Planting Dahlias in Grow Bags | Planting & Overwintering Tips

[@tinalee3328]

I took your advice last year after a few of mine in the ground rotted (super wet in my yard!) and the grow bags worked great! SOOOOO, this year I'm planting ALL 90 (yes 90) Dahlias in grow bags!! YAY! And yes, I plan to keep all of mine in the bags over winter in the new hoop house I have going up soon!

[@ChicagoGardener]

90!! That sounds like a dream! Will you have photos of them anywhere? I’m so glad the grow bags worked out for you.

[@tinalee3328]

@@ChicagoGardener I will be starting an IG page for my new flower farm but waiting for more things to bloom so it looks decent, lol! Will let you know when - thanks!

[@virtualdude2012]

Whatever you do is going to be great

[@yvonneknight6482]

I'm going to grow them for next spring I will start them inside they are very beautiful for my front yard from Maryland

[@tarynraiedw]

My dahlias finally sprouted. I can’t wait until they are fully grown.

[@ChicagoGardener]

It’s so exciting!!

[@nickiesimon2127]

Hi! This is exactly what I was looking for, I currently have 30ish dahlias in grow bags! This is my 1st yr over wintering them in bags and your video gives me hope & courage 🤗 Thank you , wish me luck 😅

[@ChicagoGardener]

Good luck!!!!

[@neenaelizabeth6916]

Good luck.From India. Idont get good quality tubers in our place.. 😭

[@tracycrider7778]

Doing the same now and I’m so excited

[@yurygarcia986]

I love your videos!! I bought one bag of dahlias yesterday and this is my first year gardening. Your videos have really encouraged me to try new things. Wish me luck!

[@ChicagoGardener]

That’s so great to hear!! I’m wishing you luck with all of your plants!

[@moonchild_72]

Thank you for such a clear explanation . I’m in Chicago as well and you’ve inspired me to grow dahlias in grow bags mine just came in so I’ll be potting them up this weekend. Looking forward to your updates. Happy planting 😊

[@ChicagoGardener]

That’s so exciting!! Which dahlia varieties did you get?

[@moonchild_72]

@@ChicagoGardener I got several karma prospero, Bahamas apricot, Arabian night, happy butterfly and Labyrinth. This will be my first time growing them.

[@aspiringviolinist5732]

I’m really enjoying your videos! Great job with the dahlia planting. I can’t wait to see your garden this spring and summer. Hopefully you won’t get anymore snow, but it is Chicago, you just never know! Sorry about the loss in your family.

[@ChicagoGardener]

Thank you ❤️ I officially put my winter coats away this week in hopes that it keeps it from snowing anymore 😂

[@ionamcknight981]

I have a Cactus Star Elite dahlia and it has broken through the soil. I’m doing the method of growing first in a smaller pot with the intention of putting in a bigger pot/maybe grow bag once it’s warm enough outside.

[@ChicagoGardener]

I ended up doing the same thing with the two smaller dahlias. They’re in medium size nursery pots until they can by planted outside. They just broke through the soil as well!

[@yesidtac7863]

Great video

[@ChicagoGardener]

Thank you!!

[@michellejames5953]

Hey! You’re doing a great job, but I just wanted to help you out and let you know that the tubers that are just dangling have broken necks and you should just snip those off, they won’t grow anything. There’s other tubers that are connected that will and my only concern is that the ones with broken necks could rot inside my pot or planting hole. A tuber needs an eye, body, and a neck (without breaks) to produce blooms. Can’t wait to see your beautiful blooms!

[@ChicagoGardener]

Thank you! Will it do any damage to the plant if a tuber rots in the container?

[@michellejames5953]

@@ChicagoGardener I don’t know for certain it will rot, but I just don’t like to take a chance so I snip them off. I’ve bought some packaged Dahlias at Lowes before and I try and look inside the clear bag to make sure there are plenty of sprouts and try and find the heavier bags. Lol

[@michellejames5953]

@Chicago Gardener Also, if you’re growing any that are over 3 feet they will most likely need staking and it’s best to do it at the time you plant your tubers, so you don’t pierce them trying to do it later.

[@vorong2ru]

You can still plant dried tubers, they just need to be soaked in water for an hour or so. Most of the shops are selling tubers completely dried out as it's totally normal as long as there is no rot.

[@ChicagoGardener]

Really! I’ll definitely try it then next time I dry out a tuber, which I’m sure will happen again 😆

[@lanabear2707]

Omg. Through the years I’ve thrown out so many tubers because they were dried out! Thank you for mentioning this!

[@capistranogardener6100]

If you want to make your growbags look better: get a roll of "Reed Wood Fence Woven with Black Nylon Coated Wire" from Home Depot...cut a 24" high roll of the stuff in half to 12" in height, then wrap it around the grow bag and secure it with zip ties...If you want you can paint the fencing with acrylic paints. Thank you for posting these videos...

[@ChicagoGardener]

That’s such a good idea! I’ve been looking for ways to add more color to the garden.

[@cherierangel7459]

That is such a great idea!!!

[@RRupp42]

What did you use to cut this? Great idea- thanks for sharing!

[@capistranogardener6100]

@@RRupp42 I used my black & decker jig saw... To keep the edges of the reeds from splintering, I put down a line of blue painters tape and cut down the middle of the tape. I hope this helps?

[@marthamcauliffe]

Brilliant Idea! Thanks for sharing and explaining so well! 😃

[@brucewayne-cn4vd]

Do you think it is possible to plant two tubers per bag? I've heard some people plant multiple

[@ChicagoGardener]

I think that could work! If you try it, let me know how it goes.

[@cherierangel7459]

I see a lot of videos that say not to use fertilizer for dahlias. Unfortunately, I bought 6 bags of Miracle Grow Garden Soil, which i believe has some fertilizer in it. However, i see you used Miracle Grow. Did you see any problems last year if you used that same kind of soil?

[@ChicagoGardener]

I didn’t have any issues at all which is why I did the exact same thing so I wouldn’t mess it up 😂 I also applied a liquid fertilizer about once every 3 weeks so I’m going to do that again as well.

[@prettiejesse]

Make sure you check for gall before planting the dahlias in your raised bed, even then it’s still a risk, if gall shows up later then you’d still have to remove all the soil from the bed

[@ChicagoGardener]

Thank you!! I’ll definitely do a check before planting.

[@crazy4beatles]

What’s the thickness of those grow bags? I’ve read of people buying some online that ended up being pretty thin.

[@ChicagoGardener]

They are pretty thin, maybe about 1/8 or less of an inch. I’ve been using the same bags for three years and the sides of the bags are still intact but I have had issues with the handles ripping off (doesn’t really impact me though)

[@crazy4beatles]

@@ChicagoGardener thanks for the response! Hoping to learn a lot and maybe get a couple beautiful blooms on my first try.

[@darrinmc]

What temperature does it need to be for you to bring your grow bags outside during the day? Is 55 too cold?

[@ChicagoGardener]

I typically wait until it’s 60 during the day just to be extra safe, but from what I’ve read it seems like 55 would be safe as well!

[@Flora_blooms]

I need to buy dhalia bulbs where to shop those???

[@ChicagoGardener]

I got mine from a local garden center. I’d check with any nurseries near you!

[@Flora_blooms]

@@ChicagoGardener thank you so much please help me with this I have searched many places but not available all ball varieties... .

[@tracycrider7778]

Swan island dahlias Brecks Local growers

[@patrickbowen5398]

Ok, wow. well I have a number of questions/observations on this video: 1) Did you use Miracle-Gro potting mix ? This is never recommended. 2) Why did you water in the Dahlia's after potting up? This is never recommended either, and 3) Do the Dahlia's need Light if you are putting these Grow bags indoors until after First Frost ?

[@ChicagoGardener]

Yes to one and two and it’s worked for me for three years now! Once the dahlia sprouts I put the bags in front of a window or under a grow light until I move them outside.

[@steveprice3744]

I grew Dahlias for the 1st time and used Grow Bags bags. They are turning out great in my Birmingham garden, but now I'm thinking about how I will get the tubers out of there. I'm using 5-gallon & 10-gallon-sized bags, which are a tussle to move around once the potting medium gets wet. I'd like to trim them down and dump them out once frost nips them a tad or taste. How do you handle yours?

[@ChicagoGardener]

I only had two last year, one I overwintered in the grow bag in the garage and the other I dug up and put in vermiculite. The one in the grow bag was the only one that survived so I’m doing the same thing this year for all of mine!

[@steveprice3744]

@@ChicagoGardener We've had freezing temps the last couple of nights, way too cold & soon

[@alexk3352]

What will your fertilization regimen be for the whole season? I'm growing dahlias for the first time this year and there's lots of conflicting info on this topic. Also, you used the organic "bulb-tone" fertilizer with potting soil that appears to have slow-release synthetic fertilizer in it. I've read that synthetic fertilizers kill the beneficial microbes in the organic fertilizer, rendering it useless. Basically, apparently you're supposed to either go full organic or full synthetic. Any thoughts on that? Thanks.

[@ChicagoGardener]

There’s so much info that tells me to do conflicting things so that’s why I just did exactly what I did last year with the same products bc I know it worked for me! I used fox farm big bloom last year every three weeks so I’m doing the same this year.

[@alexk3352]

@@ChicagoGardener Makes sense. Thanks.

[@alexk3352]

@@ChicagoGardener I ordered Tiger Bloom and the directions state that it should be used when they first start flowering. Is that how you use it?

[@vorong2ru]

This is just a myth , synthetic fertiliser doesn't harm anything, it's pretty identical to your natural fertiliser. So don't worry about that at all

[@Dog-mom80]

You should not be able to move the tubers around and they should not be dangling. The tubers that you are fanning out are broken and will not produce a stem. You should cut those off or they could rot and damage the still attached tubers. Imported tubers from big box stores are harvested by machine and so tend to have lots of broken necks.

[@ChicagoGardener]

Someone else mentioned that! They’re growing okay so far so I’m keeping my fingers crossed they do fine this year and then I’ll give them up and cut the rotting tubers.