Dahlia Planting

Since returning to work after my extended Easter holiday I have been planting up Dahlia beds. The weather has turned quite cold here so as it's a job that involves some digging it's proving to be quite beneficial, especially as the soil is also dry and working well.

Below is a picture of one of the Memorial Garden beds with the tubers set out ready for planting. If you are planting a whole bed with a limited number of plants it's best to set them out first so as to get an even spacing They are planted in staggered rows but once they get going they soon become a single mass and even when planted that far from the edge of the lawn they will eventually grow up to the edge. So as you can see from that it's good to give them plenty of room, especially if you are planting large tubers. If you click on the (Memorial Gardens) label you will see what I mean.

Before placing the tubers I also give the ground a dressing of general purpose fertiliser which then gets worked in to the soil as you do the planting work. To finish off the job I went round the borders with the edging shears which I always think is a worthwhile thing to do if you like it nice and tidy looking.

Bird Box Terrace

Yesterday we moved some of the Dahlia tubers from being stored in the potting shed to the conservatory in the hope that if I keep dampening them with water on warmer days they will start to put out shoots so they get a head start once planted in the garden. A bit like spritting seed Potatoes I suppose.

The ones below are called Border Princess and will be going back into the Memorial Gardens borders.

Also yesterday, as I was supposed to be taking it easy I put up a bird box. It's been waiting around in the potting shed for a couple of years so I thought it was time it did a bit of good somewhere. I don't really know much about birds so not sure if it's in a good place or not. I read that some birds like to fly straight into the box whereas others prefer to perch and look around first  so I've tried to accommodate both here because apart from the hole that you can see in the middle there is also one at either end which in my book makes it a terraced bird box. Anyway I will keep an eye on it and see how it goes. I think there are probably a lot of better places to nest around here to be honest.

Rooted Dahlia Cuttings.

Good evening all. Tonight I’m going to show you my first Dahlia cuttings to root this year. There were seven in the pot and all but two have rooted. Below is how I root the cuttings in sealed plastic bags.



Below is how this particular pot came out of their bag. Still looking green and pretty fresh. I've heard it said not to let the leaves tounch the sides of the bag as they will rot but I can't say I ever have much trouble in that respect.

The best way to tell if your cuttings have rooted is to look under the pot and if you can see roots through the holes in the bottom then it’s safe to tip them out. You can of course tip them out anyway but you run the risk of the whole lot dropping on the floor and I find if you can’t see any roots through the holes in the bottom of the pot then even if they have started making roots they won’t be taking any harm. Below you will see one root coming out of the pot but even so it wouldn't have hurt to leave them another week.
Here below are the five cuttings with roots. When potting these on in to three inch pots you have to be very careful not to break off the roots as they are very delicate at this stage.
As the two cuttings that hadn't rooted weren't showing any signs of rotting I repotted them in the hope that they too will make some roots.
Bob.

Dahlia's From Tubers & Seed.

Dirt Princess said...
I am a bit confused...are these the same dahlias with bulbs, or no bulbs? I have seen dahlias you plant from seed and bulbs.

The dahlia cuttings I showed you yesterday were taken from bulbs (tubers). These tubers were dug up last year and stored in peat in a frost free place and then brought in to growth in February. The tubers are several years old. The reason for the cuttings are mainly to increase the stock of a particular variety. When I buy new dahlias I just buy the one and grow it on for a year and then take cuttings from it the following year. See below for the dahlias with tubers, boxed and starting to send up new shoots.

Also you can grow dahlias from seed very easily but they are just the same sort of dahlia as the ones with tubers, if you keep the seedlings long enough they too will form tubers, this will happen over the course of the summer. Below is a picture of the bedding dahlias I have growing from seed.

If you want to know anything else just ask.
Bob.

Taking Dahlia Cuttings.

A while ago I said that I would show you how I take dahlia cuttings, this also applies to certain other plants that will root from softwood cuttings. First of all you need to make sure you take the cutting from new growth and preferably with no flower, if you do end up with a flower attached pinch it off. You really want to be taking the cutting from just above a joint in the stem so that you have new growth of 3 to 4 inches long as below. The number 5 on the label you see is just to tell me the name of the dahlia. Rather than having to write Border Princess on every label I find it easier to give each variety a number as its easier to write down. I have a paper with the list of names plus a picture of the flower and the number I've given it so all I have to do to see what number 5 looks like is look it up on the paper. In this case Number 5 is actually 'My Love' and is medium sized white dahlia.

Once you have your material take it to a hard surface and trim off the stem to just below a joint as in the picture below. Use a very sharp knife as the cut needs to be a clean as possible. I use a modeling scalpel.

When you've cut off the stem below a joint remove the lower leaves leaving just 1 or 2 big leaves plus the growing tip as in the picture below. You can also see from this picture that the cuttings are about 3 inches in length.

Now fill a small pot with compost, I use a mix of half potting compost and half sharp sand but if you don't have the sand just compost will do, try not to over water it though. I add the sand to help drainage. Now push the cuttings in around the edge of the pot as you see in the picture below and then gently firm them in before adding a little water. They then need to be put somewhere bright and warm but out of direct sunlight. I pu mine in the warm greenhouse behind taller plants. A window sill in the house should be okay provided it doesn't et full sun on it.

A good idea with some plants is to put them inside a plastic bag as below. You do have to be careful of rotting if you do this though and its not something I would do with such as geraniums which are prone to rotting off at the best of times. It does seem to help with dahlia's though as they tend to droop all over the sides of the pots if not done like this.