Flower Plans Spring 2018 Who else is in..

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

As a consumer, I love the "drop & bloom" mixed containers. They have a variety of different flowers and work great in hanging baskets, pots, etc...

Just an fyi for market growers looking for a $ maker. Figure a lot of ppl are lazy like me and just want to chunk something in a pot and not buy a bunch of different to mix and match, etc...

for us we use 5 or 6 different types of fertilizer for the season. early, a transplant solution, a bloom solution, a veg. solution, a calcium mag solution... in 50 pound bags as we grow not only blooming plants but our main crop is actually vegetables for farmers markets.

[PureHarvest]

Cole I am growing 8 varieties from the karma series to do cut flowers. We’ll have to trade notes on plugs versus tubers.
I did buy 5 tubers of a dinner plate from a farm in Wisconsin, and 4 out of 5 rotted in Promix HP.
I was trying to force them indoors to take cuttings and increase the amount of plants I would have.
It was nicely moist, not soggy and the temps were around 70. Not sure if it was me or the tubers, as this is my first time with this. I have been a grower in general for 30+ years, so I have to think it was the stock but I am honest enough to say I don’t know every plant and maybe I missed something.
Are you gonna do cut flowers or pot up and sell the plants?

[Cole_Robbie]

I think I read that the tubers should get an anti-fungal treatment when they are dug up. The ones you planted may have not had the right treatment or storage before you got them, just a guess.

Cut flowers is the plan. I am hoping the dinner plate and cactus varieties will prosper in a high tunnel environment. The comments to some of the Eden Brothers pages mention them replacing non-sprouting tubers for their customers. I will see how it goes. My high tunnel dirt is ridiculously dry. I am going to go hose it down tomorrow to try to get some moisture into the soil. I know too wet is bad, but it's like the surface of the moon in there.

I also picked up a quarter pound of this sunflower mix, looked like a good deal:
https://www.edenbrothers.com/store/s...uty_seeds.html

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Speaking of flower plans, I am just about to pull the trigger on dahlia tubers and plant my high tunnel in them. I have read that the larger-bloomed varieties do much better under plastic, away from storms and wind.

https://www.edenbrothers.com/store/dahlia_bulbs.html?

I'm thinking I will try 3 mixes - the dinner plate, the giant bloom and the cactus. I literally rolled my pennies and the rest of my change, and I am going to use that money. I have heard the expression of 'rolling pennies to buy gas' as a metaphor for being broke. Perhaps rolling pennies to buy flowers to plant is one step above that.

Careful with the AA (giant) mix - the flowers are huge, > 10", the plants produce them later & do not produce too many of them. Typically the smaller the blooms, the more of them you'll get. With that said, I do not have market experience so cannot comment on customer behaviour and likes. imho, of the mixes you are considering, the cactus mix will get you the largest number of saleable flowers.

Consider tagging the tubers as to size & colour, learn how to properly split them (1 active eye per tuber), and you'll have another item to sell to gardeners next spring.

Your supplier prices look pretty high. Some of the varieties they offer are really common, for example Kelvin Floodlight, Cafe au Lait & Garden Wonder are all available from Home Depot (here) for $8.99 CDN for 3 tubers - likely less in the USA. If you have a dahlia society in your area that's a good place to get good inexpensive named tubers to bolster your offerings.

Lots of folks use sulphur as a fungicide. In the fall I shake my dry tubers in a plastic bag with a peat/sulphur mix until they have a light coating. You'll still need to check them through the winter to make sure they don't start rotting. And since they are originally from Mexico, they cannot take any frost.

Here is a web site from a gentleman who had a small business going until a couple of years ago - some good information. http://www.sidsdahlias.com/

Good luck.

[Cole_Robbie]

Thanks for the help. I did ask one local florist, and she said she would buy anything I could grow. She said she pays $8 a stem shipped to her store, giant ones are more.

Based on my experience with mums last fall, I am trying to not have many pink dahlias. No one wants to buy a pink flower late in the summer or in the fall.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

Cole I am growing 8 varieties from the karma series to do cut flowers. We’ll have to trade notes on plugs versus tubers.
I did buy 5 tubers of a dinner plate from a farm in Wisconsin, and 4 out of 5 rotted in Promix HP.
I was trying to force them indoors to take cuttings and increase the amount of plants I would have.
It was nicely moist, not soggy and the temps were around 70. Not sure if it was me or the tubers, as this is my first time with this. I have been a grower in general for 30+ years, so I have to think it was the stock but I am honest enough to say I don’t know every plant and maybe I missed something.
Are you gonna do cut flowers or pot up and sell the plants?

In the spring don't give the tubers any water until they sprout (on their own) or else there is a chance you'll rot them.

[clkeiper]

@RJGlew "Lots of folks use sulphur as a fungicide. In the fall I shake my dry tubers in a plastic bag with a peat/sulphur mix until they have a light coating. You'll still need to check them through the winter to make sure they don't start rotting. And since they are originally from Mexico, they cannot take any frost."
thank you. I stored some big beautiful gladiola corms last Fall but figured there was something I should have done to them.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Thanks for the help. I did ask one local florist, and she said she would buy anything I could grow. She said she pays $8 a stem shipped to her store, giant ones are more.

Based on my experience with mums last fall, I am trying to not have many pink dahlias. No one wants to buy a pink flower late in the summer or in the fall.

That sounds good. Nice market research work.

Earwigs & Rose Beetles love them - the flowers only of course - so be careful.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

@RJGlew "Lots of folks use sulphur as a fungicide. In the fall I shake my dry tubers in a plastic bag with a peat/sulphur mix until they have a light coating. You'll still need to check them through the winter to make sure they don't start rotting. And since they are originally from Mexico, they cannot take any frost."
thank you. I stored some big beautiful gladiola corms last Fall but figured there was something I should have done to them.

np - I'm not sure about glads, I don't grow those. For my dahlias I mix the sulphur with peat in the shaking bag since I find that gives me a finer coating of sulphur than if you use it pure. I've never read about doing this anywhere but it works for me.

[Cole_Robbie]

My dahlia tubers arrived today. I just now planted my high tunnel.

[clkeiper]

I had dahlias and glads in the same box to store. the tubers didn't fair so well but the glads look great, I think. at least what I pulled out look fine so far.

[Patihum]

All the dahlia tubers I've received so far have gone into baggies with some damp peat/vermiculite into a crate that sits on top of my grow lights. As they eye up/sprout I'm putting them into barely damp potting mix in 7 inch pots and put in the greenhouse. I'm trying to get a jump on them having enough growth to survive the heat of summer here. Light watering once they have good sprouts on them. I'll put them in a raised bed as soon as our temperature starts staying above 50 at night.

Stocks and snapdragons are in already. Still waiting for warmer nights for the statice, clary sage and phlox to get planted along with the shasta daisies and the pinks/carnations. Things are getting close to being root bound thanks to the crazy weather and the late planting.

[FourOaks]

Been a while since I have chimed back in on this topic. My flower sales could be doing better, but I will take what I can get. Thats all we can ask, right? On the other hand, my vegetable seedlings are selling very, very well. No complaints in that department.


Today my Sunny Smile Sunflowers made their first appearance at the Market. They were a hit once the customers started showing up. I sold out, of the 18 that I took, within 2 hours time. Hopefully my others start blooming. A quick look thru what I have in the GH, looks like another dozen will start blooming tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully I can round up a total of 18. I do like the staggered blooming. I would rather have a lesser quantity each week, then all of them at once.


My Strawberry Marigolds simply arent looking the hottest. The Zinnias are going slow. The Waves are starting to really fill out the baskets, and finally sold some today.


Just glad that the icy grip of Mother Nature has finally let go.

[Cole_Robbie]

Did you get the dwarf sunflower idea from me? I sold all of mine on Saturday, too, even though they were smaller than normal and freeze-nipped around the edges. I'm surprised no one else at my market is selling them yet.

I'm new to planting flower bulbs/tubers. I don't really understand why they leave all the little sweet potato-looking things on the dahlia tubers, when the eye is coming up from the central stem. It would be a lot easier to cut all the rest off, but I imagine it is there for a reason, so I left everything intact.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Did you get the dwarf sunflower idea from me? I sold all of mine on Saturday, too, even though they were smaller than normal and freeze-nipped around the edges. I'm surprised no one else at my market is selling them yet.

I'm new to planting flower bulbs/tubers. I don't really understand why they leave all the little sweet potato-looking things on the dahlia tubers, when the eye is coming up from the central stem. It would be a lot easier to cut all the rest off, but I imagine it is there for a reason, so I left everything intact.

I did get the idea from you, yes. Some of the bottom leaves were damaged, but no one seemed to mind.