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Post by ian on Dec 30, 2016 20:55:39 GMT
Hi Dahlia buds, wishing you all the best for the New Year. Hope you all have a great season which has started already for me. Let's hope for loads of red cards for the show persons and bunches of blooms from the garden. Good luck and good fortune. Ian
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 30, 2016 23:00:00 GMT
Thanks, Ian. I'll probably see you at some of the shows.
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Post by johndoe on Dec 31, 2016 9:26:57 GMT
Happy New year to you Ian, and the family. Going to turn on the heat tomorrow, so not to far behind you.
All the best for the coming season my friend |
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Post by Cat on Dec 31, 2016 18:06:06 GMT
Happy New Year everyone  |
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Post by lesley on Dec 31, 2016 19:06:38 GMT
And a Happy New Year from me, good luck everyone for 2017  |
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Post by johndoe on Jan 1, 2017 15:54:52 GMT
2017 season has begun. Finished traying the slow starters, and the varieties I haven't got enough of, up. One hotbed turned on at 19 degrees, and the small fan heater turned up, inside the partitioned area in the greenhouse. Saves heating the rest of the greenhouse, and slows down the leccy meter whizzing round  .
Has anybody else started yet? If not, when do you plan to start? |
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Post by Cat on Jan 1, 2017 19:20:20 GMT
Hi johndoe, happy new year. We have a cold greenhouse and no heat set up so we won't be starting anything until February. In the Feb helf term we start off the specials in pots on the house window sills above heaters. It is slightly disheartening hearing about other people setting up so early but we live vicariously through the likes of ian , Raymond and others Today we have started to do a list of what we intend to grow for exhibition long term so we can begin to build stock this season, and clear out the rest. I think most growers have more than they really need variety wise so it's a job we can get on with while it's rainy and cold |
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 1, 2017 20:28:55 GMT
Hoping to start mine off this week or next week. Raymond wants a tuber off me so I will send him one when I have sorted them out.
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Post by Raymond on Jan 1, 2017 23:56:00 GMT
Happy new year everyone and also have a great growing season.
I am a little behind still lifting. Got a load lifted today and whopping tubers a bit wet but tubers are sound . Now drying and will screwdriver the neck on some.
Last of what I want for me and friends lifting tomorrow. The rest can stay in the ground and if they survive I will give to other plot holders or split them and pot up for plant sales.
I start mine off mid month with with My goldcrests mainly cherwell will grow some Oakwood but was not as good as cherwell for me in 2016 , hillcrest jersie (whopping tubers) and some chicken legs from canada not looking that great.
The rest beginning of Feb to mid feb . The last will be pot tubers purely for plant sales of varieties that I won't be growing again and these will be cold started in March in one litre pots.
I also have a couple of tubers for derek to send him .
Have a great season everyone and may you be blessed with tremendous blooms on.the bench or in the garden etc....
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Post by diggie on Jan 2, 2017 15:18:57 GMT
2017 season has begun. Finished traying the slow starters, and the varieties I haven't got enough of, up. One hotbed turned on at 19 degrees, and the small fan heater turned up, inside the partitioned area in the greenhouse. Saves heating the rest of the greenhouse, and slows down the leccy meter whizzing round .
Has anybody else started yet? If not, when do you plan to start? Hi johndoe, still sorting through my pot tubers. Have so far sorted 34 with 10 still to go and only 2 discarded. Hope to have all my tubers on heat by the middle of Jan. Have got Oakwood Goldcrest on heat now for 2 weeks as they took a long time to wake up last year. Good luck to you for 2017 season. |
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Post by johndoe on Jan 6, 2017 19:02:07 GMT
Thanks Diggie, and hope you have a great season to. Heat has only been on since new years day, and Westerton Lilian has a shot just appearing. The first bit of green of the season. Wish Goldcrest was as quick .
Good luck to everybody for the new growing year. |
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Post by Cat on Jan 7, 2017 22:03:39 GMT
So for the last couple of nights I have been trying to work out what dahlias we are going to attempt to grow for some kind of exhibiting this season. I have got a draft copy that I am now happy to show the boss for him to make his final choices. Obviously we have too many on the list at the moment but we will get there. I hate to not use perfectly good plant material but I know we have to be ruthless this year, so having spoken to the boss we have agreed to offer his school the tubers, chicken leg break offs or unlabelled stock we will not be using. We will offer to maintain them as we are on site every day from 7.30 - 4.30/5pm so this may swing the agreement. We have a space in mind that will get the dahlias seen from all sides but they won't be in a place to be "vandalised" by little fingers |
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Post by johndoe on Jan 8, 2017 10:32:47 GMT
That's what I like to see, a boss who knows what he wants, and how to get it  . And what a great idea of how to use your spare tubers. Hopefully the school will be okay about it, as they'll definitely benefit when the blooms come out. The best dressed school in Cornwall me thinks.
Well done to you both, and hope it catches on. |
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Post by Lou78W on Jan 12, 2017 17:29:27 GMT
I've been browsing through my Halls catalogue that arrived a few days ago. Must say its lovely to see a good quality catalogue with good pics of ALL varieties on offer. Well done dahliadave !!....just have to decide which varieties I need!.....Have a good season everyone |
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Post by johndoe on Jan 20, 2017 17:32:43 GMT
Well the 2017 season is definitely under way now. Some of the more stubborn starters, and low stock tubers have been on the heat now for a couple of weeks. I've never used extra lighting before, but things seem to be going quite slow (or it's me being impatient!). So today I decided that lighting up the greenhouse would be a good idea. After a quick bit of research, and a visit to TLC direct, I'm now the proud owner of fluorescent lights. Hopefully this will trick the tubers into thinking the day is four hours longer than it really is
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. And what a great idea of how to use your spare tubers. Hopefully the school will be okay about it, as they'll definitely benefit when the blooms come out.
