Quick update on the dahlias. They are doing great! I swear I could just sit outside around the clock and watch them grow. Ironically, the last tuber to push growth above the soil line was Coseytown’s Early Girl. I guess she isn’t too early for me although she may end up being the first to bloom. We’ll see! The other one that is smaller than the rest is one that I accidently knocked the sprout off of while weeding. When I realized what I had done, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I felt horrible, but just like most growers say, if the sprout gets knocked off, it will grow another and just be a bit behind the rest. So far, that seems to be true. We still have several weeks until we have blooms but for the most part, things seem to be going really well. I have one dahlia that looks like it is experiencing stress from some of the excessive heat spells we had when I first planted it. This is based on feedback from the grower we got the tubers from, so I’m hopeful the plant will recover and still produce the beautiful blooms that I’m so anxious to have. I’m going to continue to watch it closely and if needed, give it extra foliar feedings or water.

I’m currently foliar feeding every other week. On the weeks in between the foliar feedings, I’m sprinkling Sluggo and I use Terro Ant Dust as needed. We seem to be getting more and more bug pressure, so I may need to also add spraying with insecticidal soap. I’ll continue to monitor for this and see if I need to add that to my routine. I also use the drip tape as needed. We’ve had decent amounts of rain this June, so I’ve only used the drip tape a few times. I’m certain as we get further into the dog days of summer, that will probably change, but we are ready!