3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Don't know about that particular dahlia-- I think they can all be grown from cuttings-- but this is worth a try. I learned this method from plantlady2 & have never had a cutting not root. Take a small plastic container- about 2" deep & 1-2" wide, slice a few cuts in the bottom & fill with sterile playground sand. Put the small container into a larger container & add about 1" of water to the larger container. Now you have a small container of wet sand (it takes up the water) inside a larger container that has water in it. Do your cutting, dip it in rooting hormone, poke a hole in the wet sand, put in the cutting & firm the sand up around it. The cuttings done this way don't need any misting or any fussing around with- just make sure the outside container always has water in it so the sand doesn't dry out. When you get roots then transplant it into a pot with potting soil in it. You are basically growing the cutting in water- hydroponically- the sand just keeps the cutting from falling over. & before anyone says "they will rot"-- they don't. You can also get cuttings to start by just putting them in water but then they fall around & are a pain in the butt to keep from falling out of the container. Be sure you have removed at least one set of leaves & have the node under the sand- just as you would if you were doing a cutting & putting it into soil.
Ellie
If they are "all soft and falling apart", then they are done. Sorry for your loss. Sometimes, that happens if they weren't stored or shipped properly.
What you did sounds like the right thing to do.
I had someone give me dahlias several years ago. She was so proud of the fact that she had trimmed them nicely. Alas, she actually trimmed off the part where the eyes should be. She was upset because hers did not come back either. Gardening is a learning experience.
hI
Russ says froat will kill them. I grew collarette and pompom from seed. They came back up two years in a row. Then we had a year with a horrible cold and wet week which did kill them, but some known hardy plants were done in too. I am in zone seven and they were planted on the south side of the house. I guess they are half hardy?
Congratulations Linnea! You're going to have a long and early dahlia season! I am just potting up now and was happy to have one be 6 inches tall LOL. If you saw the condition of our foul, cold, completely soggy soil you would know I am in no hurry to plant outdoors.
I would "hold your horses" until danger of frost is past. I am in zone 5 also, and won't plant in the ground until the end of next month, since we usually have frost then. It has been a strange spring though, so it is anyone's guess.
I have planted a whole lot of things in the ground so far over the past 2 weeks. Earlier this week, I planted some ornamental grasses, one of them being a 9ft variety.
Things you can plant now:
Generally the following plants CAN be planted NOW:
All Nursery stock including:
Trees
Flowering Shrubs
Evergreens
Roses
Vines
Perennials including:
Grasses
Groundcovers
Many vegetables like onions, cabbage and lettuce (but not tomatoes and peppers)
Many herbs
Annuals like pansies
I am in Zone 5b. My giant colocasia and alocasia tubers are doing well in pots though
Most definitely. They need to be in a separate pot and in sun. I have mine outside on my driveway in the sun right now. If it gets cold, I will bring them back into the garage. The natural sun light is preferable to artificial lighting, as they don't tend to get too tall and lanky with natural light.
Ted,
In every case I believed I was cutting as close as you suggested. There were two very small triangular shaped leaves (cotyledon leaves?) near the base of the cut stem. In most cases, they fell off themselves, but if they didn't I took them off.
I did not, however, take any additional leaves off unless leaves were very close to the end of the cutting. For the vast majority, I didn't have to take any additional leaves.
So I suppose I'm unsure whether or not I have left a node, as you say is needed. I thought that as long as my cut was very close to the tuber, that was sufficient. In some cases, the sprout grew from an under side of a crown and ended up rather "J" shaped. When this happened I cut off the curved part at the bottom but left the rest. Maybe this is where I'm running into trouble??
Of the nearly 300 cuttings I have now, I know that 73 of them have definitely rooted because they have added considerable growth. I have another 42 which have not added growth but should have because they are of the same varieties and taken roughly the same time as the 73 which have added growth. Then there's another 190 that haven't been growing long enough to know for sure.
I am worried that there may be more that are just staying green and not rooting. So I thought to transfer each from where they are to new cells. The soil is loose enough that it will fall off the plant, unless there are roots. So any that have not yet developed roots, I plan to put into rooting hormone (Roots.)
If there are no roots I plan to cut the lowest set of leaves off the cutting and, after dipping in the rooting hormone, replant.
My theory is that if I do not have a node already at the bottom of the stem then the node where I've removed the leaves should form roots instead.
Hopefully this is a plan.
Cheers,
Russ
Thanks Russ....I haven't watered them any more than just to moisten the peat moss a little once a week, some have roots some don't. The soft ones have no roots and not much of an eye....and one "ala mode" is rotted one the inside but has some great new shoots! I am worried that I may be doing something wrong...Could it be that there is too much heat from the cables?
Janice
Can't help with the heat cables Janice, I don't use them. I suppose its a possibility. I would think the tubers are rotting if they're getting soft, can't think of another reason they'd get soft. So something's off, and if it isn't water, then heat and light are your only other options to adjust.
Cheers,
Russ
I haven't grown Dahlia yet, but got some seed going :D
This is what I do for earwigs though.
1. Most important IMHO is completely raking away all winter mulch by March. Eliminating this nice day time moist hiding place for these guys works wonders! Ones that do crawl out and into beds on cloudy rainy days are more susceptible to being snatched up by birds.
2. Lay out cut pieces old garden hose here and there and each morning dump contents out into soapy bucket of water.
3. Crumple up moist newspaper in evening and place in paper bags around garden...grab it up in morning and discard in garbage sack; sealed tightly. I did this for the first time around the base of Datura plants after I caught them red-handed eating up blooms before they could open.
4. Use lettuce as trap crops....I learned this by accident! I've pulled heads with literally 20+ hiding within. Even more if you can get good aphid attack on the lettuce; earwigs love to dine on them too as they are opportunistic feeders!
5. If you gonna use a beer trap for earwigs and or slugs; make a slurry containing extra yeast and sugar. You can add pieces of rotting fruits (more for the earwigs). Sink completely open ended cans (like soup cans)with the mixture in the soil so that rim is flush; making sure the slurry is no more than half-way filling the can.
Last summer I used the weed eater one day and got busy with something else. Well I laid up against the side of the house and when I finally got back to it about 8 days later and next of earwigs had moved into the string compartment! They will seek out ANY place out of the hot dry sun!
For slugs...a few more things. I lay pieces of flat board around bed perimeters. Every day pick it up and flip over; pick off the slugs. Make sure to check the ground where they laid in case they are on the soil rather than attached to the board.
Though I know it may be ugly for a minute, crush up dried eggshells into itsy bity sharp pieces and encircle plants and or sprinkle over the entire area.
Anyway, hope some of these tricks you find helpful :D
Vera
What's up with GW? It doesn't let me add a link to the first post anymore ... here it is.
Here is a link that might be useful: Old House Gardens dahlias