So if I run with Dikara Superb + Barbarry Pip + Blyton Golden Girl + Marston George + Ryecroft Brenda T + Winholme Diane. By doing that with each group, using the same growing method side by side in the same year, I feel that's the best way for me to get a feel for a Small/Min Dec that suits my growing methods best. I do the same with all the groups, and this means that I can narrow things down to specialize in the varieties that suit me best. Obviously have 36 varieties this year is going to be full on, but I will cut that down to probably half that next year, safe in the knowledge that the ones I'm growing what works well for me.
I know that some will be more successful than others, that's normal for everyone I guess. I just don't want to set my stall out and go all in with 6-8 varieties then 3 are failures, I'm only left with perhaps 4 good varieties. Whereas if I trial 36 varieties and 10-15 are poor performers then I'll still have 20-25 strong performing varieties.
These are the varieties I'm doing this year:
Hamari Girl White Alvas Alvas Supreme Cafe Au Lait Trooper Dan Kenora Challenger Hillcrest Duncan Edwards Sir Alf Ramsey Andrew Mitchell Kenora Wow Oakwood Goldcrest Vals Candy Avoca Amanda Hillcrest Royal Ruskin Harmony Red Diamond Hillcrest Candy Grenidor Pastelle Trelyn Kiwi Kiwi Gloria Weston Stardust Ruskin Avenger Westerton Folly Jomanda Marys Jomanda Daves Choice Blyton Softer Gleam Barbarry Pip George Marston Blyton Golden Girl Dikara Superb Winholme Diane Winkie Lambrusco Karen G Harriet G Carolina Moon
I have 2 polytunnels, and a allotment, and as I said, it's going to be 'full on'. I just hope it's going to be good year for us all!
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 24, 2016 18:34:53 GMT
Hi Ian,
This is just my 3rd year of Dahlia growing, so a mere novice in comparison to many. I don't do exhibiting yet, as I don't have enough knowledge yet about the science involved and in particular what exactly judges look for. As time goes on, I may dip my toe. But I don't enjoy all that getting too competitive mode that some people let get the better of them sometimes.
I'm growing about 30 different varieties this year. As I said, most of my tubers were set up end of December, but I've just had a few extras come in this week, that I've just set up in my Poytunnel in trays.
Of the first tubers I set up, I've already got about 75 cuttings and potted on 8 plants so far. I'll use all my early cuttings as mother plants.
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jay65
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by jay65 on Jan 24, 2016 17:16:17 GMT
I'm new to the forum, so be gentle guys eh?
Just wanted to share my year and get some ideas and pointers.
Well, all my tubers have been set up on my heat benches for a few weeks already. Most are going well, but still a few slow starters I'm afraid, but guess that's normal. Fingers crossed for this year.
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