How Long Does it Take Dahlias to Bloom?
Dahlias sprouting after 3 weeks
April 24, 2024
We’ve all been there: You’ve planted your dahlia tubers and after what feels like several long weeks of waiting, you still don’t see any sprouts popping out of the soil. You wonder, Are my dahlias dead? Did I plant them right? Did I do something wrong?
The most likely chances are, you did nothing wrong, they’re not dead, they’re just taking their sweet old time to sprout!
In this post, I’ll talk about how long it takes dahlias to start sprouting out of the ground, which dahlia varieties sprout the fastest, how long dahlias take to bloom, and steps you can take during planting to encourage better growth.
how long does it take dahlias to sprout?
The amount of time it takes dahlias to start sprouting in your garden depends on several factors.
Each variety of dahlia sprouts on its own schedule. Some dahlia tubers wake up and sprout quickly. Some dahlia varieties take forever. This explains why some of your dahlia tubers (either from your own stock or ordered from somewhere else), will have sprouts before planting and some will show no signs of sprouts at all. One thing to understand though, is that the size of the dahlia tuber does not matter when it comes to how early a dahlia sprouts. The variety and temperature of the air and soil matter.
If you live in a warmer climate, your dahlias will most likely sprout and grow faster. Dahlia sprouting is triggered by temperature, so if you live in a growing zone with early, hotter heat, your dahlias will wake up and grow faster than someone who is still battling freezing rain in mid-May.
Generally, it is normal for dahlia tubers to take 2-4 weeks for green growth to pop out of the soil. Truthfully though, I have had dahlias that have taken up to 8 weeks to show signs of growth. It is a process that has taught me patience more than anything!
Related: When to Dig Dahlia Tubers
which dahlia varieties grow fastest?
There are a few dahlia varieties in our field that always sprout, grow and flower the quickest, without fail. These are: Wine Eyed Jill, Linda’s Baby, Peaches ‘n Cream, Senior’s Hope, Wizard of Oz and Wyoming Wedding.
how long does it take dahlias to bloom?
Again, it depends on the dahlia variety. Generally, the quicker a dahlia sprouts, the quicker it will bloom. Most dahlias take 90-100 days to fully bloom. This means, 90-100 days after the day you planted the tuber in the ground (or potted it up inside to get a head start).
A few dahlia varieties, such as the ones listed above, have bloomed in as little as 75-85 days in my field. In this case, they were planted in the field from a tuber (not potted up with a head start) during the first week of May when soil temps were consistently 60 degrees, and planted into landscape fabric which helps heat the soil up quicker. These early dahlias were also not pruned for side shoots, which is a common practice for cut flower growers who desire to get as many blooms off the plant as possible. Pruning the main stem down 1-2 sets of leaves will delay blooming but will trigger the plant to produce many side shoots, thus producing many more flowers, per plant.
how to get dahlias to grow faster?
There are a few things you can do to speed up the growth of your dahlia plants.
Pot up your dahlias and grow them indoors before planting outside. In my USDA Growing Zone 6b, it is not advised to plant dahlia tubers any earlier than May 1st, and truthfully, that is pushing it. If you are a home grower, I would wait to plant dahlias until at least the second week of May in Zone 6 because we inevitably have late cold snaps, which is a danger to dahlias. For more info on growing dahlias in pots before planting out, scroll below.
Plant your dahlias no deeper than 4 inches. The deeper you plant your dahlias, the longer it will take for sprouts to show up. Stick to a 4 inch deep hole.
Refrain from watering your dahlias until green growth pokes up through the soil. If you water your dahlias prematurely, they may rot in the soil — then they’ll never come up.
Avoid planting dahlia tubers in soggy, wet soil that doesn’t drain well. Again, the Dahlia tubers will be at risk of rotting in cold, wet soil.
Properly prep your soil for dahlias. I have an easy way to prep soil for dahlias in this post here.
Plant your dahlias near something that absorbs heat. If you plant your dahlias next to a south-facing wall of your house, or into black landscape fabric, these conditions will help your dahlias grow much faster because so much heat will be absorbed (and released at nighttime, in the case of a brick or concrete wall that has been in the sun all day).
how to start dahlias indoors before planting outside
Why would you want to start your dahlia tubers indoors? The only benefit of doing this is to get your plants to grow faster. If you pot your dahlias up in a warm place in your home for a few weeks to one month before planting, you will wake up the Dahlia tubers and maybe even get some green growth going. This way, you’ve essentially started your dahlias earlier.
To start dahlia tubers indoors, fill a plant pot halfway with lightly moist (not wet) potting soil, place the dahlia tuber in the pot, then cover it up with more potting soil so there is at least 1 inch of soil on top of the tuber. Put in a really warm spot in your home (next to a radiator or heater, a sunny window, or under grow lights where heat radiates from the lighting). This is a simple way to wake up your dahlia tubers before planting outside so they sprout sooner.
Related: Will Deer Eat My Field of Dahlias?
I hope this post was helpful for anyone wondering about dahlias and how long they take to sprout!
peace, love, sweet sweet spring.
Fran Parrish