Dying Dahlia???

[dahlia1234]

Hello! I bought a Dahlia plant about 3 days ago and now the flower petals are brown and crunchy. I put the pot outside the window to get sun every day and water it generously. When I stick my finger down in the soil it does not feel dry. They leaves and stems look healthy and vivacious but it seems that the flowers are not doing as well. the flowers closer to the bottom look healthier than the ones at the top if that means anything. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum

My first thought would be overwatering. What kind of drainage does the pot have?

 

[dahlia1234]

The pot has one drainage hole at the bottom (see below). When I put it outside my window for sun, it sits on a slight angle and I usually put the drainage hole on the lower side so gravity helps draw out any extra water and it doesn't pool at the bottom of the pot. I considered overwatering as a possibility but the petals feel crunchy as if they were extremely dry. This only seems to be affecting the flowers at the top of the plant because the ones further down look absolutely perfect (also see below).

Drainage:

Higher up flowers:

Lower flowers:

 

[dahlia1234]

Side note: I read somewhere that dahlias love water so I water it every day. I pour a little in and then wait a few minutes to see if any spills out of the drainage hole and if it does not I pour a little more, repeating until I see drainage.

Is there a better way to be watering so ensure I give just enough? A few ice cubes a day/ every other day? A specified measurement?

 

[MaryMary]

Welcome to the forum!

On your first picture, the leaf just to the left of the tag seems to be browning, too. What does the tag say in regards to watering? (I'm thinking watering it every day is a bit too much.)

Another possibility - could be the top flowers are at the end of their cycle, and need to be deadheaded. I notice in the picture of the lower flower that there is a bud getting ready to bloom, but I don't see any unopened buds on the top half of the plant.