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Dahlias are one of the most beautiful and unpretentious perennials. Previously, it was impossible to imagine a personal plot without these flowers, they grew everywhere and invariably served as a source of pride for the hostess. But the fashion is passing, the dahlia has been somewhat forgotten, however, recently it has re-settled in our gardens. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a variety of bulbous, tuberous, root-tuberous flowers flowed to us from Holland. Among them there are dahlias of such beauty that it is simply impossible to take your eyes off, and with different sizes and shapes of the flower, and their color is so varied that it is difficult to say which color is missing from their palette. In addition, there is now a real boom in container garden flowers, and it is unlikely that it will soon decline. And the Dutch breeders once again delighted us with excellent new undersized varieties.
Spring has come, we are increasingly thinking about what to plant in the flower beds. Many have already taken the dahlias from the basements and placed them for germination. We talked in detail about how to do this in one of the articles and we hope that you did not have any problems. Planting dahlias with tubers in spring is also not particularly difficult.
A little about dahlias
Did you know that dahlia came to Europe as an edible, not an ornamental plant? Only now the capricious Europeans did not appreciate its taste, but they quite liked the flowers, they began to grow them in the front gardens. Then the breeders took up the dahlia. As a result, we have more than 15,000 varieties, the number of which is increasing every year.
The root system of a dahlia is represented by root cones or root tubers, which are a thickened modified root, and not a stem, which is a tuber. A flower and not a flower at all, but a complex inflorescence - a basket, consisting of many marginal reed flowers and inner tubular ones. The trunk of the dahlia is hollow, but very durable. With the current variety of varieties, the growth of this flower can range from 20 to 150 cm or more, and the diameter of the inflorescence is from 3 to 25 cm.
Dahlias are flowers with an annual development cycle and a pronounced dormant period. Starting in spring, they grow and bloom, after the first frost, their vegetative mass dies off, and the tubers go to rest. A few months later, they wake up after winter, in the spring the root collar releases the first shoots and everything starts all over again. It should be noted that dahlias are very thermophilic and do not winter on the street.
Preparing dahlias for disembarkation
In one of the previous articles on our website, we described in detail the sprouting of dahlias in the spring, but let's repeat the main steps of this process.
We get root tubers from storage
We will assume that our tubers were stored correctly, and the wintering was successful. The timing of when to get dahlias from storage in the spring is different for each region. This should be done about 2-3 weeks before planting in the ground. Usually for central Russia it is mid-April. If you are going to propagate flowers by cuttings, do so at least a month early. You cannot get the tubers from the basement in the spring and immediately bring them into a warm room, because of the sharp temperature drop, you can simply lose the plant.
Attention! First, put the boxes in a cool dressing room, carefully cover them with cellophane to retain moisture and leave for 2-3 days.
Only then can dahlias be brought home.
Preparation and disinfection before germination
Any preparation of dahlias for planting begins with the disinfection of the tubers. If after digging you have not washed them from the soil, it's time to do it in the spring. Examine the washed tubers carefully for possible rot, mold and infection. Remove all affected parts with a sharp, sterile knife and soak the tubers in a previously prepared light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes. Then sprinkle all sections with crushed activated charcoal and leave to dry for a day.
Dahlia tubers germination in spring can take place in any loose substrate:
- loose earth;
Sprinkle some damp substrate on the bottom of the boxes and carefully place the nests with tubers on top. The most important thing is that the root neck should be directed upwards, it is on it that the growth buds are located. Lightly sprinkle the tubers with soil and place in a bright place with a temperature of about 20 degrees. When the first shoots appear, reduce the temperature to 15-16 degrees.
Important! Dahlias should not be cramped in containers for germination.
If you have few nodules, you can germinate them in pots without deepening the root collar too much.
It is not necessary to divide the dahlia tubers every spring. But if you neglect this procedure for 3-4 years and plant only large overgrown nests in the ground, the flowers will gradually degenerate. The lack of spring division of dahlia is fraught not only with the fact that you will miss a rotten tuber, which, after planting, will provoke rotting of the entire root system, but also the appearance of small, few flowers.
When the first shoots appeared or just the growth buds swelled well, it was time to divide the tubers. This must be done on time, not allowing the shoots to become large - so there is a danger that during division we will simply break them off, because in the spring, at the initial stages of growth, they are very fragile.
We suggest you watch a video in which an experienced gardener talks about dividing dahlia tubers:
After you have divided the tubers and dried the slices, return them to the germination trays.
Dahlias are planted in spring not only by tubers. This plant is easy to propagate by cuttings. When young shoots reach a height of 6-10 cm, they are carefully broken out with a "heel" or cut out with a sharp sterile knife with a piece of root collar and planted in separate pots or peat tablets.
Attention! Cutting dahlias in spring allows you to grow many plants from one nest at once, which is especially important if flowers are grown for cut.
This is exactly how the rejuvenation of the planting material occurs.
Germination care for dahlias
In the spring, during germination, one should not get carried away with watering - the tubers have a sufficient supply of moisture and nutrients for the first time. Here, it is better to dry the soil a little than to overmoisten it. Better to gently spray the seedlings with a spray bottle.
After you have divided the dahlia tubers, you will have to make sure that too many shoots do not appear on each cut. As it is not a pity, leave 2-3 of the strongest, and break the rest.
Warning! If you leave a lot of shoots in the spring, the plant will be weak, and the flowers are small and few in number, and you will not get good tubers by winter.
Dahlia planting in open ground
We described how to prepare dahlias for planting. Believe me, this is not difficult at all, you just need to get used to it and find a suitable place for germination, because if there are a lot of tubers, then you need a lot of space for them, and even well-lit one. Now it's time to describe how to plant dahlias in spring.
Choosing a landing site
Dahlias need plenty of sun, sheltered from strong winds, and loose, moderately fertile soils. These flowers are surprisingly unpretentious to the soil, you cannot plant dahlias only in a swampy place - there their tubers will simply rot.
Landing site preparation
It is best to prepare a place for planting flowers in the fall by digging the garden bed onto a shovel bayonet. Although dahlias can be grown in any soil, it is better not to create extreme conditions. Add lime or dolomite flour to too acidic soil, and sour (high) peat in alkaline soil. If your soil is poor, add mature compost or well-rotted humus.
In the spring, the soil is dug up again.
Dahlia planting in the ground
The time when to plant dahlias in open ground in spring is different in each region. It must be remembered that these flowers are very thermophilic and even a short-term drop in temperature will cause their death.
In the spring we plant dahlias on flower beds, not only when the threat of return frosts has passed, but also when the earth warms up well. You need to dig a hole about the bayonet of a shovel, add a matchbox of superphosphate, mix well with the soil. If the soil is poor in nutrients, we additionally add well-rotted humus or a complete complex fertilizer, for example, amofoska. Add peat or sand to the overly dense soil.
With dense soils, we will arrange drainage - we will pour a shovel of fine gravel or brick chips at the bottom of the planting hole.
Attention! If your soil is light and loose by itself, do not do additional drainage, otherwise the dahlias will have to be watered every day!
Place the tubers in the planting hole, cover with soil so that the root collar is about 2-3 centimeters deep.
Advice! There is such a rule: the hole should be three times larger than the nest of tubers, and add about 7 cm to its depth for adding humus and deepening the root collar.
In the spring, before planting high varieties, be sure to install a support for them, you risk damaging the tubers if you do this later. After the plant is planted, water it generously.
Planting dahlias in containers
Now it is very popular to plant low-growing varieties of dahlias in containers. City dwellers who grow flowers on balconies and loggias can also grow them. One thing to remember is that flower pots are only suitable for seed-grown dahlias. A stalk of a low-growing variety can also be planted in a pot in the spring, but its volume should not be less than 5 liters.
Dahlia tubers are planted either in large ceramic flowerpots or in containers with a volume of at least 15 liters, but this is the minimum, and for the shortest flowers with a small nodule! Usually containers for planting dahlias have a volume of 30-40 liters. Otherwise, the plant will suffer from a lack of soil throughout the season and will give a weak nodule, which will most likely die in winter.
Important! Container dahlias require increased watering, mandatory holes in the bottom of the pot and a good drainage layer so that the water does not stagnate in the tubers and cause the death of the flower.
Leaving after disembarkation
The first time after planting dahlias, they need increased watering and protection from the bright sun. You can just cover the plants with newspapers for the first 2-3 days. These flowers do not like loosening, since we do not know where the growth of new tubers will be directed and risk damaging them. It is better to immediately mulch the planting - this way the weeds will not grow, and you will have to water less often.
We offer you a short video about planting a dahlia for watching:
Perhaps sprouting and planting dahlias will seem troublesome to someone. But this plant is unpretentious and does not require much maintenance during flowering. In addition, long and abundant flowering, which can be enjoyed until the very frost, will more than pay for all the worries.