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Flowers · tender perennial
Dahlia from seed
Dahlia × hybrida · also searched as easy to grow dahlias, dahlias
- Germination temperature
- 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C)
- Sowing depth
- ¼ in (6 mm)
- Days to germinate
- 3 to 5 days
- Light
- Either; light is not critical
- Before sowing
- Nothing needed
- Start indoors
- 4 to 5 weeks before planting out
- Plant out
- 0 to 2 weeks after the last frost
- Sow outdoors
- 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost
- Spacing
- 9 to 12 in (23 to 30 cm) for seed-raised bedding types
Your dates from your last frost Seed not coming up?
Sowing
Seed-grown dahlias (bedding types) germinate in 3 to 5 days at 65 to 70°F (Johnny's): sow 4 to 5 weeks before the last frost, or direct after frost when soil is 65 to 70°F. Named garden dahlias are grown from tubers planted after the last frost.
Care and transplanting
Pinch seedlings, stake tall plants and lift tubers after the first frost kills the foliage in cold climates.
Problems
Slugs target young shoots. Tubers rot in wet soil.
Saving seed
Dahlias grown from seed vary; keep tubers of named varieties.