Growing Dahlias In The North-West Of Russia

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Perhaps, now there is no such garden in which in the summer and at the beginning of autumn bright multi-colored balls of dahlias would not please the eye. But this wonderful plant has a number of subtleties and secrets of cultivation. We will now talk about some of them, touching upon the entire cycle of work - from preparing tubers for planting and to digging them out before the arrival of cold weather.

Some varieties of dahlias wake up early and very actively after winter dormancy. True, they will bloom earlier. It is very good if at the end of March the tubers only show "eyes" - buds; then they can be kept at rest for another 3-4 weeks, and then put on vernalization (similar to potatoes). But in the conditions of a city apartment, it is very difficult to give peace at the end of March for another 3-4 weeks - it is warm in the apartments!

And then the only way to preserve the variety is to start grafting. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining, because cuttings allow the tubers to rejuvenate and protects the variety from degeneration. Once every 3-4 years, it is imperative to revitalize the variety by grafting. Plants grown from cuttings retain all varietal characteristics, have great vitality, which allows you to get a full-fledged flowering bush, and by autumn - a good compact tuber that has not accumulated "diseases of its parents".

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The technique for grafting dahlias is simple:

1. Place the uterine tuber in the light to “green” the sprouts. This gives them further vitality.

2. A sprout 4-7 cm high should be carefully cut off at the root collar with a sharp disinfected knife and immediately put into water no deeper than 1.5-2 cm. It is good for these purposes to use small dark pharmacy bubbles.

3. If the sprout is very long, like a lace, do not be upset, do not throw it away - it also wants to live and will be grateful for the life presented to you: cut it into separate pieces of two internodes and put it in the water. In this case, two stepsons will immediately go from the sinuses of the second internode, which will be the trunks of the bush.

4. A few days later, a callus-ring thickening will appear around the cut, from which roots will develop in the future.

5. When the root tubercles are clearly visible, the cuttings can be planted in the ground. The ground should be fluffy and warm. You can use a standard microsteam to prepare the mixture with the addition of sand and fine sawdust in a ratio of 3: 1: 1. The sawdust must be steamed in advance so as not to add any mushrooms, rot, etc. to the mixture. At home, the cuttings are best planted in small containers - glasses and boxes of yogurt, sour cream, milk. So it is more convenient to look after them and transport them in the future.

6. For several days, keep the planted cuttings covered with transparent glasses or jars (suitable for mayonnaise). But to prevent the cuttings from suffocating, they must be opened at least once a day for airing.

7. Proper watering is very important for cuttings, because they do not tolerate stagnant water - they will rot. But underwatering can also weaken them. Cuttings need a constant regime - they should not experience stress. 8. When the cuttings are well rooted, you need to remove the shelter. With this technology of cuttings, lunges are 5-30%.

You can use growth substances such as heteroauxin, then rooting occurs faster and there are fewer attacks.

When the time comes to plant the tubers in the ground, cuttings can also be planted, only all the feeding for them should be twice as weak. It is even better if the cuttings grow for the first year in clay pots - this contributes to the compactness of the future tuber. Everything was taken out to the dacha, the time has come for planting - this is from 5 to 15 June, that is, after return frosts.

True, you can "stick" the tubers in covered greenhouses so that they don't wither. Dahlia transplants are tolerated at any "age", naturally, with abundant preliminary watering and accurate selection of the tuber with a clod of earth. Dahlias grow well and bloom in 1-2 stems, therefore, the excess must be removed.

Planting dahlia tubers

A hole with dimensions of 30x30x30 cm is filled with 2-3 kg of rotted manure, compost: 15-20 g of complete mineral fertilizer and 70-100 g of ash. All this must be thoroughly mixed, spilled with water and the tuber must be planted without deepening it. It is good to immediately poke a stake for a garter.

Top dressing

The first feeding serves to build up the vegetative mass, that is, nitrogen should prevail in it. It can be 15-20 g / bush of ammonium nitrate or 10 g of urea. It is better to do all feeding in liquid form. In terms of time, this is the end of June. The second feeding goes to the laying of buds and flowering - this is a slurry (1: 3: 3) infusion of weeds (1: 6), you can add superphosphate (in the form of an extract). This top dressing is carried out two weeks after the first, that is, until July 15. The third feeding should promote flowering and ripening of tubers:

- slurry, herbal infusions

- superphosphate 15-20 g

- potassium sulfate 15-20 g

Solution consumption - about 10 liters for 3 bush. This is the last feeding, and in terms of time - the beginning of August. At the end of August, before frost, it is recommended to sprinkle a little superphosphate, ash around the bush and sprinkle the plant to a height of 15-20 cm. This will protect the neck from frost.

Throughout the growing season, dahlias require careful tying due to the fragility of the stems. It is recommended to remove all the leaves from the bottom to a height of 40 cm and break the stepchildren from the ground to this level - so that there is good ventilation of both the soil around the bush and the bush itself. Then you will have beautiful plants and healthy tubers suitable for winter storage.

Dahlia bloom depends on all of the above factors; but for yourself you must decide the question - either the bush will bloom profusely, or you need flowers for cutting: in the first case, when the peduncles are formed, the central bud is removed, but the other two will bloom earlier; and if you need a flower for cutting, then, on the contrary, they remove both side buds, thereby lengthening the peduncle of the central bud. But summer comes to an end. The frost was severe, and the dahlias were completely blackened. This is a signal to dig up tubers. This is where the main work begins. They delighted you with their bright colors, now it's your turn to take care of them.

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Digging and preparing for storage

1. When digging up the tubers, cut the stems and gently uncoil the tubers. The selection should be done only with a pitchfork or a shovel, in no case pulling the stems. If you tear them off or damage the neck, the tuber will not be stored, the neck will rot. This procedure is best done in dry weather.

2. Thoroughly rinse the tuber, dry in the breeze for 4-8 hours, depending on the weather, carefully cut off all thin (thinner than a pencil) roots.

3. Divide the root by the number of stems; cut the stems with a garden saw to 1 cm. It is necessary to divide the tuber into parts (sections) so that there are 1-2 "eyes" on each section. This should be done with a sharp knife, having previously marked the boundaries of the cut. Places of cuts should be greased with brilliant green, or rubbed in with crushed coal. Of course, this creates a lot of waste, but the game is worth the candle!

4. All received delenki are marked with a felt-tip pen, chemical pencil or a special pencil-marker. Then for 7-10 hours, the cuttings are left to dry the incision sites.

5. In a water bath, it is necessary to warm up the paraffin, it would be nice to add 10-20% wax; and then very quickly dip the little thing into it, first with one end, and then with the other. The diapers are covered with a thin and durable paraffin "stocking" that will protect them from drying out for 5-6 months.

6. Each piece must be wrapped in newspapers and tightly packed in a cardboard box, in which they will be stored until spring either on the window or at the balcony door, that is, in any cool place in your apartment. It is important that the temperature is approximately constant, without sharp fluctuations, and the lower the temperature, the longer the rest period. The optimum storage temperature is 2-6 ° C. In this way, I process dahlias of all varieties, making exceptions for the profusely blooming ones - Exotic, Cherrio, Salmon Raise, which I do not divide in the fall, but wax whole.

At first glance, this technology is gimmicky. But it gives a high safety of the planting material. Naturally, tubers stored as a whole, and even in a good cellar, in spring have a greater viability than delenki. But tubers must be divided in the spring. So the chances of the shares will be equal. Good luck!

And here is a description of the varieties of the most popular dahlias this year:

Evelyn. White with a lilac center. Spherical, 8 cm, bush height 110 cm. Little leafy, universal purpose.

Barbara. Raspberry pompom, 5 cm, bush height 110 cm, versatile, good in arrangements, blooms profusely.

Nute d'Eme Donna Anna. Cactus, black and red, blooms profusely, 15 cm, bush height 120 cm, medium leafy, universal use.

Laurie Day. Bright lilac with a pink tint, 8 cm, bush height 110 cm, blooms profusely, universal use.

Bonnie Blue. Bright lilac spherical, 8 cm, bush height 110 cm. It blooms profusely, universal, unpretentious.

Hope. Pure pink with a silvery shade, globular, 7 cm, bush height 110 cm, little leafy. Universal purpose.

Cherrio. Juicy crimson with a silvery tip, cactus-like, blooms profusely. Universal purpose.

Triumph de Paris. Orange-yellow, nymphaean, 10-12 cm, bush height 130 cm. Universal use. In memory of Franz Vodyak. Bright orange with a darker center, chrysanthemum-like, 18 cm, bush height 110 cm. Good for gardening and cutting. Blooms profusely.

Golden Charm. Delicate yellow (chicken), nymphaean, 15-18 cm, bush height 110 cm. Universal use.

Lucky Nable. Dark lilac, spherical, 14 cm, bush height 120 cm. The bush is powerful, blooms profusely. Universal purpose.

Phantom. Bright purple with white tips, 18-20 cm, bush height 140 cm, decorative, universal.

Rosella. Pink-silver (like Lotus), nymphaean, 12 cm, bush height 130 cm, blooms very profusely. Universal purpose.

Zane. Bright crimson with a white border. Collar, 10-12 cm, bush height 140 cm. Universal use.