Summer cuttings of dahlias. Dahlias propagation

Dahlia – autumn flower, which is popular. The shape, height, and size of the flower are different, but they have one thing in common - beauty. September warmth promotes longevity. In the absence of frost, flowering is observed even in October. Dahlias and their reproduction is a curious process that requires a comprehensive answer. Gardeners often ask how do dahlias reproduce? No less often they ask the question, how to divide dahlias? Effective propagation of dahlias by tubers.

If you do not plan to propagate dahlias, the bushes must be divided annually. If the plant has no more than two stems, then the flowers will be large in size. Otherwise, the size of the flowers will be smaller, their brightness and saturation will disappear. Dividing dahlias in the fall causes the bush to become younger.

If the bush is purchased at the market, it still needs to be divided. Powerful rhizomes cannot be planted. But in order to have something to divide, the plant must be dug up correctly and sent for storage before planting.

Bushes are dug up immediately after the start of frost. Someone is in no hurry to dig up the plant. After all, it is quite possible that warm weather will set in. The first frosts will only affect the new blossoming flowers. The plant itself as a whole will not suffer from them. But we must not forget that if frost strikes, the stem may be damaged and rot. We must not waste time and dig it on time. After all, rot from the stem can spread to the tuber. Therefore any experienced gardener will say that timeliness is the determining factor in holding such events.

Dahlia is not gladiolus. There are no increased requirements for weather conditions. Therefore, you can dig even in rainy weather. If there are a lot of plants, then they will not all be planted. It is not necessary to dig up every single plant. It is necessary to dig up the required amount, plus a small reserve. What remains in the ground will rot and serve as good fertilizer.

Important! Two weeks before digging, stop watering the plants. This is a prerequisite for good conservation.

How to divide dahlia tubers

The choice is determined in favor of large bushes that bloom profusely. Before digging, the stems are cut to form stumps up to 30 cm high. This is protection against breaking the stems during digging. After all, this can also damage the neck of the root. The soil must be shaken off, and what remains must be washed off with water. Simultaneously with washing, small underdeveloped tubers are removed. But the main tubers that come from the neck are left behind. They will need to be divided in the spring.

If the tuber is very long, it is shortened. It is enough to leave 15 cm. If there were several trunks on the bush, divide the rhizome.

Tuber preparation

After this, the tubers are washed again with water. Another trim is carried out, leaving a stem 1-2 cm long. During storage in winter period the material may rot. The beginning of the process is the stem. He rests on the veranda for a couple of days. In case of severe frosts, it is removed to a room inaccessible to them.

Tuber division

Everything must be done carefully. To do this, the stem is loosened. It may be necessary to cut the mother element.

How to properly divide a dahlia tuber?

Many people ask when to divide dahlias, in spring or autumn? In fact, you can do this in any of these periods.

Autumn division

Anyone who does this in the fall must clearly understand how to divide dahlia tubers in the fall. These manipulations should be carried out using a sharpened cutting tool. It is acceptable to use a knife or scissors.

How to do division

Using a sharp knife, split the remaining part of the stem into two parts. In this case, the growth bud should be located on both sides. Everything must be done as carefully as possible and not allow the stem to be torn off from the rhizome. In principle, it won’t be a big deal if something like this does happen.
The rhizome stretches to the sides. After this, the seed is inspected. If there are many kidneys, then the procedure is repeated. In a similar way, one large root can be divided into several parts. From them a new plant will be formed.
Ideal planting material- a whole tuber or part of it, on which there is a bud. If there are two kidneys, then cutting board re-cutting is carried out. In this case, you must use a sharp knife. The given algorithm of actions is the answer to the question of how to divide dahlias in the fall.

Spring division

Gardeners do not have a common opinion regarding the time of separation. Some believe that autumn is the best time for such an event. best period. Others have a different opinion. In winter as a result natural selection, the kidneys will be clearly visible. Therefore, it is better to carry out the division in the spring, they believe. If this is done in spring period, then 3 weeks before planting, the material is removed from the storage location and inspected. If the kidneys are alive and have moved away from hibernation, the tubers are separated. The buds may be invisible as a result of the tubers drying out. They need to be sprinkled with water and left for a while to germinate. Then they are separated.

An experienced gardener knows how to divide the dahlia root for planting. The florist receives more planting material.

Propagation of dahlias by cuttings

Cuttings – effective method reproduction. For this, grown young plants are used. It is better to do this in a greenhouse, but it can also be done in a cold greenhouse. Forming its own root system. While creating favorable conditions there is continuous development. Rooted cuttings are planted shallowly. When placing seedlings in a pot, planting is carried out deeper. The lump descends 7 cm below the soil surface.

Using unsuitable material is associated with failure. You can't take cuttings too early. Early deadline for most varieties - late February, early March. At this time he is transferred to warm room. If there is no need large quantity plants are allowed to do this in April.

Dividing the bush into parts is mandatory. The shoot appears from below, and it is very problematic to obtain a cutting of the required quality from it. It is better to work with short cuttings.

Propagation of dahlias by tubers

The tubers should migrate to a warm room in March. Light required sufficient quantity. Here they are germinated. Before this, remove everything that has been damaged. For ten minutes, the planting material is dipped in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (0.2%). Then it is planted in boxes and sprinkled sandy soil. The root collar is open, the soil is moist. After 10 days they divide. For this purpose, the root tuber is cut into pieces. Each contains at least one eye. When planting, the cut remains free of backfill.

How to store dahlia tubers

Storage in boxes. The tubers are placed root-side down on a layer of peat. Sand or sawdust is used.
Can be stored in sand. It must be well dried. The top of the box is covered with burlap. In winter, the condition of the roots can be easily checked. The main danger is excess moisture.
Storage in paraffin. The method is labor-intensive but effective. Paraffin will prevent moisture, high temperature

Continuing the topic of growing dahlias from tubers, I decided to consider the option of propagating dahlias by cuttings. Despite the fact that now there is a lot of planting material in the form of tubers, it is not always possible to see their condition in the packaging. And when you open the package, it turns out that many nodules are held on by a “string,” while others, although they have a root neck, do not have buds.
In this case, to obtain more planting material, dahlias can be propagated by cuttings.

How to propagate dahlias by cuttings

We create conditions for the germination of dahlia tubers

A separate tuber with buds should be placed in a container with soil mixture, while the entire tuber should be covered with soil, and the neck should be above its surface. The container is placed in a well-lit place at a temperature of about 20° ±2°. At good lighting The cuttings are stocky, with small internodes. If there is little light, this is usually the case; if cuttings are carried out in February-March, then the plants need to be supplemented with light. For quick germination, you can use bottom heating of about 18°. You can cut cuttings for propagating dahlias when a sprout about 6-10 centimeters long has developed from the bud.

How to properly cut a dahlia cutting for propagation

There are two ways to propagate dahlias by cuttings.

1 - use cuttings with a “heel” when they are cut with a sharp knife with a small piece of tuber;

2 - cut the cuttings at the base of the tuber.

“Heel” cuttings take root faster, and then they produce full-fledged tubers. But also simple cuttings will take root and delight you with their flowering. There is no need to be afraid to cut off the stalk with the heel, in this place the tuber will form new replacement buds, but you must definitely leave part of the stem with the root collar so that new buds will appear.

Conditions for good rooting of dahlia cuttings

To germinate cuttings you need to prepare river sand sift it and sterilize it. You can take scalded or baked soil mixture, the main thing is that it is light. The height of the pots for germinating cuttings can be about 10 cm.
If you have root, then a cut of the cutting can be dipped in root powder or kept in a diluted solution of a growth stimulator for several minutes.

You can also use heteroacustin or prepare a special powder for dusting cuttings: 1 g heteroacustin, 100 g talc, 200 g crushed charcoal. You can store the powder in a closed container. Some gardeners use aloe juice as a stimulant.
Treated with a growth stimulator, the cuttings need to be immersed in a depression made in the soil with a stick. Compact the soil around the cuttings. If there are several cuttings, then they can be placed in a common container and placed in a plastic bag so that they are hermetically sealed. One or two cuttings can be planted in a pot and covered with a jar or plastic bag before germination.

How to care for dahlia cuttings

You need to try to ensure that such a mini greenhouse stands in a lighted place, but Sun rays the first days should not fall on them. There is no need to water the cuttings; sometimes you can lightly spray them. Condensation should not be allowed to drip onto the leaves; to do this, the plastic bag should be raised on one side and lowered on the other. After 10-15 days, the cuttings should take root. If rooting is carried out in winter, then the time frame can be a month, in March about three weeks, and in May only 8-10 days.

If you carry out cuttings to propagate dahlias early, in February-March, in order to obtain more planting material, or if the tubers “woke up” and produced large sprouts during storage, then the rooted plants can be cut again. To do this, you can cut the crown obliquely so that on the lower part there remains a pair of leaves with an axillary bud, from which a new stem will emerge.
One or two drops of juice may appear on the tubers, where the “heel” is cut, this is not scary, there is no need to lubricate the cut. Soon new buds and sprouts will appear next to the cut.

Discussion: 4 comments

Good advice for beginner flower growers. Otherwise, many simply throw away the tubers without buds, they are afraid that they will not take root.
Somehow in May they gave me tubers from the cellar, I planted them, the green bushes grew large, but I never saw any flowers. I didn't even try again. And I didn’t dig up the tubers from the ground for the winter, I thought it was useless.

Hello, dear friends!

Typically, propagation of dahlias is carried out in two main ways: dividing tubers and cuttings. The latter is considered more productive - it allows you to get up to 40 cuttings from one plant. Dahlias, propagated tuberous cuttings, bloom better and have almost identical characteristics of the mother variety.

It is better to take cuttings of the flower forms you like in mid-winter - January or early February. Root tubers are placed in pots with soil substrate purchased from a garden pavilion or peat, having previously been disinfected with the “Maxim” preparation. The root collar is buried halfway. For productive shoot formation, it is advisable to spray the plantings with the Zircon stimulant, then carry out a similar irrigation daily with settled water. If possible, planting material is covered with transparent cups, providing greenhouse comfort for the vegetative reproduction of dahlias.

When the emerging sprouts stretch up to 10 cm, they are cut off stationery knife diagonally, leaving a few millimeters at the base: in the area of the cut, the development of new buds will continue, which ensures large shoot formation. After the initial separation of the root cuttings, the planting material is again sprayed with the Zircon solution.

For rooting received during propagation of dahlias green cuttings usually require 3 weeks. To do this, each sprout is buried in a moist substrate, placing it in separate narrow containers. Dahlias are heat-loving, their ancestry has Mexican and Colombian roots, so rooting plantings need to be provided with warmth and light.

It is premature to transfer grown seedlings to an open flower garden in May; even the smallest temperature drops can lead to a fatal outcome. Before planting, the cuttings are pre-incubated by placing them in a closed, sunny veranda or greenhouse, where they are gradually hardened by opening the windows, first during the day and then at night. They are then transferred to the planned growing areas when the weather turns into summer.

Dahlias grow comfortably in mineral-enriched sandy and loamy soil structure in areas open to the sun. Root and tuberous forms of vegetation are very susceptible to infection by pathogenic strains of fungi, so it is better to completely exclude the use of manure, litter and mullein from the diet. From the huge selection of fertilizers in retail, it is not difficult to select suitable complex formulations, and use urea, green fertilizers and natural plant compost as nitrogen.

Rooted cuttings - seedlings - are buried in prepared holes up to the first pair of formed leaves, half a meter apart and watered abundantly. In the first week of adaptation, young dahlias are irrigated regularly. Throughout the season, caring for plantings consists of weeding weeds, removing dead and damaged stems, faded inflorescences, fertilizing and infrequent watering.

Growing bushes, especially hybrid forms, need to be tied to stakes, since the dahlia has a poorly developed superficial root system, which is not always able to withstand the volume of leaf and flower mass. A strong harness will ensure a healthy and blooming species plants.

In autumn, flower plantings are highly mulched wood chips or peat crumbs to protect the tubers and the base of the bush from the expected drop in temperatures. Mulching is carried out selectively and only on high-quality, healthy bushes, the varietal forms of which are planned to be bred in the future. They are marked in advance with tags to prevent varietal confusion. All frail, with signs of disease and underdeveloped dahlias are removed from the flower garden by digging up the tubers.

After the first frost, dahlias are cut off, leaving 10-centimeter petioles, and the buds on the root tubers are waited for a week to “ripen.” Then they are dug up for drying and sorting, keeping in mind the signed tags, and are subsequently placed for cold storage in containers with peat chips.

I would be glad if this article is about propagation of dahlias cuttings will be useful to you when working in the garden or flower garden. See you!

The most common in gardening hybrid species dahlias, which are propagated by seeds, dividing tubers and propagation by cuttings. Let's look at the methods of propagating dahlias in more detail at each stage of this process.

Propagation of dahlias by dividing tubers is the most common and least labor-intensive method. The advantage of this method of propagation is the prevention of aging of the culture.

How and when to divide tubers

The division procedure is carried out as desired: in the fall during the preparation of planting material for storage or in the spring immediately before germination. Dividing tubers in the fall may seem difficult for beginners, since the root buds in the embryonic phase are practically not visible.

In this case, it is better to postpone dividing the tubers until spring, when the buds begin to sprout. But you can use a little trick: in the fall, two weeks before digging up the bush, cut off the stem. This will provoke the growth of the buds, they will become more noticeable. The buds are located, as a rule, along the circumference of the stem, on the upper section of the tuber.

Experienced gardeners prefer autumn division, explaining this fact:

better preservation of planting material;
ease of working with the material - the tubers have not yet hardened and have an elastic skin;
in the fall there is enough time to work with tubers - you can carry out a thorough inspection and processing of the cuts;
saving time in the spring to do other work in the garden.

Dahlias are dug up with stable sub-zero temperatures established. For most regions, this period falls in the second half of October - the first half of November. You can tell when it’s time to dig up dahlias by looking at a wilted or slightly frozen stem; the flowering period should be completely over by this point.

Dig up dahlias at a distance of 25 cm - 35 cm from the root, around the circumference. This technique allows you to trim long root shoots without damaging the tuber itself.

The stems are trimmed, leaving shoots not 2 cm - 3 cm, long length will lead to rotting and deterioration of tubers during storage.
The tubers are washed running water, careful processing will eliminate subsequent infection by infections and pests that are in the soil.
Dead tubers, long suction roots, and any dried and flaccid parts of the rhizome are removed.
Parts that are too light and thin are removed, as they are not shelf-stable and will not produce shoots in the spring.
All rusty and yellow spots, discoloration of the neck also indicates damage to the plant.
The tubers are separated with a sharp, disinfected knife. Disinfection of the instrument is carried out for each excavated rhizome (group of tubers).
The separated tubers are washed again to avoid infection during storage.

You can check the viability of dahlia tubers by placing them in water. The floating tubers are discarded. Heavy tubers that have sunk to the bottom are prepared for storage.

In spring, tubers are taken out of storage 14–20 days before planting and inspected. The main sign that the tubers are ready for the division procedure is the awakening of the buds. If the buds (flower growers call them eyes) are not yet visible, the tubers are sprayed with water and placed in a lighted place for germination at an air temperature of +18°C - +23°C. Instead of water, industrial growth activators can be used.

After about two weeks, the tubers are divided using the same algorithm as in the fall. It is desirable that each separated tuber have several eyes.

Processing slices

Before bookmarking winter storage tubers with fresh cuts are treated with fungicides systemic action or a sulfur preparation according to the instructions. The tubers are soaked in the solution for 15 minutes, dried and placed in storage. The same is done after germination of tubers in the spring before planting.

Some gardeners add insecticides to fungicides to eliminate the risk of pest infestation. Even with the most careful inspection, you may miss an insect larva.

In case you don’t have it at hand special means, but you need to act quickly, a solution of pharmaceutical manganese is used.

Cuttings

Cuttings are considered the most productive method of propagation, because from one dahlia you can get 35 - 45 cuttings, each of which will become an independent plant in the future.

Cuttings have a number of advantages over tuberous propagation of dahlias:

in the process of taking cuttings, early culling of planting material is carried out, whereas when propagated by tubers, a diseased plant can be identified only at the stage of emergence;
dahlias from cuttings increase their vegetative mass and bloom earlier;
dahlias removed from cuttings have higher immunity;
dahlias from cuttings better retain their species characteristics and are distinguished by the purity of the variety;
flowers are more lush and abundant flowering.

True, there are also disadvantages to propagation by cuttings. Due to the peculiarities of germination technology, the plant’s tubers are deformed, the root shoots are bent and intertwined. Several shoots always appear from the tuber, even if it is damaged. An injured cutting never survives.

The number of tubers and their size in a cutting dahlia is much smaller than in a flower planted by dividing the tubers. In addition, cuttings are a rather complicated method, especially for beginners. Propagation by tubers is easier, but the quality of the resulting plants is often worse.

Timing for planting queen cells on cuttings

Royal tubers are planted in winter, around the first ten days of February. The timing of the work must be calculated in such a way that the rooting period of the cuttings occurs no earlier than mid-March. It is from the second half of March until the beginning of July that cuttings take root best.

On preparatory stage prepare containers and tools: wash soda solution, disinfected either by sterilization or using an alcohol solution. The mother tubers are sorted and the highest quality ones are selected.

Preparing the substrate and preparing the queen cells

The soil mixture for royal tubers is prepared in the fall. This can be fertile garden soil, to which a little peat is added. If the soil has not been stocked since the fall, it will have to be purchased at the store. An important point is to disinfect the soil before planting. Purchased soil may not be processed, but garden soil may contain weed seeds, pathogenic flora and pest larvae.

There are several ways to treat the soil, the simplest and most effective of which is freezing. To do this, the soil is left on the loggia or in the courtyard for several weeks. low temperatures.

A more labor-intensive method is steaming in a water bath. Containers with soil mixture are placed on a pan of boiling water and kept for several hours. The advantage of the method is the preservation of beneficial microorganisms and the destruction of pathogenic ones.

Calcination in the oven is an old method that has long since exhausted its usefulness. Calcined soil is depleted and dehydrated, there is no pathogenic flora in it, but beneficial microorganisms will also completely die.

From modern methods It may be advisable to treat the soil with biologically active preparations, which can be purchased in specialized stores.

Royal tubers are placed in a lighted place. If there is not enough light, additional lighting is carried out with lamps. Before this, the tubers are treated with fungicides or a low concentration manganese solution. To accelerate the awakening of tubers, growth stimulants and activators are used, for example, the drug "Epin".

If you buy queen cells in a store, select clean tubers without traces of putrefactive lesions and root shoots. They should not be too light or small.

Queen cells are planted in two ways:

Single planting in a container 10 cm – 20 cm high.
Group planting in a container.

When planting a single planting, it is necessary to ensure that the neck of the queen cell is above the level soil mixture. When planting in groups, the queen cells are placed in a horizontal position. The second method is less labor-intensive, but has a drawback: the roots of the tubers can get tangled.

Optimal temperature for germination of mother tubers +20°C – +25°C. The soil should not be allowed to dry out. After about three weeks, young shoots appear, and preparations for cuttings can begin.

With the appearance of the first shoots, the conditions for keeping the mother tubers change. Watering is reduced, and the temperature drops to +18°C – +21°C.

Pots for cuttings

For rooting cuttings, small containers with a height of 15 cm and a diameter of no more than 10 cm are used. Since dahlia is a heat-loving crop, greenhouse conditions are created for the cuttings. To do this, you need to prepare glass jars that will be used as a cap. Instead of glass jars you can use trimmed ones plastic bottles or tanks from under drinking water.

To root cuttings, you can purchase a home mini-greenhouse. It consists of a plastic tray with high sides, into which cassettes with soil and cuttings are placed. The top of the device is covered with a voluminous lid. The greenhouse is easy to use and designed for reusable use. Only the plant cassettes will require replacement.

Caring for cuttings

Cuttings are performed when the shoots on the mother plant (usually there are two) reach 7 cm - 10 cm. They are cut at an angle with a clean tool: a kitchen or stationery knife. After cutting, a few millimeters of shoot should remain at the base of the queen cell; in this case, forcing the cuttings will continue continuously. Each cutting is buried in a well-moistened soil substrate, after which it is necessary to take care of the growing conditions.

Spraying and watering

During the period when the cuttings are in greenhouse conditions, it is necessary to monitor the level of soil moisture. The soil should not be allowed to dry out, as waterlogging will lead to the development of fungal diseases. To prevent the appearance of fungus, airing is carried out daily, for which the lids are removed from the containers for half an hour.

To speed up rooting, before planting, the cuttings are dipped in a solution of the drug “Kornevin” or in a self-prepared solution: 5 ml of honey/100 ml of aloe juice/1 liter of water.

Temperature and light mode

The cuttings will need additional illumination with fluorescent lamps for two hours in the morning and evening hours. The optimal temperature during the rooting period is +20°C. After approximately 10 - 12 days, the first roots appear on the cuttings. At this time, the greenhouse caps must be removed so that the planting material can adapt to room conditions content. With the onset of active growth, the plants are transplanted into larger containers, and after 10 ten days the first mineral fertilizing.

Propagation by seeds

Propagation of dahlias by seeds is carried out to obtain new specimens with the exception of maintaining species characteristics from perennial mother bush. Annual crops of dark-leaved and dwarf species are also bred with seeds.

We prepare seeds

If the goal is to obtain a new variety of dahlias, the seeds are purchased at the store. Most often, they are already prepared for planting and etched with special solutions in industrial conditions. All that remains is to soak the seeds and plant them in containers.

If you want to get a variety that is already in the garden, you can prepare the seeds. For this, inflorescences with almost ripe seeds are cut off and left to ripen (ripen) in a dry and warm room. After ripening, the seeds are removed, dried and packaged for storage until March, when planting will take place.

Preparing soil and pots for planting seeds

In the northern regions and middle lane Dahlias are grown as seedlings. Containers are prepared for seedlings and filled with sandy loam soil. Sprinkle the planted seeds with a layer of sand, which is disinfected in advance by calcination.

With the appearance of one or two true leaves, the seedlings are picked in separate containers with a height of 15 cm - 20 cm and a diameter of 8 cm - 10 cm. Picking can also be carried out in spacious boxes, maintaining a distance between plants of at least 7 cm. Nutrient soil is prepared in the container for picking from loamy soil, humus and sand in a ratio of 2:2:1.

Before planting, the seeds are pickled in a manganese solution for 15 minutes, then washed and quickly planted. Embedding into the soil is carried out to a depth of 5 mm - 1 cm.

Planting and caring for crops

After picking, the seedlings are fed with complex fertilizers. Flowers are kept in pots until May, and only after that they are transferred to a greenhouse before the end of the month. This is due to the fact that for dahlias subzero temperatures are destructive, they simply will not tolerate return spring frosts.

From mid-June, dahlias are planted in open ground. At this time, the plants are already beginning to budding, but the crop tolerates replanting when the temperature stabilizes.

Standard care for dahlias includes:

moderate and regular watering;
loosening and timely removal of weeds;
fertilizing;
pinching - pinching shoots to form a bush.

Ten days after planting and before flowering, fertilizers are applied to the dahlias every two weeks. Considering late dates planting in open ground, fertilizing begins at the stage of growing in pots during the period of active growth.

Organic solutions from mullein or chicken droppings are added. For abundant flowering, nitrogen fertilizers are applied to dahlias: urea or ammonium nitrate. Experienced flower growers It is recommended to alternate organic and mineral fertilizers to get maximum results.

Pruning of bushes is carried out immediately after the plant has adapted to a permanent place and until the end of the growing season. All side shoots and part of the buds are pinched. The flower stalk of dahlias usually consists of three inflorescences, from which the bud on the shortest stem is removed. Remove and lower leaves to provide light access to the tubers.

Rejection of dahlias planted with seeds is carried out in the first season. Usually, out of a hundred plants, no more than five remain worthy of bearing the name of the variety.

Reproduction of dahlias by stepsons

Reproduction by stepsons is a method rarely used in dahlias. The correct name is propagation by sports, but since the lateral branches are taken for the procedure, this name has stuck. The method is used to breed new types of dahlias.

An unusual branch is found on the bush, with characteristics atypical for this variety. These branches are called sports. From the sport, cut a stalk 9 cm - 12 cm long and plant it in a pot with moistened soil. Since sports usually appear at the end of the growing season, the cuttings are overwintered in a pot at home.

In order for the plant to go into winter, watering is gradually reduced from the end of October, and increased again in February. In March, nitrogen fertilizing is carried out, and dahlias obtained from cuttings or tubers are planted in open ground.

There are several ways to propagate dahlias, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. But whatever method you prefer, remember that dahlias are responsive plants; they will definitely respond to your care with abundant flowering.

Planting and propagation of this representative of the flora must be carried out according to certain rules. You can grow dahlias by propagating the tuber, the so-called “dividing” (nest of tubers) or from seeds.

Reproduction of dahlias by dividing a nest of tubers

Root tubers grow from the root collar of the central shoot. Propagation of dahlias by cutting tubers is carried out in spring or autumn. In spring, renewal buds are more visible, which allows the division procedure to be carried out with greater accuracy. If the root tubers are divided in the fall, then the cuts made are treated with drugs against diseases and only after that the planting material is stored. ON THE PICTURE: A nest of dahlia tubers prepared for division.

How to properly divide a nest of tubers:

Dahlias are dug up. The shoot with root tubers is cut off, leaving a stump 5 to 10 cm high, and the root system is washed to remove any remaining soil.
The cut must be made with a very sharp knife. Before dividing each plant, the blade must be disinfected using fire or soaking in a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
The stem is cut in half lengthwise so that renewal buds remain on both sides.
Each half is divided into two or more parts. In this case, each division should have at least one bud and 2–3 root tubers. There is no need to leave any more tubers. The large root system will not receive enough nutrition and the bush will develop more slowly.
IMPORTANT: Do not leave tubers without renewal buds - without buds, the tubers are useless and can be thrown away . This applies to both purchased dahlias and those grown in your own garden.

Propagation of dahlias by delenka tubers is practiced more often than other methods. It is quite simple and gives almost 100% survival rate of plants.

Growing dahlias from tubers - cutting sprouts

Propagation of dahlias by cuttings occurs in the following order:

Selected root tubers are placed in individual containers half filled with nutrient substrate. They are sprinkled with earth on top so that a third of the tuber remains outside.
The containers are transferred to a well-lit room with a temperature of +20°C.
Plants are provided regular moisturizing soil. It is important to avoid stagnation of water so as not to provoke rotting.
When the height of the sprouts is 5–10 cm, they are carefully broken out at the base (cut ones take root worse).
Separated dahlia cuttings are planted in small pots for growing.
When consistently warm weather sets in, the mature seedlings are moved to permanent place in the garden.

ON THE PICTURE:

Growing dahlias from tubers followed by cuttings is the fastest and most obvious method of propagation.

Video: propagation of dahlias by tubers and shoots

Growing dahlias from seeds

Growing dahlias from seeds is practiced for obtaining new varieties, propagating dwarf dahlias, or for growing as annual plants, if you organize excavation and proper storage root tubers was difficult.

ON THE PICTURE: Dahlia seedlings, ready for planting in individual pots.

You can grow dahlias from seeds following the plan:

At the end of February - March, dahlia seeds are sown in containers with prepared soil.
Grown seedlings are planted in separate pots (you can use peat, or better yet, coconut tablets).
Grow in a warm, bright room until the end of May.
At the end of May, they are planted in open ground.

NOTE: Growing dahlias from seeds allows you to get flowering bush already in the first season, but the tubers of such a plant will not have time to form before frost (this is especially true in the central zone of Russia, to the southern border of the Voronezh region). If you want to save the plant, dig it up BEFORE the first frost and keep in a cool, bright room at a temperature of +5 to +8 ° C in a small container (an ordinary plastic bucket can also be used). The upper vegetative part may remain green or partially dry out; there is no need to cut it off completely. Keep the substrate slightly moist until spring. In early spring protect against premature growth. Plant the bush only when the soil warms up to +15°C.