Can I come late to the party? I really didn't think my Di was going to make it through the winter....just ask Carol...I kept whining to her about it not coming up yet. LOL But it is up and it's 14" tall! It has a little baby beside it too that is 7" tall! Yea!
"marionberry pie" sounds like a trade to me!
Yep, those DI's sure are hardy, LOL Mendy Good to hear that yours is alive and healthy. Looks good to me.
Mine is still growing nicely. The main "old" one, that is. It is about 3-4'. Need to measure it.
My 2nd one, well, it is still trying to grow another shoot after the 3 good ones being eaten on time after time! Darn snails.......................................
Oh, a marionberry pie is a great trade! That is what Joann grows for a living!!!
Carol
luvsgrtdanes, went to the Italian Market for refills. Took home some pastries from Termini, hit the fish market, cheese and sausage in a giant cooler. Just can't get any of these things where I live. Cannoli's, Italian cookies, fresh oysters, Pat's and Gino's....yummmmmmmmm. Must of gained ten pounds.
Got home and the gardens had grown by leaps and bounds. Picked the first broccoli today. The DI is up to 56" or more by now!
Maybe you can read this....
Welcome Luvs and Mgh- glad yours are both growing.
Willow your DI looks like it has had perfect growing conditions. Wow!
Wallaby, I hope your jet stream moves to bring you heat and sun. I completely empathize with lack thereof.
So, I was going to post two days ago that mine made it to 23" from 18" on the 20th. But just now, another 48 hours of sun/warmth and it's toying with 29"!! There is only one stalk growing, so I better get some support system set up pronto...
20th 18"
23rd 23"
26th 28"
What have done there Annie? Put a firecracker under that plant. Even though conditions are rarely right to see this plant bloom, it is the greatest plant to watch( and I mean watch) grow.
I think the "force" is with you Annie!!!!!
Worm tea! Worm tea, my new secret weapon Willow! The guy who gave it to me said "it'll work wonders" and I was dubious..
Today: after two days in the 90's: 34" and the second sprout is emerged. Oh joy! I GRITDIG with the big dogs now.
And where do we happen to get this "Worm tea"? LOL ☺ I need something mine is growing sooo slow!!!
Me too need to know. What is worm tea pooch?
Great guns pooch! It has come warmer here, not your heat but reaching 70F, the Jetstream must have moved north.
I just measured mine, it's only 54" and it was 56" on the 18th, 12 days ago! I guess it has come to a temporary halt but they are stood after more careful staking, with some kinks which accounts for some height loss but the tallest one broke off!
http://www.localharvest.org/store/item.jsp?id=4435
Worm Tea Link. It's cheap enough because you dilute just a few tablespoons in water. (Edit: Not true! I read the directions again, and mine says 5 parts water to one part worm tea.) Mine was a gift at a local plant swap when I helped collect dahlia tubers for the flooded Hmong. If I can remember who gave it to me, I'll email him as to availability.
Another day in the 80's coming up. I'll try to measure again tonight.
This message was edited Jun 30, 2008 9:30 PM
35" on the 30th- up 7 inches in 4 days. I don't know whether worm tea gets the credit or sunshine and plenty of heat. Whatever it is, it's working. Yipee!
I found another 2 qt bottle of worm tea in the garage. Like Christmas in June. BUT.... while celebrating my good fortune, I got all awkward in the garden and dropped the uncapped bottle spilling about half a cup into my shoe! I expect to be 7 ft tall tomorrow which will make staking the tall ones much easier in August.
LOL!!!
I'm hoping the worm tea since I ordered me some!!! Plenty of heat here and not much growth for me...
Just measured and it's at 66". That's 10" in 10 days and no worm juice!! Guess I need to get some worm juice.
You can see my dahlia tree poking out behind that ugly rhodie. It is over 48" now. That rusty white pole is 48" tall.
Here is a side picture of it. There is a fair amount of foliage. I had a few stalks growing but several didn't make it for some reason.
Here is dahlia tree #2. As you can see, it is struggling royally. It used to have 3 very nice, large shoots but Mr. Snail keeps having them for a late evening snack!
So we shall see if it does anything this year.
Carol
Oooh Carol, your first one is truly lush and green. Do you think the second one might have a chance just by storing up energy in the roots even from just a little green growth? Then next year it can come back stronger if you get rid of those snails! I've only seen one here, but that was one too many.
Last I looked mine was over the yardstick mark at 38 inches or so, then shrank back to 37 LOL so I'm giving it a few days to straighten up! I'm still in the race!
I just measured mine and it is only 26". So in 13 days it has grown 12".
This thread reminds me that I have a bag of worm castings sitting in the garage that I think I forgot about. Do you think my Dahlias would like to have some of that mixed into the soil around them?
Joanne
Yesterday's measurement put him at 6'2". That's about an inch a day!
I measured yesterday and mine is about 48 inches and leaning, I should have planted it further out from the house. :(
Joann, it is reaching for that sunshine that we get every so often here in the NW, LOL
Just stake it up and it will be fine.
Carol
Not doing bad Joann, mine is back to 56", what I had nearly 3 weeks ago! It looks to have mended, what would it have been without the beating!! Mines leaning too, lol.
Mine's at 44" as of 7/7. Still don't have a stake, so I'm using the downspout as a support. Whee! Should have a good growth week with sunny, warm weather due.
good to see that D.i. is living up to it's "foot a week" reputation.....lol.
Annie, You'll be the first to get the DW, D.i........and nothing could ever replace a replacement that first went all the way east and now has come back to the west. DG is truly a phenomenon of generosity.
Mgh!!!!.......A foot a week!.......lol........just think of August 24th....lol. I'll be hiding from the sun by noon every day by that late summer time.
I really hope you guys will check out Impatiens glandulosum in the plant files. I've got the white and the red, and I've never even conceived of an Impatiens that grew from a volunteer seedling to three meters in height before the solstice down here. I've got three white ones that actually have trunks (main stems) as thick as any D.i. stems that have formed thus far this season. I found this plant thanks to Robert Dokka (balvenie) two years ago up in the PNW. I'm now trying Oriental Poppies that grow so well up there in a few peculiar cool spots down here.
Our love to all of you friends in this forum,
pam and don
Hi Dr. Don, sounds like you've got some magnificent leads on new plants and I will check the impatiens you mentioned in Plantfiles soon. Always good to learn of new things.
As of 7/14 my DI top leaf was at 56" (tied with Janet's as of a week ago, whoo hoo!) but the leader growth tip is below that at about 48" or so. Looks healthy. The second little sprout is only about 8 inches tall, but no matter. At least it's growing!
Well it seems I am the underdog here in Philadelphia with a mere 20" of growth. What am I doing wrong? o:(
I am still waiting on my worm juice order, it there something else to use to give it a boost? I have bloom booster and am getting fish emulsion for my morning glories, will that help it along?
I'll post a photo tomorrow, it doesn't look unhealthy just short!!
Your not the only one, luvsgrtdanes! I just measured mine and in 11 days it has only grown 2"!
Hi ya, DrDon! A foot a week, huh? Not even close! LOL Good to see you posting!
Maybe yours just needs to get established Mendy, mine seems to grow even with a lot of cold weather. Rain helps, brings down the nitrogen.
luvsgrtdanes, yours is new this year too isn't it? Give it time, maybe some liquid tomato food would give it a quick boost. I'm too lazy to feed mine regularly, but I recently threw a bit of organic rose food around the roots, other than that it has had nothing this year.
I had to go measure as mine is nearly as tall as me now, it's top leaf is about 60" so it has recovered and on it's journey again! It would have been at least a foot taller without the damage.
Great going Pooch! Not sure what my leader tip is, not far off the top I think but I measured quickly in the rain. Oh yes, cold, dull and wet here again but the rain is welcome.
Last measurement was 2 days ago and that was 62" on the tallest leaf. It's getting too tall for me to measure standing on the ground, but I seem to have hit a massive growth plateau. The smaller sprout is approaching a foot tall now and I'm not sure how that one will proceed- except the direction will be UP.
Grow on, GRITDIGers!
It's growing Annie!! I had to get out the ladder today to measure the beanstalk. It came in at 7'6", 90" of towering dahlia. It's grown 16" in 19 days. What a fun plant to grow!
My poor di is just poking around compared to you guys, it is 56 inches and getting bigger around all the time. I am wishing I never would have moved it. I have a second one growing very slow but alive. I gave a couple of starts to a guy from church who will be able to move them into large commercial greenhouses once a frost threatens; I am hoping he gets bloom. I will get a photo if he does.
Don't feel so bad Lenjo, mine is still smaller than yours. I didn't measure it today, but I don't think it's even 3 ft. tall.
Photos....we want photos....
Doesn't matter if the plants are small....that is interesting because photos today can be compared to photos in a month....
This message was edited Jul 28, 2008 12:10 AM
OK, photos you get, lol. I had taken one a couple of days ago but took more tonight.
I still have the ten remaining stems, they have repaired nicely and looking good again but they are much too crowded to do well. There's a new stem about 2 feet tall at the 'bare' side too, with the others leaning it made light for it!
Measured tonight at dead on 6 feet, 72". Not bad considering they were nearly ripped out the ground or had broken stems!
From the other side, as you can see I have to do the limbo to get around it!
Mad scientist question - is it possible to cross (hybridize, graft?) a dahlia plant with a dahlia tree? Like the hybrid peonies or hybrid tea roses or Dutch hardy hibiscus?
Hmm, hybridize maybe but graft I doubt as they die back each year and regrow from the tuberous roots. But to hybridize they first have to flower! :)
