Growing Dahlias: Tips to Remember
What is Dahlia?
Dahlia is a tender bulb, which is planted at the end of the spring to let it bloom beautifully during late summer. The dahlia can make an awesome addition to any garden since it is a long-lasting cut flower. Also, this flower is a relative of the daisy. According to its flower type, the American Dahlia Society recorded 20 types in a wide-range of different colors—such as red, white, lavender, yellow, pale pink and orange. Dahlia’s bloom size varies from half an inch to a foot and beyond and its flower varies forms and sizes. Dahlias cannot survive winter. Hence, they are regarded as annuals even though they are a perennial plant. This kind of plant are planted during spring season after the last frost and as early as the soil has warmed up.
Planting dahlias could take maximum effort since it’s critical to plant and they can only be planted once a year, so you better do your best shot in planting dahlias with these helpful tips:
- Dahlias grow well in a sunny spot with fertile, light and well-drained soil.’
- When you have a heavy clay soil, you can compost some weeks prior to plantation or work in a 2- up to 4-inch layer of manure.
- Before you plant dahlia tubers, you have to make sure that the frost has already passed.
- Lay the plant tubers horizontally on their sides with buds facing up and roots downwards.
- Space small types for at least 2 up to 3 feet apart. If it’s larger, you can space them for approximately 3 to 4 feet.
- With 2 inches of soil, you cover it and add more soil while shoots show.
- After you plant it, place on top of it a compost dressing.
Storing dahlia tubers for planting next spring
The majority of dahlias will bloom in early fall and in late summer. Few of the bedding and newer assortments are relatively a foot or so high, short, and typically bloom recurring during the season. To boost continual flowering, you have to pinch off spent blooms from these. The moment the foliage was blackened by the frost, and after the tubers have become hard in the soil for one week, it is the perfect moment to dig them up and store them until the next spring comes.
Cut the stalks for about a foot long using a sharp knife. Then dig up the clumps carefully and make sure that you will not spear or injure the tubers. Trim the stalks, shake off the free dirt, and split up the tubers. This way, it will let them dry within just a few days.
Brush off the dirt remaining and then place it in a box or plastic bags that have wood shavings, peat moss, coarse vermiculite, similar material or fairly dry compost to keep the dahlias from drying out all throughout the winter season.
The next step should be to cover, label and store it in a cool (non-freezing), dry place. The perfect storage temperature for this is 40 degrees F. Every few weeks, you need to check it to make sure that the tubers are not staying too wet or chilling since it will be some of the causes why tubers rot. Once the tubers are too wet, you can replace it with a drier material or leave it unsealed until the storage dries out (but not totally). On the other hand, if the tubers are chilling, you just need to add a bit of moisture.