How to Plant Cactus Dahlias

Posted by Shannen Godwin on 17th Jun 2021

How to Plant Cactus Dahlias

Need help on how to plant Cactus Dahlias? We’ve compiled a guide full of tips and advice on planting, arrangement, and aftercare for your Cactus Dahlias, to allow you to get the best performance from your plants.

This special, eye-catching variety of Cactus Dahlias are distinctive by their unusual shaped summer flowers, which look fantastic planted together for colour bursting garden displays and borders, as well as when planted as a standalone item. They can flower until Autumn and have a wide range of interesting varieties, all with very showy flower shapes and rich colour shades.

Planting

Dahlia tubers can be planted 10cm deep in fertile well drained soil, outdoors in spring when the frost has disappeared. If you plant before the frosts are over, they may get frosted and die, so pot in March or early April for flowering in early July. They prefer to be in a sunny location and spaced at approximately 45cm apart.

Tips:

  • Dahlias start blooming about 8 weeks after planting, starting in mid-July.
  • Some gardeners start tubers indoors in containers a month ahead to get a jump on the season.

Aftercare

  • There’s no need to water the soil until the dahlia plants appear; in fact, overwatering can cause tubers to rot. After dahlias are established, provide a deep watering 2 to 3 times a week, preferably more in hotter, dry climates.
  • In areas where there is extreme cold, dig up dahlias and store in a cool peat over the winter and then replanted the following year.
  • Apply a high potash fertiliser every few weeks in the summer to help growth and they can be dead headed when necessary.

Shop our full range of Cactus Dahlias here.