Keeping Dahlias Healthy

At our farm, we take a proactive, sensible, and sustainable approach to managing and preventing the spread of diseases and viruses that threaten our beautiful blooms.

We know there’s a lot of talk about dahlia viruses, and interestingly, the American Dahlia Society reports that around 80% of dahlia varieties may carry dormant viruses. But instead of feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, we prefer to work in harmony with nature and adopt practical solutions.

To give a bit more insight, some plants show symptoms of illness, while others may harbor dormant viruses with no visible signs. It's similar to how some people can have a virus but still feel fine. While a human might be able to transmit a virus to someone else without feeling sick, and the other person does get sick, in most cases, they'll recover just fine. Unfortunately, dahlias don't have the same luck; they won't recover and will eventually die.

Here’s how we tackle this important issue:

1. Any plants that show signs of a virus or are suspected of having one are carefully removed and disposed of in the trash. This helps protect the health of our other dahlias and prevents the viruses from spreading to other plants.

2. The rest of our plants are considered healthy and play a key role in our comprehensive prevention efforts. We recognize that tools, insects, and even people can contribute to the spread of viruses and diseases.

**Tools** We ensure everything is kept extremely clean. We sanitize our tools and working surfaces that come into contact with our plants and tubers by using a 10% bleach solution, as recommended by the American Dahlia Society. This means we’re sanitizing our snips and pruners in the field between each plant, as well as sanitizing our digging and dividing tools with each clump.

**Insects** We focus on keeping unwanted pests at bay with our Integrated Pest Management Program. This includes attracting beneficial insects, applying beneficial nematodes to the soil, companion planting, promoting healthy soil, and ensuring our plants have the nutrition they need.

**People** To keep our dahlias safe, we limit access to our growing field and allow only our trained team to handle them. We don't offer U-Cut dahlias.

**Sourcing ** We only source new stock from licensed growers who follow sanitation and prevention best practices.  We do not "resell" new stock.  New stock is grown in isolation for a minimum of one year, usually longer.  Additionally, our stock is inspected annually by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

By following these practices, we’re dedicated to keeping our dahlias healthy and thriving!