Very strange. I would have expected them to form tubers by this time. Did they get a lot of sun? Maybe someone else can jump in on this. As I say, usually they form tubers over the summer, even from a cutting.

Hi all,I am so sorry!I got the wrong date,I think I have only had it for 2 months.The guy who I got the cutting from said that it will form tubers but,when I removed it from the pot,two months later, it did not have any tubers.How long will it take to form tubers?Will it form tubers in less then 2 months from now?because I will be going back to Canada next,next month.Thanx for all replys!

It takes cuttings all summer to form good tubers but after 2 months there should have been hints of fatter roots that would become tubers given time. Store them in the pot over the winter & you mught still get a plant in the spring.

I had some experience with dahlia cuttings. For them to form tubers, I think you need the proper conditions. And these are, in my opinion, a very rich soil, and short day length. I have learned from testing that a good fertilizer in mid summer is super important for tuber development. But it is also true that long days (more than 12 hours) favor the development of feedeer roots, while days shorter tahn 12 hours favor the development of tubers.

But I also have questions about tuber formation from cuttings. I seem to remember reading that for good tuber formation from dahlia cuttings, not one but rwo nodes must be under ground at planting time... Is this real? I will test this coming season?. I plan to let my cuttings get rootes initially with one node under ground, but then I will transplant them in larger pots with two nodes under ground. The tubers would be developed from the upper node???

Will see

Jacques

Dahlias are just like any plant and need fertilizer, water and sunlight to grow properly. You kept your cutting in a pot and with proper amounts of the three ingredients, it will produce a tuber clump. I have grown many thousands of dahlias from cuttings and when planted in the ground outside most varieties make tuber clumps from cuttings. However, varieties that make few tubers when grown from tubers, will make even fewer tubers when grown from a cutting. As the one person said: "Store the plant in the pot where it was growing." If there are even small tubers, it will sprout in the Spring.

This last year, I grew one variety exclusively from cuttings and got humongous tubers. I did give that one extra water and fertilizer. Tubers were as large as any I got from a tuber grown plant. More commonly, tubers from plants grown from cuttings are smaller and contorted from being in a small pot for the first weeks of it's life.

I believe that most dahlia varieties grow better from cuttings than from tubers. This is probably because the cutting plant started growing in a greenhouse many weeks before dahlia planting time and has "running start" when placed in the ground. At one dahlia trial garden, they want the plants from cuttings delivered to them two weeks after the tubers are planted in the ground. Even with the two week head start, the cuttings bloom sooner.

Thank you Ted. Your experience will be beneficial to me. I live in the Montreal area where dahlia cultivation is in great expansion.

Jacques

Hello Pumpkiwi,

I have had the same experience before. Do remember that cuttings may give you new tubers when all conditions are met. These are: good sunshine, enough water, good fertilizer and importantly short days (less than 12 hours of light). The short days should start at bloom time and extend to the end of the season.

Jacques from santiagodahlias.