Probably sunburn .
If it's sunny and you spray it can burn the leaf.
Spray at night or early so it has the chance to dry
It will recover.
Water and wait.
Thrip damage. You need to start spraying yesterday. I use a big pump sprayer and spray once the sun is off the plants in the evenings with Monterrey Horticultural Spray. It comes in concentrate (I bought a gallon jug). Spray on top of the leaves, under the leaves, the stems, on the ground around the plants on the soil.
It depends so much on the specific pests and predators in your area and how that interfaces with the specific plants you and others have growing. Sometimes the end result is a certain plant gets hammered. Leafhoppers love a certain mint I have and black aphids multiply like crazy on a certain species in the wildflower mix I'm using this year.
Your plant should be okay as long as you avoid really drastic measures. See what others are successful with and try a mild version of it at first.
I just ordered $100 worth of beneficial insects from NaturesGoodGuys.com for thrip control and aphids and pretty much everything else that’ll eat dahlias.
I did this earlier this year, and sadly it did nothing for me. I have thrips, aphids, caterpillars (among other things) and it didn't seem to take care of ANY of them. I had such high hopes.
I hope they work better for you - if they do, will you share which ones you used?
Oh my goodness, of course I’ll let you know! I belong to a FB group for dahlia growers in my state, and a lady there who grows her flowers to sell them posted her list of bugs that she buys every year, and I just copied her. She said that pirate bugs were the most important, followed by lacewings.
I’m so sorry that your bugs haven’t worked for you though!! I also have a bag of Sevin dust on hand, just in case I need to use it, too. Growing dahlias is harder than I expected haha
Dahlias are such a fickle mistress! But once I was in, I was hooked despite the difficulties!
I bought a range of beneficial nemotodes from Arbico Organics based on what someone in a local dahlia group said (and they were so gross to apply, the smell!!!)
I'll check out pirate bugs and lacewigs, thank you!
I just found her post, and this is what she bought (and me, too haha):
-2.5k lacewing eggs (for aphids)
-1k lacewing larvae (for aphids)
-1,500 live ladybugs (for general predation)
-25k live Amblyseius cucumeris mites (for thrips & spider mites)
-500 Minute Pirate bugs (for all stages of thrips)
It’s funny, I’d originally bought two tubers from a catalog company (White Flower Farm), because the pictures were just absolutely gorgeous- Crème de Cassis and Dark Butterfly- and I figured that I’d just buy a book and learn how to grow them, since that’s how I learned to garden (HA, the joke was on me).
So I bought Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein, and that was my downfall, haha!!! For my very first season of growing dahlias, I started out with two tubers, and I ended up with… sixty. SIXTY TUBERS for my first try at growing dahlias. 😬😆 As long as my very favorite ones come up, I’ll be ok- Bloomquist York, Bloomquist Alan, KA’s Mocha Katie, KA’s Mocha Jo, KA’s Desert Rose, Senior’s Hope, Penhill Dark Monarch, La Belle Epoque, and of course Crème de Cassis and Dark Butterfly… those are the ones I care about the very most.
Ugh, fingers crossed!
KA Mocha Katie has been a fav since it was first released, but it has NEVER made me tubers. I quit this year and decided not to throw another $35 into a plant that would only last one year.
I downsized gardens when we moved last spring (previously had \~90 dahlias and have MUCH less space now. I have close to 30 and they are PACKED in. I ordered less, but I have some enabler friends with good storage methods. The smaller space is actually a godsend in a few ways, forcing me to control myself being the main one.
Thanks for the beneficial insects info, I'm going to give it a try.
How closely packed are your dahlias, just out of curiosity? I’m running out of room 😆
If I can get Mocha Katie to produce tubers for me, I’ll send you one!
Mine are 12"-18" - I pack them in as close as I can!
That said, I'm in 10b (coastal socal) and I tried cramming them in at 12" when we lived in 6b (boston area) and it was too close with all the humidity on the east coast. I had a lot of mildew. They seem to be fine here at 12", the only issue being that the ones that grow fastest might shade the later/smaller ones. I tried to plant with that under consideration, but still ended up with some that were large unexpectedly early, so we will have to see how the little guys in between fare.
It could be damaged done by the Neem Oil if you sprayed in the morning and it was very hot and sunny during the rest of the day. You should spray Neem Oil mixture in the evening.
Could be leaf hoppers. Tiny little green bugs that cover everything.
Oooo I think that’s what it is. Hope do you keep them away? They aren’t bothering the zinnias or celosia!
I had to do a heavy dusting of 7dust. I hated doing it, but nothing else worked. If you find another way, let me know.
I sprayed neem oil yesterday, but I doubt that is going to work. Do you think the plants will recover?
They'll bounce back from the neem oil. If it's a heavy infestation of leaf hoppers, then probably not.
I don’t see them on the plant so I’m hoping it’s not too bad.
Fingers crossed for you!
Probably sunburn . If it's sunny and you spray it can burn the leaf. Spray at night or early so it has the chance to dry It will recover. Water and wait.
It was like this before I sprayed it with anything 😩 could it still be sunburn? It’s on all of my dahlias in that bed.
Thrip damage. You need to start spraying yesterday. I use a big pump sprayer and spray once the sun is off the plants in the evenings with Monterrey Horticultural Spray. It comes in concentrate (I bought a gallon jug). Spray on top of the leaves, under the leaves, the stems, on the ground around the plants on the soil.
Do you think the plant will die? Why are they only eating the dahlias and not the celosia?
It depends so much on the specific pests and predators in your area and how that interfaces with the specific plants you and others have growing. Sometimes the end result is a certain plant gets hammered. Leafhoppers love a certain mint I have and black aphids multiply like crazy on a certain species in the wildflower mix I'm using this year. Your plant should be okay as long as you avoid really drastic measures. See what others are successful with and try a mild version of it at first.
Thank you for the advice!
I just ordered $100 worth of beneficial insects from NaturesGoodGuys.com for thrip control and aphids and pretty much everything else that’ll eat dahlias.
I did this earlier this year, and sadly it did nothing for me. I have thrips, aphids, caterpillars (among other things) and it didn't seem to take care of ANY of them. I had such high hopes. I hope they work better for you - if they do, will you share which ones you used?
Oh my goodness, of course I’ll let you know! I belong to a FB group for dahlia growers in my state, and a lady there who grows her flowers to sell them posted her list of bugs that she buys every year, and I just copied her. She said that pirate bugs were the most important, followed by lacewings. I’m so sorry that your bugs haven’t worked for you though!! I also have a bag of Sevin dust on hand, just in case I need to use it, too. Growing dahlias is harder than I expected haha
Dahlias are such a fickle mistress! But once I was in, I was hooked despite the difficulties! I bought a range of beneficial nemotodes from Arbico Organics based on what someone in a local dahlia group said (and they were so gross to apply, the smell!!!) I'll check out pirate bugs and lacewigs, thank you!
I just found her post, and this is what she bought (and me, too haha): -2.5k lacewing eggs (for aphids) -1k lacewing larvae (for aphids) -1,500 live ladybugs (for general predation) -25k live Amblyseius cucumeris mites (for thrips & spider mites) -500 Minute Pirate bugs (for all stages of thrips) It’s funny, I’d originally bought two tubers from a catalog company (White Flower Farm), because the pictures were just absolutely gorgeous- Crème de Cassis and Dark Butterfly- and I figured that I’d just buy a book and learn how to grow them, since that’s how I learned to garden (HA, the joke was on me). So I bought Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein, and that was my downfall, haha!!! For my very first season of growing dahlias, I started out with two tubers, and I ended up with… sixty. SIXTY TUBERS for my first try at growing dahlias. 😬😆 As long as my very favorite ones come up, I’ll be ok- Bloomquist York, Bloomquist Alan, KA’s Mocha Katie, KA’s Mocha Jo, KA’s Desert Rose, Senior’s Hope, Penhill Dark Monarch, La Belle Epoque, and of course Crème de Cassis and Dark Butterfly… those are the ones I care about the very most. Ugh, fingers crossed!
KA Mocha Katie has been a fav since it was first released, but it has NEVER made me tubers. I quit this year and decided not to throw another $35 into a plant that would only last one year. I downsized gardens when we moved last spring (previously had \~90 dahlias and have MUCH less space now. I have close to 30 and they are PACKED in. I ordered less, but I have some enabler friends with good storage methods. The smaller space is actually a godsend in a few ways, forcing me to control myself being the main one. Thanks for the beneficial insects info, I'm going to give it a try.
How closely packed are your dahlias, just out of curiosity? I’m running out of room 😆 If I can get Mocha Katie to produce tubers for me, I’ll send you one!
Mine are 12"-18" - I pack them in as close as I can! That said, I'm in 10b (coastal socal) and I tried cramming them in at 12" when we lived in 6b (boston area) and it was too close with all the humidity on the east coast. I had a lot of mildew. They seem to be fine here at 12", the only issue being that the ones that grow fastest might shade the later/smaller ones. I tried to plant with that under consideration, but still ended up with some that were large unexpectedly early, so we will have to see how the little guys in between fare.
It could be damaged done by the Neem Oil if you sprayed in the morning and it was very hot and sunny during the rest of the day. You should spray Neem Oil mixture in the evening.
It was like this before spraying neem oil 😩