Are you worried about the slow growth and less blooming of your Dahlias? So, here comes the solution…
Dahlias add the beauty to your garden by its lovely blooms blooming through lush green leaves but to achieve this status of your dahlias, it demands a lot of work – from tubers selection to blooming.
Among these works, the fulfilment of all the nutrient needs of dahlia plants in the form of fertilizers is the main thing to consider.
Fertilization of dahlias encourages the flower-laden stems and big leafy stems with lovely coloured blooms.
Nutrients from the applied fertilizers support the growth of the plant by providing all required nutrients for development and growth and boosting the blooms production.
But the basic and important part here is choosing the right fertilizer that matches exactly the dahlia’s requirement.
Contents
Buyer’s Guide – Choosing the dahlia fertilizer
It doesn’t matter whether you are growing dahlias by seeds or even if they are growing in the pots, you will need to choose the right and high-quality fertilizer.
Fertilization of Dahlias starts early from the planting and lasts to the stage until the blooms appear. While choosing the fertilizer for dahlias keep in mind that they love the fertilizers having high potassium and phosphatic proportion than nitrogen.
This low nitrogen nutrient supply will keep your plant’s vegetative growth at the controlled level and high phosphorus and potassium will boost the blooms formation and stronger growth.
The recommended proportion of NPK for fertilizing dahlias is 5-10-10, 10-20-20, 0-20-20.
If you found any fertilizer with these ratios then it will be best otherwise you can get another having the first number half than the other two as 4-10-7.
We choose a vast variety of fertilizer products for your dahlias that are deeply researched and chosen by our experts in gardening and agriculture.
Reviews:
1. Scotts Super Bloom Water Soluble Plant Food – Best water-soluble dahlia fertilizer
Scotts is a well-known company for producing plant food for many years. In the same way, this water-soluble food is a great inventory in the field of fertilizers for dahlias.
It is a high phosphatic fertilizer (12-55-6) that helps your dahlias to promote the blooms formation as the P nutrient is the main element that helps the plants to enhance the flowers.
It is best for use in fruiting plants, outdoor flowers, containers, and flower bed areas.
This phosphorus enriched fertilizer helps the flowers to boost growth and can be applied every 1-2 weeks for better results.
Application of this plant food is very easy due to its water-soluble nature as by just dissolving two tablespoons of the food in one gallon of water and the food is ready for dahlias.
2. Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Blooms Plant Nutrition Granules
This plant food will prove a great thing for the people who love organic gardening and they will never want to add any chemical food to their plants.
Miracle-Gro is a well-known company in producing plant foods. In the same way, these organic plant nutrition granules are enriched with high-quality food for dahlias.
These nutrient-rich granules will help the plants to boost the growth and give strengthening to the stems and roots by the potassium elements in that food.
This fully organic and natural food helps the flowering plants grow in a natural way and supports the availability of nutrients.
The application of this food is very simple and easy as you just need to mix the granules on the topsoil and apply water.
Many previous buyers recommend this food for flowering blooms, especially large blooms.
It requires reapplication after 4-6 weeks and covers the 165 sq.ft. with each pack.
3. J R Peters Jacks Classic No.4 10-30-20 Blossom Booster Fertilizer
Many people love the products of J R Peters due to the ensure safety of plants from burning as it produces the highest featured foods.
This 10-30-20 ratio clearly depicts that it will work like a miracle for the dahlias.
Its water solubilizing nature shows the easy application to the plants both through the roots and leaves.
You just need to add the desired amount with the help of a spoon after reading the direction on the package.
It is a complete blend having micronutrients to help your plants for strong and green foliage growth.
It keeps your plants nutrified for up to 4 months and then needs reapplication.
4. Osmocote 274850 Smart-Release Plant Food Plus
This slow-releasing formula by Osmocote is a complete blend that can support the growth of plants as well as enhancing the blooms formation.
It is a great formula for fertilizing indoor plants as well outdoors and can be applied to potted plants too.
It is fortified with 11 essential nutrients that are necessary for any plant to continue normal growth.
The best thing about this food is that it works virtually on vast varieties of plants and almost in all growing conditions.
Granular coating of the plant food ensures the availability of nutrients to the plants for up to 6 months by a single application.
These granular coatings are permeable and release nutrients by the changes in the temperature.
It is applied as sprinkling 1 scoopful of plant food per 2 gallons or 4 sq. ft. area and then watering after mixing in the top 3 inches soil.
5. Burpee Organic Bone Meal Fertilizer
Another organic plant food listed by our gardening experts of lawn desire comes in the form of Burpee Organic bone meal food.
Now if you are thinking why we choose the bone meal fertilizer for dahlias then there is a major reason that it provides the phosphorus and calcium along with organic nitrogen to the plants.
By applying this plant food, the nutrients will promote stronger roots growth by enhancing the vibrant blooms.
It can be applied to the soil at any time before the flowering to promote plant growth.
The stronger root growth of this plant food will ensure superior blooms and early growth and helps them to stay strong throughout the growing season.
It is an organic certified product that is OMRI listed for organic gardening.
6. Jobe’s Organics 9626 Bulb Granular Fertilizer
This is a complete blend of granular food manufactured by Jobe’s Organics for the Bulbs. It is a fast-acting organic fertilizer for daffodils, tulips, lilies, and other bulb flowers.
It is also a certified organic food by USDA.
It contains the Jobe’s Biozome that is an archaea microorganism that breaks the material and it expands the surface absorbing area.
The expanded surface area of roots creates filaments that act as the plant’s root system and helps to absorb the water and nutrients.
The healthy bacterial stain of Biozome improves the soil structure and quality and the longevity of nutrient presence at the root zone.
It helps the garden’s resistance to pests and disease and drought attacks.
The application is simple like other granular foods as sprinkling and watering after mixing. It needs reapplication after 3-5 weeks.
7. Dr. Earth 707P Organic 8 Bud & Bloom Fertilizer
Dr. Earth is a well-known company to the gardeners on producing the organic food of the plants for years.
This organic bud and bloom fertilizer is a completely organic blend formulated to feed the bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes.
It is an ideal product for fertilizing the hibiscus, bougainvillaeas, citrus, vines, and roses.
The Non-GMOs feature of this food makes it a valuable choice having 100% organic and natural ingredients.
The better outcome of this food from plants comes due to the presence of alfalfa meal, feather meal, fishbone meal, and mined potassium sulfate in the food.
The presence of chicken manure and sewage sludge enhance the soil quality over time.
By applying this plant food to your dahlias your dahlias will get better root establishment by its 3-9-4 formula.
The 3-9-4 ratio shows that it is well formulated for dahlias to produce abundant blooms of vibrant colors.
2 tablespoon per gallon is a well-suited dose for application in case of top dressing.
It needs reapplication after 4 weeks.
8. Flower Fuel 1-34-32, 250g – The Best Bloom Booster
Flower Fuel product is a complete blend of food formulated by Element. It is made from 40 high quality and proprietary ingredients.
It is a super-premium bloom booster foods that consist of nutrients as well the vitamins, organics, and amino acids.
The 1-34-32 NPK ratio shows that it is a premium food for dahlias blooms as P and K are much-needed nutrients of dahlias.
It is formulated to achieve the denser, heavier, and larger blooms by adding this food to your dahlias.
The 40 high-end proprietary ingredients help the flowering plants to boost the flower formation by keeping them nutrified all the time.
This food is 100% hydroponic grade soluble food that can work in any grade like soil, coco, hydroponic or aeroponic systems.
It is applied by mixing 1.25 grams per gallon of water to get the desired bigger and better harvests.
9. Grow More 7510 Hawaiian Bud and Bloom 5-50-17
This bud and bloom formula of plant food is a premium food product for dahlias formulated by Grow More. It is one of those plant foods that are specially formulated for dahlias.
The 5-50-17 NPK ratio of this food describes that it is all that dahlias need for proper growth.
It is a water-soluble formula that is completely urea free to concentrate.
According to commercial growers around the world, this food is the world’s best food for blooms.
Its water solubilizing nature opens the more ways for application as it can be applied through soil and leaves after diluting.
Application is very easy as by mixing the food is ready to apply. 0.5 lbs of food are mixed in 100 gallons of water.
The amount of food for foliar and soil application is as:
- For foliar: 1 tsp /gallon
- For soil or media: 1 tsp/gallon
10. Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Bloom Booster Flower Food
Miracle-Gro is a well-known company so it does not need any more discussion about the quality of the products.
This bloom booster flower food is a special plant food that helps the flowering plants to grow healthy and produce vibrant coloured flowers.
The presence of high phosphorus nutrients in this food helps to promote the coloring in blooms with larger sizes.
It can be applied to containers, window boxes, and all annual and perennials bloomings.
It is an ideal food for flowering plants like hibiscus, magnolias, hydrangeas, and bougainvillaeas.
Its application is easy as just add to the food in the tank of sprayer or garden hose and apply to the plants. The 1.5 lbs of this food will be enough to cover 600 sq. ft. of area.
It needs the application again after 7-14 days according to the plant conditions.
Caring steps to be taken while fertilizing dahlias
These are some steps discussed below that need to be followed if you really want to see your dahlias blooming.
1. Avoid overfeeding
Take care of the dose of fertilizer during the application as it not only disturbs the plant growth but can cause the leaf burning and ultimately plant death.
2. Avoid high nitrogenous feed
Never use the high nitrogenous fertilizers on your dahlias as they will cause the weakening of stems with huge green biomass production along with small centred blown blooms.
The high nitrogen will just promote the green leaves’ growth while having no impact on the blooms formation. So, try to apply the fertilizer having low nitrogen proportion.
3. Use of non-nitrogenous fertilizer
After the onset of the blooming season if you want to increase the blooms then apply the non-nitrogenous fertilizer like 0-10-10. The P & K will intensify the bloom’s formation and numberings.
By following all the above-mentioned steps I hope you will get the larger and lovely colored blooms that can be a great thing in your garden and in your family functions for making Dahlia Bouquets.
When to fertilize Dahlias
It is the most critical thing to know after deciding the fertilizer. The timely availability of nutrients to plants is much more beneficial than the addition of nutrients when they are not needed.
The process of fertilization starts from the very first stage of soil preparation as:
- Firstly, the soil is tilled deeply after adding the finished compost or leaf litter to enhance the porosity or drainage of the soil.
- This act will help to balance the Dahlia fertilizer by enriching the soil prior to planting.
- The first application of fertilizer is done within 30 days of planting and repeatedly with 3-4 weeks interval.
- This feeding within 30 days will give a jump start to the tubers for sprouts and stems production.
- First timely feeding will give the plant enough boost to promote flower production and healthy root development.
You can adopt the interval of fertilization once in a month.
How to Fertilize Dahlias
Choosing the right fertilizer and knowing that when to fertilize the dahlias is not enough if you don’t know how to fertilize the dahlias?
The major thing to know before applying any plant food is to know how to apply that food. As, if you will not apply the fertilizer in the right way then it will not give the results in the right way.
These some steps you need to know about how to fertilize:
- Firstly, read the instructions given on the package to get the knowledge about the application to get the massive plants with prolific blooms.
- Mostly, the type of plant food you are using has its instructions to use on it well described as the liquid form will be applied after dilution with the help of sprayers.
- The recommended way to fertilize solid food is the spreading of food around the plant in the 2-foot ring and little mixing to the soil is better.
- After adding the food to the soil, water in the plant food so it is absorbed into the soil and becomes available to the roots.
- The other major thing to take care of is weeds which will destroy all the plant food if they are not removed. Many weed removal tools are available in the market for doing this job for you.
FAQs
What is the best fertilizer for dahlias?
Dahlias need the low nitrogen fertilizers for its proper growth and blooming. All the fertilizers having a low proportion of nitrogen are best for dahlias like 5-10-10, 10-20-20, or 0-20-20.
What should you feed dahlias?
When the flowers start appearing on the dahlia plants then feed them with high potassic fertilizer every two weeks until September.
The timely fertilization will encourage the more flowering.
How can I make dahlias bloom faster?
Getting the dahlias to the blooming stage is very easy if they have available water and light properly. Dahlias love to grow in full sunlight or having at least six hours of direct sunlight daily.
If not much amount of sunlight then plants will produce fewer flowers.
How often should you fertilize dahlias?
Fertilization of dahlias with low nitrogen fertilizer after sprouting is the best time. The first application done before 30 days of planting and then every 3 to 4 intervals until early Autumn.
Conclusion
After reading this article we hope that you have found much knowledge about fertilizers of dahlias and also when and how to fertilize the dahlias.
All the products listed above are added after proper researching and buyer reviews so you can choose any product without any hesitation and worry.
Each product has its own pros and cons so you have a better list in front of you to select the best one according to your plant’s condition.
By adding these low nitrogenous fertilizers we hope that your plants will thrive by producing the vibrant and lovely coloured bloomings.
In case any new valuable product comes to the market it will be added to our list after proper researching.
If you have any information regarding fertilizing dahlias, you can add in the comment section to help others.
Michael started in lawn care when he was 7 years old by mowing neighbors lawns. Today he owns Lawn Desire Inc. which is a lawn and landscape company based out of Decatur, AL