How to Plant Dahlia Tubers From Start to Finish

Thanks to flowerbulbs.com/ for sponsoring today's video - Dahlias are one of the most beautiful flowers you can grow, and with 57,000+ varieties, there's sure to be one you like! Learn exactly how to plant them as tubers in this full guide.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro & History Of Dahlias
01:40 - Varieties
02:29 - Growing Dahlias & Tubers
05:03 - Planting Dahlia Tubers
07:42 - Loosening Soil For Planting
08:29 - Staking & Pruning
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[@FoxDragon]

My mom passed away a few years ago and dahlia's were always her favorite. She would go to the special dahlia display at our state fair every year to add on to her collection. Sadly after she passed and my dad moved to a smaller house I was living in a condo and the only plant I could save from her garden was her favorite rosebush, but last autumn my husband and I moved into our forever house and this spring I am planting dahlia's.

[@heavenonearthgardening]

Every time that you will see a flower in your Dahlias, it would be like seeing a smile of your mom. 🥰

[@polandsgarden]

Love that for you xoxo

[@denisebayer8748]

I really wonder if you can't go back to your parents home that was sold, and ask the new owners if you can have a few of your mom's dahlias. Explain to them the importance of the flower to her and the memory it brings you that it was hers.

[@trishdavi7049]

It would not hurt to ask the home owners

[@kfetter9046]

When my mom passed away I brought her very old rosebushes to my garden. Three did not make it, but the rest of them did, and everytime I am in the garden I feel like she is with me which brings me great comfort. She had a huge dahlia clump as well, and I brought that home, but most of it died out. I am too afraid to move the remaining one even though it is not in an ideal spot.

[@joellynshort3949]

This is awesome! Thanks, Kevin. 😊 Growing up on a farm in MI in the 70’s, an old man (former owner of the farm 😂) would come out each summer and plant his dahlias in our garden. He taught us a lot about gardening - always said, “Sing to your plants!” Later I realized he developed two of those 57,000 varieties!

[@StormWarningMom]

Dahlias are my favorite flower...to grow from seed. The excitement of not knowing what's going to appear is just awesome. If you've never tried it before, I encourage you to do so. If you come across a flower that is worth regrowing, you can save the tubers and name it :)

[@peggymontgomery894]

That is so cool. I have never tried them from seed!

[@MrEzekiel1982]

I’ve grown my fair share of plants. There is something about Dahlias that just never gets old. My favorite is the Bishops children cultivar

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'm starting to grow more Dahlias this year. My garden is pretty quiet, color wise in late summer and I love them for cuts.

[@kittiew260]

Dahlias are awesome. Can't wait. I'm just starting to see sprouts on my bulbs. I over wintered in my basement. Guess that expirement worked.

[@OceanGraves]

Me saying i love flowers is an understatement, i started gardening because of growing flowers. I never considered dahlias because it seems intimidating, but from what everybody is commenting, the video (thanks kevin), i gotta grow these.

[@peggymontgomery894]

Watching Kevin's videos really take the "scary" out of gardening!

[@gratefulMOMent]

How great you are covering Dahlias! I’ve considered them recently so it was a perfectly timed video! Thanks man 🌱 ❤️

[@peggymontgomery894]

I thought he covered the topic beautifully!

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

Fantastic job covering all the key points of dahlias. They are the quintessential flower/s in my opinion and they are highly addictive.

[@epicgardening]

I could not agree more

[@peggymontgomery894]

Totally agree!

[@pavana2810]

Thanks Kevin. Perfect timing, I just bought some large black ones, striped purple, large yellow. You Are the Man.

[@elizabethlake6986]

Thankyou for the history of dahlias very interesting, I grew dahlias for the first time last year and I'm completely hooked now, overwintered mine indoors as I have clay soil in the UK.

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'm going to overwinter mine this year too. I always think it'll be too much work but it really isn't.

[@lynndifer4163]

Don't forget to inspect the tubers before you plant! check for rot or crown gall!

[@peggymontgomery894]

Always good advice. I like the Kevin showed how to divide them too.

[@thumpr1]

I'm trying out Dahlias for the first time ever this year... just put some in the ground.. *fingers crossed*

[@GardenKath]

I’m glad you mentioned growing them as annuals, because it often surprises people that that’s okay. I’ve been gardening for decades, and overwintering tubers just isn’t anything I’m interested in doing anymore, so I’ve been treating them as annuals for years. It’s one of those things where my time is more valuable than the money.

[@jackiek4159]

Definitely looking into getting some Dahlia's in the garden after this one! Thanks Kevin! 🙏🏻🌸

[@spacecat8511]

My town has a designated spot where a club plants a bunch of dahlias (and digs them up to replant again after the ground thaws.) I hadn’t ever really heard about these daisy-relatives until moving here and seeing a near-festival every late summer/early autumn, but they’re now probably my favorite thing to look forward to around my birthday’s time of year, moreso than leaves changing color or the weather starting to crips up but the sun’s still gently warm. My mom can have spring and tulips, I’ll lay claim to dahlias! XD

[@peggymontgomery894]

I love bulbs! All of them, spring and fall planted. But I will admit Dahlias in the late summer season steal the show every time!

[@dannypatel8030]

I have about 24 Bulbs of Dahlias, in October I pull out Bulbs and put it in Plastic bag with Dry soil or Peat Moss, and all Packages in to big Box and put it away in basement, in end of April, take out and plant in small pots and after May to bigger pots,

[@gigihonee]

Do you also plant them in the ground or keep in pots?

[@HelenButts-ts1zh]

Just starting this year to try and grow in Mississippi. Thanks for the informative video

[@paulaevans8335]

I just love dahlias. This is great information. Thanks!

[@CCB249]

I just found out yesterday that all dahlias are edible! Fabulous and taste very good!

[@thegoldenzipper]

How did you prepare them?

[@sandialdrich1308]

I love dahlias 🥰

[@ruchiramunjal6061]

Very Valuable Information Shared About Dahlias Kevin For Beginner Gardeners . Thanks Kevin !! Have A Wonderful Garden Year .

[@denisebayer8748]

I have to laugh at myself because last year I had Dahlais and1 grew exceptional!! I never realized that they were tubulers, and that in my St Louis zone 6b ,I needed to dig them up!!! I did manage to save some seeds and they have sprouted!! Beautiful. Great video presentation.. as always!!!

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'm so impressed by everyone trying them from seed. I'll have to try that!

[@jt1453]

We use Peony Rings/ Peony Cages to keep our dahlias and peonies from flopping over.

[@KimberBoho-pq8wo]

Love this! Thank you

[@tammywaters7351]

You always have the best videos and the answers I’m searching for. I’ve been subscribed since 2020!

[@melissac3313]

My hummingbird mix dahlias came in the mail today. Get idea thank you!

[@stupensardi2783]

Thank you. I always wanted to know how to plant these.

[@oanasucigan4498]

Some years ago I used to buy a pan once a year, they’ll get damaged no matter how I cooked. 3 years ago I bought a stainless steel pan and cast iron dutch oven (skillet + pan set) and never looked back, they’ll last some good years and I won’t worry about cooking in them all the time.

[@3coins.]

Gorgeous, a must have. Thanks from Louisiana.

[@shasgardentech]

You are inspiration to many gardeners. Awesome info about Dahlias 👏👏. Keep it up 👍

[@estherpalenschat4356]

Thank you! Great succinct video for dahlias beginners!! I have NO idea what im doing. So Im tryong to study up. Saw the bulbs at the grocery and they looked pretty on the box...so Im trying it! 😂 🙏 thanks for the details!

[@fernandaalbuquerque6872]

Love this history. Thanks for the video.

[@shadowknightgladstay4856]

Second dahlia lesson today. Joe gardener podcast went into breading. This was more concise and less breading more practical.

[@peggymontgomery894]

Sometimes all you need are the basics but I bet Joe's was interesting if you're into that.

[@CA-pj9pl]

Fantastic video!

[@fairyprairiefarm]

I’m growing from seed as a fun experiment. I kind of like the idea of being surprised. I learned a lot from this video! Thanks!

[@peggymontgomery894]

I love surprises in the garden too!

[@aerial_camera_video_imaging]

This was great thank you. Could you please make a video about how to store the bulbs over winter and digging them up at the end of the season. 😊

[@ignis8154]

Great timing! I'm trying to grow one for the first time.

[@peggymontgomery894]

Meant to be!

[@canna_nymph]

Yesss I’ve been eying these for a few season and you made it easier to get started! Grazi!

[@peggymontgomery894]

Great to have the support of a gardening community.

[@Doktracy]

I live in zone 7b/8a right on the line. I have a lot of odd things overwinter and come back like sweet potatoes. I’m going to start a nice butterfly garden. I think I’ll try dahlias for the first time. I always thought they were for a cooler zone so never gave them a try,substituting zinnias for that look.

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'd grow Zinnias and dahlias. Zinnias are great for pollinators and make great cut flowers. I hope you have enough room for both!

[@delmadehoyos1946]

Great video...adding beautiful flower color to veg garden makes it so much more interesting, and also brings pollinators. Thank you 😊

[@peggymontgomery894]

I grow flowers in my veggie garden too, especially edible ones.

[@GardenTours_Network]

I love gardening

[@fabricdragon]

yay! dahlias!

[@katebarrett1924]

Thank you for the broadfork tip! I'm going to use that here in Ohio this year!

[@Sarah.ann.]

I named my daughter Dahlia, she is 8 now and we love the name and flower!

[@peggymontgomery894]

That's beautiful!

[@yvettedawsonhardin5080]

I did too! Dahlia Jade….she will be 23 in August 💕

[@danacarbone9405]

Thanks, great

[@Sinna-SL]

Thank you very much.👍

[@sheliaheverin8822]

I got some seeds, going to try them to see if they grow.

[@kathrynmettelka7216]

Great info for a newbie. I am nearly ecstatic about my Epic Gardening hori hori and ergonomic Felco pruners. Gardening is harder after 75, but I’m not quitting!

[@nancyjensen6409]

I’m 78 and I’m not quitting either, but I’m much slower!!

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'm only 60 but I am never without my felcos! I'm sure gardening is a bit harder but I bet it will help you live longer!

[@pihleg]

Thanks!! I've always wanted to grow them but they're so beautiful I was intimidated 😅 This doesn't look hard at all!

[@epicgardening]

It's not!

[@peggymontgomery894]

You go girl! gardening is all about trying new things!

[@unemilifleur]

I’ve kind of been wanting to name my future daughter Dahlia

[@HabitualHobbies]

Dahlias are my favorite flower but my area is one zone too cold for me to perennialize them, sadly. I loved the info in this video, thank you!

[@peggymontgomery894]

You might want to try them as annuals?

[@HabitualHobbies]

@@peggymontgomery894 I do! 😀 I just wish I could let them stay in ground to do their thing haha

[@MsFresh619]

This year I'm growing my dahlias from seed I have 4 different varieties so it will be a total surprise what colours they are

[@TheEigylyte]

I got blue boy named one its gonna be very light lavender color 😊 and very deep purple , they my grenmas favorite flowers ,we call it autumn flowers they starts bloom in later summer early autumn 😊

[@StaceyGlover77]

Great video!! I live in Alabama zone 7B, and i leave my tubers in the ground without any problems.

[@peggymontgomery894]

I'm in DE zone 7A, I wonder if it would work for me?

[@StaceyGlover77]

@peggymontgomery894 Do you have harsh winters and a lot of snow?

[@stevenbryant4718]

I live in Indianapolis on the edge of 6 a/b. I have left my Dahlias in the ground and they have come back up for two years now. Last winter it got down to 10 degF but was a warm winter otherwise with little snow. This year I put a blanket of leaves over their bed.

[@karenfal8448]

Great details. I have one question: at what point do you get the tubers from your plant? I assume after they die, you dig them up?

[@graciemikko4183]

Just started watching but waiting for a Garden Answer reference…. 😊

[@epicgardening]

;)

[@graciemikko4183]

@@epicgardening alas… collab in the future??

[@Adriana-ej3qi]

Last year, I had tubers arrive from holland, and they were finally sprouting and bushing and my gardeners mowed over it. Not once, not twice, 4 x. They tried growing back and by the 4x it was cut down it was way too hot for it to survive.

[@peggymontgomery894]

What a bummer!

[@daisyblooms4813]

WOW

[@vikachan19]

Hearing someone say "eight homologous sets of chromosomes" in a random video makes my geneticist heart happy. I worked on polyploid crop research until recently ^_^

[@epicgardening]

So cool!

[@vikachan19]

@@epicgardening now I can't stop thinking about how to make a blue dalia with genetic engineering ^_^. I work at a uni that has blue as a color, it would be too perfect...

[@camerongilbert1247]

I bought 4 new tubas as all I have are red ones. 1 had an eye 3 without so no joy, will they produce an eye next season or are they no good. Cheers mate love the channel

[@breannacruz8935]

im a little late on the tuber stage. what are your fav nurseries in SD for established dahlia plants ?

[@episodefromthegarden]

Hi, thanks for the video. I planted some dahlias in Northern California and it was quite warm. I saw some sprouts but they seem to be turning brown and dying back. I don’t water it much at all. Any ideas what could be happening?

[@dekykurnianto9567]

It's so difficult for us. And it's easy to watch.

[@lesleywallace5748]

How do you stake them and when

[@MsWDWFAN1]

It's mind blowing to me that no one can create a true blue Dalia! I hope someone can. I bet it would be gorgeous! I might need to grow some Dalia's.

[@epicgardening]

I wonder if it's simply not genetically possible

[@spacecat8511]

Kinda reminds me of people trying to grow black tulips

[@bradbartlett2663]

How long do they take roughly to come up and flower after you have planted the tuber? Do they flower the same year?

[@cungnhauthugianvamuasam]

❤️❤️❤️

[@karli2496]

Zone 4b here; with raised beds is it best that the bed is placed on top of much?

[@HuongDuong-ih6el]

Hi, could I plant in pot and leave inside ? Dahlias need full sun?

[@nimuemoonwolf]

Can you plant them in a large pot and move them into a garage (not heated) for the winter?

[@epicgardening]

Yes

[@incogniko636]

I have some Dahali growing inside my house, can I pinch then if they get too tall, as I live in Alberta. I can't put them outside until end of May, thx.

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

I had considered growing dahlias, but unfortunately they are not deer resistant. I was wondering if you'd ever consider doing a video on deer resistant perennials. I'm currently trying to get perennial lupines, foxgloves, and milkweed started so I can plant them around the perimeter of my garden.

[@spacecat8511]

My town has a dedicated club and tiered hill to plant/dig up, replant their dahlias…so now I have the mental image of volunteers taking graveyard shifts to shoo the deer away whenever the plants start shooting up actual stalks and foliage. Or maybe they and the local botanical garden pay a witch to ward their ornamental plants against deer hahaha

[@peggymontgomery894]

That's a great topic. Deer sure can make gardening hard for some areas of the country.

[@lzuress]

I planted a number of different varieties a number of years ago on the south side of my house. I removed the bulbs before winter. I somehow left one or broke a tuber off and it grows in that spot every year with no special preparation and I live in zone 6a!

[@peggymontgomery894]

Wow! You should try leaving more in the ground in that spot!

[@noimilnikel460]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@saraalways6113]

I’ve never been successful in growing blooms 😬. Third year trying .

[@stevematadobra6117]

Trying Dahlias for the first time. Do you get more flowers with a cluster of tubers vice planting a single tuber?

[@Shana.Browngedge]

Can I plant my dalias in the ground outside before ground is temp is 60f

[@zackgq7970]

Hey just watched an old video on pineapple. Do you still have pineapple plants around?

[@TaLeng2023]

What's max heat they can handle?

[@Dahliaholic]

Rather than plant my tubers directly into the ground I start them off in pots and grow them on in my unheated greenhouse until all danger of frost has gone. That way they get a head start and also they are less likely to get eaten by slugs as the shoots emerge from the soil. Regards from Dahliaholic!

[@lisajimerson4568]

When you plant the bunch of tubers together is it a bigger plant or is it several different plants that come up? How big is the plant if you plant a single tuber, like is it just one stem? What kind of soil did you use in your container? I read that dahlias do not like store-bought potting soil. I also read that they don't like mulch, but I live in Texas and would have to use mulch to protect from the heat.

[@peacelover2023]

Please tell me what you have growing on your arch ? I have Jackmani Clematis on mine, but it just will not reach higher than the third rung on one side, would love to have it grow over like your arch :)

[@jodijohnson2106]

How are your crows doing!!! I look for updates everyday!!

[@epicgardening]

I have befriended two of them!

[@milododds1]

Question: Do they come back every year? I grew a variety called Mai Thai but this season it didn’t surface (yet), seems like the rest of them have. I have been growing them for 3 years and it seems like I have lost a few each year, tends to be the lighter shades that are more sensitive.

[@FioreCiliegia]

Ok but when will we get a dalia with a trumpet? I want a dalia-daffodil! xD

[@thegoldenzipper]

I’m in zone 8b and have a questions about planting at soil temp 60 degrees: is this the high or the low? If I can overwinter my tubers why does it matter what the soil temp is at plating? Thanks guys!

[@trishdavi7049]

How do you stop the earwigs from immigrating out of your dahlia patch?

[@uhf0]

1) if my previous dahlia had almost died bc of powdery mildew but I cut it back to the stump,will it still grow back? 2) if tubers i buy online aren’t growing an eye, will it still grow or is there an extra step I need to take ? Thank you!

[@mrrichard18]

What’s a zone 8+???

[@greenkiayre]

Dear friend, where is your garden, you make very good videos. 😊

[@sharonspopsandplants359]

I do like them but not this year 😊

[@msabercr]

need some real fluffy black dahlias

[@bernardmendoza3006]

Hello I'm confused, are you sharing your videos in FB reels, because i' ve been seeing a lot of it in so many fb reels but in so many different pages

[@alyxfiddler]

I thought the stock was supposed to stick out of the dirt with the eyes , is it bad if I did that? My peonies are growing like that but my dahlias aren’t doing anything 😬 also I pre soaked my soil before planting them 😬 Can you tell I’m a beginner lol

[@EffSharp]

Can anyone help me figure out what I did wrong? I’m a first time gardener in southern cal, growing in containers. I had a very successful veggie garden but I failed at Dahlias. They grew pretty green leaves but no flowers. I planted the tubers in April. Any suggestions? Also- can I dig them up and try again next spring?

[@unemilifleur]

My question is: you say they’re edible, of do you eat them? Are they any good?

[@sarahdaliva]

A vid about Dahlia's? HE'S COMING FOR LAURA'S GIG Y'ALL. lol jkjk can't wait to see the end result of the dahlia patch!

[@epicgardening]

I will never be on her level!

[@TumblinWeeds]

I thought dahlias must be the brand name because they were calling so many completely different flowers Dahlias in my store

[@epicgardening]

Ahahaha I feel this

[@carolynbasdeo4098]

Can u leave bulb in the winter time will it grow next year or he have to take it out plant it every year

[@AmateurUrbanFarm]

I can't seem to find where to buy dahlias at the website in the description? Maybe it's because I'm on mobile. Seeing the giant boxes of dahlia tubers that you have makes me jealous haha.

[@epicgardening]

Flower bulbs is more of a promotional site on the joy of growing bulbs in the first place, they don't sell any directly

[@AmateurUrbanFarm]

@@epicgardening Ah, that makes more sense. Can I ask where you got your bulk dahlia tubers from? I'm not local, but would love a good online source if you have one.

[@lacylindeman]

Heyy!! So I have cows, and im wondering if I can use their manuer for fertilizer?

[@epicgardening]

Yes!

[@leahkramer4587]

You have to let it age... a year before you can use the cow manure. You will kill your plants it you add fresh stuff