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The most famous legend about dahlias tells that this flower appeared on the site of the last bonfire that died out during the onset of the ice age. He was the first to appear at its end, symbolizing the victory of life over death. A very beautiful legend, and the flower is suitable. It is interesting that these plants are called dahlias only in our country, the rest of the world knows it under the Latin name "Dahlia". Perennial dahlias today number more than 15,000 varieties, which can be quite babies with a flower about 3 cm in diameter and 20 cm in height, or they can be giants exceeding one and a half meters in height and with an inflorescence of more than 25 cm.
Many are afraid to grow a perennial dahlia, planting and caring for them seems too difficult, despite the beauty of the plant. They are not entirely right, some of the difficulties in growing this flower are more than compensated for by the duration of flowering, the beauty and variety of inflorescences. And if everything is done correctly, then storing and germinating dahlias will not seem too troublesome.
This article is about landing and the care of perennial dahlias. Photos and videos will help you better understand the subject of our publication.
General information about dahlias
Dahlias are very beautiful perennial flowers. With proper care, each variety can stay with us indefinitely, every year, giving life to a large number of new plants.
Plant structure
Dahlia is a root-tuberous plant, it consists of:
- A thick, hollow stem, which can reach a height of 20 cm to 1.5 m or more. It is quite durable, but the weight of the flowers and strong winds can break it.
- Inflorescences-baskets, the diameter of which ranges from 3 cm in dahlia-lilliputians to 25 cm and more in tall varieties. It consists of marginal ligulate flowers, which have a wide variety of colors and inner tubular flowers, most often yellow. Depending on the variety, the inflorescence may consist only of marginal flowers or have modified tubular flowers.
- The root system, in dahlia, is represented by root tubers or root cones, which are actually thickened modified roots.
- The root collar directly above the tubers. It is from her that dahlia stems grow. It is very important for the flower; it cannot be cut off during the autumn digging, since the entire plant dies when the root collar is removed.
Dahlia life cycle
Only dahlias grown from seeds or cuttings behave like ordinary plants, and even then only in the first year of life. As they grow, they form a small nodule, which can be dug up and sent for storage for the winter, like large tubers of adult plants, and then they will need to be looked after like other flowers grown from a tuber.
With the beginning of the growing season, dahlias first of all wake up root tubers. Growth processes begin in them, first buds appear on the root collar, and then shoots. They do not need to be germinated, but can be planted directly into the ground with the onset of stable warm weather. But flowering will then start late, perhaps only at the end of August.
After planting, dahlias grow, bloom, form seeds, and after the first frosts, the green mass dies and they urgently need to be dug up, cleaned, cut off, keeping the root collar and sent to rest. It is best to store the tubers at a temperature of 5-8 degrees.
With the onset of spring, under the influence of heat and light, the root cones wake up, and everything starts all over again.
What dahlias love
What do dahlias love? We need to know this in order to grow the best flowers without losing the tubers that will give life to new flowers next season.
- Dahlias love warmth... They do not tolerate the slightest frost and do not winter here even in the most southern regions.
- Dahlias love light... They may be able to grow in poor light, but the stems will be elongated, pale, the flowers are scanty, small and poorly colored, and the tubers are small, weak, and may well not survive the winter.
- They need moderately fertile soils, water and moisture permeable... The flower will grow everywhere except wetlands, but you will get the best results on light loam or on well-fertilized sandy soils.
- Dahlia bushes should be well ventilated... This does not mean that we should plant flowers in a place open to all the winds. On the contrary, dahlias need to be protected from the wind. Just when planting, you need to take into account the future habit of the bush and not plant them too close to each other.
- Dahlias require moderate watering... Watering should be sufficient, but not excessive. Here you need to adapt. We will talk about the intricacies of watering on different soils below.
What dahlias don't like
Although dahlias are considered very unpretentious flowers, there are things they will not tolerate.
- First of all, this is non-observance of wintering conditions. A dahlia can endure large deviations from ideal conditions, but leaving it in the ground, even under the most beautiful shelter, or planting it in a pot, putting it on the windowsill and continuing to water is impossible - the only result we get is the death of the flower.
- As we already wrote, a dahlia will not grow without light. And if it does, it won't be long.
- It is strictly forbidden to overfill the plant. Its main organ is the root tuber, if it decays, the flower will die.
- The plant does not like fresh manure and increased doses of nitrogen fertilizers.
- You should not plant dahlias in places where there is often a strong wind, and even without a garter.
Germination and planting of dahlias
Dahlia germination was entirely dedicated to article on our website
But it will not be superfluous to repeat the main steps.
Dahlia germination
Approximately 2-3 weeks before planting the tubers, they are brought into a warm room, after allowing them to settle for a couple of days where the temperature is higher than in the storage place, but lower than in the house. Then, for successful germination, you need to do the following:
- If the tubers were not cleared of soil in the fall, rinse them.
- Remove all rotten and damaged areas.
- Disinfect the tubers by placing them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes.
- Powder the cuts with rubbed activated charcoal, let them dry.
- Place the dahlia nests in any loose, damp substrate with the root collar on top.
- Sprinkle the tubers with damp soil so that they do not lose moisture.
- Place the boxes in a bright place with a temperature of about 20 degrees.
- Water in moderation to avoid waterlogging.
- When the buds swell or the first shoots appear, divide the dahlias (you can do this every 2-3 years).
- Return the tubers to the soil.
- After the sprouts appear, it is desirable to lower the temperature to 15-16 degrees.
If you are going to propagate flowers by cuttings, remove the tubers from storage a month or a month and a half earlier, and when the sprouts reach 6-10 cm, break them off with a "heel" or cut them out with a piece of the root collar, and plant them in pots.
Dahlia planting in the ground
When the threat of spring frosts has passed and the soil warms up, flowers can be planted in flower beds. They can be planted in containers earlier, but they should remain indoors until the onset of heat.
It is better to start preparing the soil for planting dahlias in the fall - dig up the ground on a shovel bayonet. If necessary, add well-rotted humus or mature compost. In excessively dense soils, add sand or peat for digging, in acidic soils - lime or dolomite flour, in excessively alkaline soils, sour (horse) peat.
- Dig holes that are three times the size of the planted dahlia nests, plus 7-10 cm of depth for adding fertilizers and deepening the root collar.
- For low-growing varieties, the distance between the holes should be 50-60 cm, for tall dahlias - 80-90 cm.
- Too dense soils require additional drainage - put a shovel of gravel or gravel on the bottom of the planting hole.
- Add loose humus, sand and fertilizers, mix with soil.
- For tall flowers, install the support immediately.
- Place the dahlia tubers in the planting holes and cover with soil, deepening the bark neck by 2-3 cm, for very tall flowers, the deepening may be slightly deeper.
- Sprinkle each plant well with warm water.
- Mulch the landing.
Outdoor Dahlia Care
We can assume that after we planted the dahlias in the ground, the main difficulties are over. But only if we don't make mistakes further. Of course, dahlias are unpretentious, but this does not mean that you need to take care of them at random.
Watering
Dahlias need to be watered so that they have enough moisture, but the water in the tubers does not stagnate, because this can cause them to rot. The quality of our soil is of great importance for watering. Here are some simple rules to help us water dahlias properly:
- Too dense, poorly drained soils retain moisture well. With frequent watering, as in a rainy summer, there is a danger of rotting tubers.
- Light suspended soils need to be watered more often and more abundantly.
- Try not to pour water on the leaves - they can rot.
- Water dahlias only early in the morning or after sunset.
Top dressing
When talking about feeding dahlias, it is often advised not to give them nitrogen fertilizers. This is not true, since nitrogen is the building block for all parts of the plant. You just don't need to get carried away with it - an excess of nitrogen will cause an increase in green mass to the detriment of flowering, and even the tuber will be weak.
The first feeding of the dahlia is done no earlier than 10 days after planting in the ground, and the nitrogen content should be increased. Then dahlias are fertilized every two weeks with complex mineral fertilizers. You can alternate them with organic - mullein infusion or green fertilizers, but remember that such dressings have a high nitrogen content. By mid-August, nitrogen-containing fertilizing is stopped.
Autumn dahlias it will be very good to give at least two phosphorus-potassium supplements. For a long time, we used potassium monophosphate for such purposes, but now other fertilizers that do not contain nitrogen have appeared on the market.
React very well dahlias for feeding wood ash. It can be simply scattered between the bushes on the ground - it will also serve as protection of flowers from pests.
Strictly speaking, dahlias can not be fed at all, but then you will not wait for beautiful inflorescences and full-fledged tubers.
Weeding
It is better to weed dahlias by hand - we do not know where the growth of new tubers will be directed and glanders can damage them. Better yet, immediately after planting, mulch the dahlias with peat, straw or needles.
Stepping and pinching
We must say right away that undersized varieties do not need either pinching or pinching.You can not do this with tall flowers, but then the bushes will be ugly, and the flowers will not be as large as they could. In addition, those tall plants that were pinned from the very beginning bloom earlier.
All lateral shoots that grow up to the fourth pair of leaves are carefully broken out. Main escape pinch need over the fourth or fifth pair of leaves, all lateral - over the second or third.
If you are growing cut flowers, pick off the "extra" flowers regularly, so the rest will be larger. But perhaps you like a bush covered with flowers, albeit smaller ones. Try to do this and that, and then decide what exactly you want from blooming dahlias.
When the flower withers, and you are not going to collect the seeds, you need to remove it. Some growers do not even wait for it to wilt - they remove the flower at full disclosure.
Watch a short video on outdoor care for dahlias:
Features of the care of container dahlias
In general, the care of container dahlias is the same as outdoors. You just need to monitor watering, most likely, you will have to do it more often. Do top dressing more carefully, if in the open field you overdo it with fertilizers, they will partially go into the ground, in the container they have nowhere to go, and each extra gram will go to the plant.
Another good thing about container dahlias is that with the first frosts, which sometimes hit, and then warm weather returns, they can be brought into the room, and then put out again. Sometimes it is enough to cover them with agrofibre.
Conclusion
As you can see, caring for dahlias is much easier than, say, roses. But the most important thing for this flower, like for all others, is your love. Flowers feel how you treat them and respond to care and tender feelings with long and lush flowering.
