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Many of the gardeners prefer perennial ornamental plants. Among them are dahlias. These magnificent flowers amaze with a variety of bright colors and long flowering. Depending on the variety, dahlia flowers may have different shape, size, and height.
They bloom at the end of August and continue to delight the eye until October, if there are no frosts. Many dahlia lovers will be interested to know when and how to plant them in the spring? We will talk about some features of planting and storing dahlias in our article.
royal flowers
Dahlias are perennial heat-loving plants. They are very easy to care for, but the only problem is their fit in open ground and storage of tubers. Cultural forms of dahlias, there are more than 12,000 varieties, although there are no more than 15 species. Dahlias have root tubers that live for 3-4 years. In the process of development, they form new thin roots. The tubers are easily separated, after which they are ready for further planting.
Since flowers belong to a heat-loving species, they cannot get used to our climatic conditions in winter time of the year. They need warmth, so already in September, before the onset of frost, their tubers should be dug up and stored until next year.
Among the variety of species and varieties of dahlias, there are many hybrids. The plant has erect, hollow and numerous stems, from 30 to 190 cm high. Deciduous mass may be green, reddish-brown. At the end of the stem there are inflorescences in the form of a basket with a diameter of 3–30 cm. The abundance of varieties allows you to choose the most suitable flowering time:
- early dahlias (early May);
- medium (from the second half of June);
- late (from the end of August).
For successful cultivation, they need to create certain conditions, and then they will delight others with their bright and catchy colors.
Preparing tubers for planting
Begins in April preparatory work before planting dahlia tubers in open ground. In preparation much depends on climatic conditions . In some regions, tubers begin to cook only in May. Dahlias breed in several ways:
- cuttings;
- seeds;
- tubers.
Most often, gardeners use the last of the breeding methods. To sprout good planting material tubers must be brought into a warm room. Arrange them on a shelf and sprinkle with a mixture of peat and sand, leaving the root collars open. With good moisture, the eyes hatch in a couple of weeks.
After that, the tubers must be divided with a sharp knife into several parts, leaving 2-3 eyes on each part. If the tuber has a long shape, it should be shortened so that it quickly takes root and new tubers begin to appear in the process of growth. Sections must be dried. a couple of days and sprinkled with wood ash. After that, the tubers are germinated in pots or boxes in a warm and well-lit place. In the second version, the tubers are separated by partitions so that their roots do not intertwine.
As the processes grow, weak buds are removed, leaving no more than 1–2 of the strongest. This will allow them to develop more actively, the shoots will have good nutrition. In the future, the bush will give more inflorescences, and the tubers will be stronger and will be able to winter well.
How to plant tubers in open ground?
The most successful place for planting dahlias is sunny and protected from strong wind plot. In order for the flower tubers not to die, they should be planted only in warm ground, when there is no likelihood of spring frosts. The best time to plant them is mid-May.. The soil should be loose, slightly acidic or neutral, with good drainage. Before planting, mature non-deciduous compost, wood ash is brought to the site. It is advisable to fertilize the place for planting with compost or humus since autumn. To prevent disease infection, it is best to plant dahlias in a new place every year. You can not plant dahlias in the area where asters grew before.
After preparing the site, it is necessary to dig holes for the tubers. They should be more spacious than the planting material. They contain manure or rotted compost, and a small layer of earth on top. Thereafter tubers are placed in holes and sprinkled with loose earth with a layer of 3-4 cm. For tall dahlias, you will need to put a support. Wet soil after planting tubers can not be watered immediately. If the first leaves have already appeared on the dahlias, then the hole is slightly moistened with water. After planting, it is desirable to mulch the soil. For this use:
- sawdust;
- small tree bark.
They need to be mixed with compost or peat and sprinkled upper layer earth. To protect against frost, you can cover the dahlias with insulation.
Further care
Dahlias are unpretentious flowers in care. For normal development, they need timely watering, weed removal and soil loosening. You also need to pinch and cut the stems.. Flowers need regular watering, it is best to do this twice a week. The lack of moisture will negatively affect the development of dahlias.
Flowers need good feeding, there should be at least 2 per season:
- in the budding phase - in the composition of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium 2; 1; 1;
- at the beginning of flowering - potassium and phosphorus 1:1.
Stepchildren only tall varieties of dahlias, removing side shoots up to the 4th pair of leaves from below. Already in the second half of summer, the lower shoots are removed. The main stem is spudded to a height of 10-15 cm. If you perform stepsoning, the flowers of the dahlias will be larger. Extra buds will not allow everyone to develop normally, they will be thin and not so beautiful. When tall varieties reach 50 cm, the stems are tied to supports.
Tuber storage
With the onset of the first frost, the dahlia stems are cut off, leaving up to 10 cm, and the root tubers are dug up. They must be cleaned of the remnants of the earth and dried well. Then stored in a greenhouse or other warm and well-ventilated area. Thereafter the stem is shortened to 4 cm and all roots are cut off. Places cut on the roots should be sprinkled slaked lime. In this form, they need to be stored for another week at a temperature of 19–25 ° C. It is convenient to store tubers all winter in a cellar or basement, some gardeners manage to keep dahlia tubers in an apartment.
If the humidity of the room is 70%, then it is best to store root tubers in coniferous sawdust, sand or peat. When stored in an apartment, the tubers are placed in plastic bags with vermiculite, peat or perlite. They are stacked and hermetically sealed in a bag.. In this form, they can be stored in a box covered with a thin layer of earth and paper.
If stored in a cellar or basement, then the temperature there should not be higher than +7 ° C. The tubers themselves are sprinkled with sawdust, so they are stored all winter. Periodically check the roots and remove rotten parts. With proper storage, in the spring they can be germinated and planted again in a flower bed.
It is not in vain that dahlias have earned the love of flower growers all over the Earth. This amazing embodiment of the sun in a plant form, loving warmth and distinguished by a variety of colors, can be planted by everyone on their site. The main thing is to find a suitable place and comply with all conditions during landing and further proper care.
And nothing complicated
Planting dahlias in open ground in the spring will not be difficult for you. The highlight in this case is the competent preparation of tubers before planting. Dahlias are divided into early, middle and late. Early and medium dahlias can be planted in the ground as early as mid-March. However, this land is in a container, and not on the site, since it is still too early to plant in open ground - it is usually still cold outside at this time, and the dahlia is a heat-loving flower. By the way, the land for planting will need loose and nutritious.
With proper care, dahlias turn the site into a flowering holiday meadow.
It is thanks to landing in a container that you can count on early flowering as opposed to direct landing in open ground. Dahlias should be planted here no earlier than May, but even here you need to be guided by the weather. Some mid and late varieties may not need to be planted in containers. They are characterized by landing straight into open ground - then they will bloom on time. Provided that the disembarkation deadlines are met.
Planting dahlias in spring (video)
It all starts, of course, with the preparation of tubers. These tubers are dug out in the fall and stored until spring, and now in the spring they are cleaned of rotten parts, after which the entire node is divided into parts, each of which consists of two tubers with sprouts. So you can get a plant with a large supply of vitality, which in the future will give a lot of buds. If the number of nodules is increased, the shoots will shrink and interfere with each other during growth, which will affect the result. Slices at the nodules should be sprinkled with charcoal.
E If at least one of the tubers is damaged or rotted, it can be safely disposed of so as not to endanger the rest of the tubers. Such a tuber is separated with a sharp knife, and healthy nodules are immersed for half an hour in a weak manganese solution.
After this procedure, the tubers are left without action so that they can get used to the ambient temperature and awaken the growth of new buds. This is done if the sprouts have not yet appeared. Fresh loose earth is mixed with sawdust, moistened with high quality, and the tubers are sprinkled with this mixture. Containers with tubers during this period are kept in or outdoors, avoiding direct sun rays. At night they are transferred to the house.
Depending on the variety of dahlia, the time of its planting in open ground also changes.
As soon as the temperature on the street is stable within 10-15 degrees, the time will come for planting dahlias in open ground. For planting, you can dig small grooves where the tubers will be planted at an equal distance from each other, or holes. The second option is simpler and more convenient to implement.
The distance between the bushes is selected depending on the expected growth of plants. So, for undersized dahlias, a distance of 30 cm is suitable, and for the tallest - 80 cm.
The hole is made 10 cm deep. Too much deepening of the sprouted tuber is not required. If the land is dry, it must be watered right before planting. A nodule is placed in the hole horizontally - so the dahlia can develop a good root system.
Spring flower care
Planted dahlias - give them time to adapt and do not bother over trifles. Only periodically remove weeds that pop up nearby - there is no need for competitors to flowers. Even simple watering is not required from you now. Yet in the spring there is still enough moisture in the soil. The only exception in the month of May should be made if the weather is too hot and stable. After watering, loosen the soil over the planted tubers so that they receive enough oxygen and can safely grow greens.
As soon as the shoots grow up, you have to leave only two shoots - the strongest and tallest.
Stepping will have to be carried out regularly until flowering itself - this contributes to the formation of powerful buds.
In the spring, you should not get carried away with top dressing of flowers - greenery will grow enough, but the flowers will be too small.
Photo gallery of dahlia varieties
Here are just a few of the many garden products on the market.
Variety "Midnight Moon" - pompom dahlias Variety "Lucky Nambre" ("Lucky Number") - spherical dahlias Variety "Mingus Gregory" - lace dahlias Variety "Musetta" - decorative dahlias
Some important conditions
When choosing a location, it is important to remember that shaded areas should be avoided. Of course, dahlias will grow in the shade, but at the same time they will stretch out decently and bloom poorly. Yes, and the tubers will not receive the required supply nutrients and forces that will come in handy next year.
Dahlias are undemanding to the soil, exposing only two conditions - a high content of nutrients and well-permeable soil.
One more important rule- dahlias, although they are not against water, but its excess will only harm, and even more so, you can’t plant them in places where water stagnates.
Dahlias do not like neighbors with a highly developed root system. Those are able to take the substances necessary for flowers from the soil, depriving dahlias of the opportunity to fully grow and develop.
The place for dahlias should be sunny, water should not stagnate on it.
Look for a place to plant dahlias in the fall. Dig up the soil and add compost or rotted manure to it. With the onset of spring, the soil is loosened with a pitchfork, and bone meal is added to it. To protect flowers from pests such as wireworm and onion root mite, apply insecticides in the form of granules to the soil.
A solution of copper sulfate, potassium permanganate or formalin can be used if roses or fruit crops who have had any illness.
Subject to all conditions, dahlias will grow strong, will not waste all their energy on greenery and will delight you with large buds that will look beautiful both on the site and in the cut. After a successful result, the dahlia will surely become one of your favorite flowers and will be included in the list of annual plantings.
Hello dear gardeners! The only drawback of our beloved perennial dahlias is that they do not winter in the open ground with us. Rhizomes have to be dug up in the fall and stored until the start of the next season.
Dahlia tubers hibernate and rest at low positive temperatures - in the cellar, underground, refrigerator. Planting dahlias with tubers in the spring can be carried out in two ways - with or without preliminary growth.
Choose from two options
Planting roots immediately from the cellar to the site is less troublesome. But such unprepared plants bloom late. It is better to prepare a kind of "seedlings on tubers" - to grow.
Proper advance preparation for landing consists of several stages. First, from a purchased or your own planting material monitor the awakening of the kidneys. Then produce (if necessary) the division of the roots. Then they provoke the growth of shoots in a moist substrate, in a warm place. Only after that, dahlias are transplanted into the ground.
Young shoots of dahlias develop at stable positive temperatures and do not tolerate frost.
In this, their needs are comparable to tomatoes and potatoes. And tuberous dahlias can be planted in the same way: at the same time as potato tubers, if the buds hatched quite a bit; and if good shoots have grown, then like seedlings of tomatoes (with shelter early, without shelter later).
The second option requires more strength and time, but most flower growers choose this path.
Early purchase
At the end of January, February, beginning of March, a large selection of varieties, high-quality roots is on sale. But how to save purchased dahlias until planting in the spring?
Planting material purchased in a store needs protection from drying out, decay, strong germination - up to the deadline for working with dahlias.
For gardeners of the Middle Strip, this time comes in May (if planting without preparation is planned) or late March - early April (when growing). In the southern regions, work is shifted a month earlier.
Can be kept in the refrigerator, with the preservation of packaging.
Here it is equally impossible to allow drying or dampness. Water, condensate provoke rotting or premature growth of shoots.
Start of awakening
For preliminary cultivation, the roots of dahlias are taken out of the cellar or refrigerator at about the same time when early ripening tomatoes are sown for seedlings for open ground.
For land plots in the Moscow region, in the south of the Urals and Siberia, in Altai, in Leningrad region, on the Far East this is the end of March or the beginning of April (you can even in the middle of March). For more northern regions - a little later, for southern regions - earlier.
If planting is planned without early growing, then the tubers are taken out in May and laid out for several days in a bright place where it is warm, but not hot.
Quality standards
The quality of the roots is carefully checked immediately after purchase or removal from the cellar.Rotten parts, small dry pieces are cut off from the planting material.
Remove those tubers that hang on damaged, broken roots - they are still not able to work and will die. The wounds are smeared with pharmaceutical greenery or sprinkled with crushed charcoal.
The main detail of the dahlia is the zone of the root collar, the place where the stem grows from the root. When the root collar is rotten, the plant will not live. Shoots do not grow directly from tubers.
If the neck is intact, and there is a tuberous thickening under it, then the seedling can start growing, even if there are no other whole tubers. But for this, at least one escape must awaken.
Need to see kidneys
It makes sense to try to revive wrinkled, parched roots. To do this, they must first be soaked in a stimulant (Zircon, according to the instructions), and then placed in heat and covered with wet material.
Suitable peat with sand, sawdust scalded with boiling water, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, coconut substrate, light herbal or leaf humus. We must wait for the awakening of the kidneys.
In healthy, strong tubers, by the time of harvesting, awakening buds at the base of the stems are often already visible. If not yet, they will hatch soon. Sometimes it is enough to keep them warm for several days, regularly spraying them with water. Or apply wet powder.
It happens that in a warm, damp underground, long pale stems grow early and stretch out. They need to be removed - it's okay, new shoots will appear.
Separation
large roots with large quantity kidneys must be divided (if possible). You don't have to plant it in its entirety.
Only one or two shoots should grow from one root. Only then will the plant be powerful, and the flowers large and beautiful.
The roots are separated with a knife so that each part contains a piece of root collar, one to three buds and one or more tubers. Slices are sprinkled with charcoal.
For low-growing multi-flowered dahlias (such as trendy Galleries), different rules apply. If such a variety does not need to be propagated, then the roots are not cut. When they have a lot of buds, the bush is more powerful. Such dahlias can be grown all season long in large pots with good drainage.
Growing
Plants planted in the ground with regrown stems bloom faster and longer.
For the sake of this, in late March - early April, the growing process begins. Before this, the roots can be treated with Maxim or Fitosporin. In the spring, especially with awakened kidneys, it is better not to use it for disinfection. Each root is planted in an individual container.
A common large box with partitions is also suitable. A wet substrate is poured from below and from the sides (similar to what was taken to awaken the kidneys). Too much cover the root collar is not worth it.The seedlings are placed in a bright place with a temperature of approximately +18 +22 degrees.
Care is reduced to periodic small waterings. It must not be allowed to rot.
Some shoots can be separated for propagation by cuttings.Sometimes the stems grow in clusters, three pieces side by side. One of them, the shortest, most often the central one, must be removed (carefully broken off). As soon as the processes release the fourth pair of leaves, pinch the tops for tillering.
Landing in the ground
In the Middle lane, tubers with bud rudiments are planted in early to mid-May. Grown - from mid-May to early June under shelter from frost, and after June 10 - only shading from the scorching sun. The best length of shoots when planting is 10-15 centimeters.
A week before relocation, the plants are hardened, and on the eve of planting they are sprayed with some kind of immunity-strengthening drug (Epin Extra,).
For dahlias, a sunny place with protection from the winds is selected, not in a swamp. Acidic lands deoxidize in autumn.
At joint landing several bushes observe a meter distance between tall ones, half as much - between medium ones. Thirty centimeters are enough for borders.
The dimensions of the landing holes are 30-40 cm. Two liters of any rotted humus, a handful of ash, a tablespoon of superphosphate, a little dolomite flour are poured into each. You can also put a complex mineral fertilizer (according to the instructions). On heavy soils, sand and non-acid lowland peat are added, and drainage is placed at the bottom of the hole.
When planting, the root neck should be located five centimeters below the level of the bed. One or two lower internodes of the stems are hidden underground. After watering the hole. Shelter is made according to the weather, best of all - agrofibre on a small frame so that an air gap remains.
Goodbye, dear friends! See you soon!
Sincerely, Andrey
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They are a perennial tuberous plant of the Asteraceae or Compositae family. The aerial part after flowering of the plant dies off annually. In order for dahlias to always please their bright color and lush flowering, you need to know the rules for planting and caring for the plant.
The stems of dahlias are hollow, reaching a height of 40 to 200 cm. The foliage is lush, the leaf is large.
Fleshy roots form tuberous thickenings at the base of the rhizome. The flowers are collected in large inflorescences in the form of baskets, on their edges there are reed flowers of bright colors, in the middle - tubular bisexual.
The most common methods of plant propagation are cuttings and division of tubers after flowering. Reproduction by seeds of dahlias is used for breeding undersized varieties. These plants are different non-double flowers and collar form of flowering.
Growing conditions
Dahlias love a well-lit and ventilated place, they bloom for several months, starting in May and ending in late October. Varieties of dahlias are distinguished by the time of flowering.
Allocate:
- early varieties that begin to bloom at the very beginning of May;
- medium varieties, blooming from mid-July;
- late dahlias blooming in early August.
With a lack of light, excessive growth of shoots occurs at the expense of flowering. Optimum temperature for growing - 15-20 ° C. Dahlias successfully tolerate both heat and temperature drops to 0 ° C. In a cold climate, the tubers do not overwinter, they need to be dug up and stored in a cool place, and planted again in the spring in a permanent place in the garden.
How to prepare the soil
When planting dahlias, you need to pay attention to the choice. Soil mixed with sand and clay is not suitable for growing these flowers. The soil should be fertile, neutral or slightly acidic.
A place for planting flowers is being prepared in autumn. It must be carefully dug up, add humus or compost to neutral soil. If the earth is slightly acidic, then fertilize it with lime. 14 days before planting, apply 30 g of fertilizer with potassium sulfate per 1 sq. M of soil.
When to plant dahlias
In autumn, it is necessary to properly dig out the tubers of the plant, which do not tolerate frost and cold.
To do this, you need to carefully dig out the plant at the end of September, sprinkle the tubers with ash or sand. During storage of tubers, they must be periodically inspected so that rot does not appear. If the tuber begins to rot, you need to get rid of the area touched by rot in order to protect the root of the plant. From time to time the tubers should be moistened.
When planting dahlias, you need to follow simple rules:
When planting a plant, you need to be sure that warm and dry weather will not be replaced by frosts and a sharp cold snap, which can be observed in middle lane Russia in April and early May. The earth must be sufficiently warmed by solar heat.
If dahlias have already been planted, and unexpected frosts have nevertheless come, you can use a tool to strengthen the roots of the plant called Lutrasil. If the cold has damaged the sprouts of the plant, its roots will survive thanks to the use of this remedy and will give new shoots.
While watching the video, you will learn about growing dahlias.
Due to their juicy cheerful coloring, dahlias are among the most beautiful decorative flowers, which are often seen in suburban area. They decorate flower beds, curb lines and flower beds. And even a novice gardener can grow them if he knows when to plant these unpretentious plants and what kind of weather can harm them.
Attention, super FLY!
