This year's dramatic dahlia wager: Will the Sprout make it?

I've been mulching today and pulling the many little tomato volunteers that erupt from the compost amid the dahlias. Imagine my surprise when I pulled on these green sprouts and out popped the tiniest rooted tuber I've ever seen! So cute. I've grown them from peanut size tubers, but this is the smallest yet: about 5/8 x 1/2 inch or smaller. Don't know an ID, or which planting hole it came from exactly, but I'm going to plant it and see what it turns out to be.

Do you think the little sprout can become a full size dahlia?

This message was edited Jun 17, 2009 1:45 PM

OMG that's too cute!! Go Go Go dahlia tuber!!

The Little Tuber that Could. I think I can, I think I can ...

Annie, I ended up tossing all the so-called non-eyed tubers in a huge pile along an edge of a newly made flower bed. Covered it up with fir boughs and just went my merry way.
Well, surprise, suprise!
I have at least 15 no-name tubers with very nice shoots on them. Some are very tiny like yours and others are large tubers. So I have just left them there so shall see what they will end up being.
So just plant that little tiny guy and you will be surprise on who it might be later.

Sprout is planted and I'll post progress photos as we go.

I love those surprise tubers Carol. You might have some real keepers, so don't forget to water over there once in a while.

Do keep us posted on that little guy! LOL

I did put some drip irrigation nearby for water supply so that should help.
But my problem is that I made a huge pile and should have leveled it out some so it wasn't so high. Plus there isn't any soil mixed in, just tubers, like baking potatoes. So am not sure if having no compost or soil will effect the growth of the dahlias now tho. Don't have any soil to put there so will maybe put some grass clippings around the sprouted tubers tho.

Maybe if you see more growth, you can extricate those out of the 'baked potato pile' and put them in a little dahlia nursery bed or pots in a spare corner? I chucked many good tubers into our woods last Nov/Dec when digging/dividing. Maybe some will grow as they have in the past, but the winter blast in December likely froze them all. I know nothing left in the ground survived- total mush.

Go Sproutlings GO!

any orphan dahlias will always have a home here, I'll adopt them all **S**

One week in the ground and little Sprout has broken through despite heavy rain last week, or maybe because of heavy rain. Leaves look healthy.

Here's another shot of the teeny tiny tuber size from which it started. The paperclip is one of the small versions, an inch long or so. Go Sprout go!

Pooch I think you should call him Hercules because of his strong willpower ^_^

I'm betting it will make it. Call it 'Survivor' or 'Against All Odds'.

Heh, could inspire a children's book called "The Little Sprout That Could".

Good one, Tod! Last year I had the tiniest piece of Arabian Night (I think) and half rotted as I was about to plant it. No knife handy so I sliced it off with my trowel, planted it and later stepped on it. It came through with flying colors.

I like all the encouraging names. Hercules was the name of our goldfish who I thought would never die. He was one mighty fish! The little-sprout-that-could is 4" tall amid a bed of siblings up to 4' tall LOL~ quite a contrast, but it's hanging in there. Now, I just want it to grow to bloom so I can see who it is. Cross your fingers.

GO Sproutling GO!

Hercules has reached 5-6 inches. Still looks healthy, but dwarfed by the nearest dahlia neighbors. If this doesn't grow to bloom just so I can see who it is, I'm going to be very disappointed.

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." It'll bloom-I have faith!
I would love to see a zoomed out photo of one of your dahlia beds. It looks like they each have so much room to stretch!

If I ever have time to quit watering, retying, or disbudding the blasted dahlias, I will be glad to get updated wide shots for you Queeg. Right now, I'm at the constant-task-needs-to-be-done-phase. Water one day, prepare to disbud and retie the next, or so it seems. BUT the first dahlias are open- Jomanda, one of my favorite oranges, a new yellow from Ferncliff "Lemon Aura" and Willow's "Sophie K" in white is coming in third! Other buds have colored up overnight. Hurray!

Here's an old thread showing various DG gardens. Mine are roughly the same, but with different and more dahlias, fewer perennials, more weeds between stepping stones, and the cat isn't allowed outside anymore.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/646100/

My 2 favorite things in one picture-cats and dahlias! Holy poopskins Batman! Between you and daisyruffles (and MANY others), I might as well be growing weeds. Can I just set up a little tent in your garden? (how I'll fit the cats and DH in is another question)

http://pannonica.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/crazycatlady.jpg

Quee, I forgot about Crazy Cat Lady link! LOL- my DD always forsees that will be my future. You know, the daughter who just 'gave us' her cat to keep....

Okay: Sprout has gone on to Herculean growth efforts to reach ~16" ht and has a little bud! Ta da. It holds it's own against rampaging dogs and gardeners on a busy corner in the big bed where it gets good sun. I am dying to see what it is.

Has its own overambitious tie just in case it really takes off one day soon!

Yeehaa little sprout!

LOL-yea, oh little sprout! Looks like a healthy little scrapper. Is that your cat again? He/she must follow you like a dog. So cute!

No- I wish it was a cat! It's the tyranosaurus version of black labs who was so exhuberant wagging in the garden when Dahlianut was here I thought he was going to take out 3 or 4 plants! The plants and stakes were wobbling like Hurricane Bill was bearing down on WA.

Here's the canine culprit with DD's rambunctious 1 yr old cat- best buddies.

Aww...so cute. I have one of those! The dog, not the cat (surprisingly that's one color cat I don't have). That tail can be deadly!

Amen on tail danger. We don't have any 'safe' lamps anymore. Need 30 pounders to prevent lab tail from knocking them off their perches or tables. Delicate nick-nacks at dog height? Not a chance. I wouldn't give him up for anything though.

I get a kick out of the gigantic cat paw next to sprout. Speaking of tyranosaurus-like animals!

Eeww-so cute! Never noticed that before-LOL. They have to have their footies in everything we are trying to do, don't they? Love it!

Check out the power of the tiny tidbit of a tuber! Sprout has gone on to grow to be 3.5 ft tall and bloom. Too bad it's Karma Pink Corona which I didn't particularly like this year.

It's always been a washed out dirty pink and white here, but excellent stems and lots of flowers on other plants of it that had tubers larger than 3/4 of an inch x 1/2 inch.

I KNEW the little sprout was a survivor! Thanks Pooch for letting us know the ending.

Hurray! I bet it would grow right from the start under your tender loving care.