Dahlias: planting and care in the open field

Dahlias are considered a wonderful decoration for any garden. They have very large flowers that are striking in their shape and color. In addition, planting dahlias is quite simple, they are also picky about care. Today we will tell you about the features of soil preparation for planting dahlias, planting rules, as well as methods of propagation of this culture. Therefore, carefully read the content of the article and you will learn a lot about growing dahlias.

Growing dahlias: choosing a place

growing dahlias

Growing dahlias starts from the right place. In order to do this, you will need, first of all, to determine the level of illumination, type of soil, moisture content of the site. Dahlias are planted in a slightly different way than other flower crops, but these plants adorn the flower bed beautifully.

Also, you must decide on the goal of what you want to get from the plants. Will it be a wonderful decorative appearance or growing flowers for sale. This culture is grown, in principle, in many regions of our country. Gardeners especially often decorate their gardens with these plants in central Russia.

When growing dahlias in the southern zones, certain climatic features must be taken into account. And also to change agricultural technology, to shift the dates of planting. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the harvesting of tubers for storage in different regions will also be carried out at different periods.

In order to choose the right place, you need to consider the following factors:

1. It should be noted that in hot latitudes, plants will need more water than, for example, in the middle zone of our country.
2. Do not forget that dahlias have a fairly short growing season.
3. Remember that the stems of these plants are very fragile, so they just need support. So it is imperative to tie them up.

Therefore, choose a place in such a way that it is convenient for you to care for the plantings, as well as water them, feed them. However, you can create a kind of microclimate so that you can provide the most favorable conditions for the growth of this culture.

It is best to plant dahlias in places well protected from the wind, since this culture does not like drafts at all. Colds are also contraindicated for dahlias. The soil and air should warm up well.

If there is a strong wind on the site, and the air temperature is below + 2 degrees, then the dahlias may freeze. This is especially true for those flowers that have just been sent from the greenhouse to the open ground. Therefore, do not forget about plant hardening.

In the South, dahlias are often threatened by dry winds, winds that carry too hot air. Dry winds take moisture from the soil. Therefore, the green part of the plants can burn, the young foliage does not cope well with this negative weather phenomenon.

In order for dahlias to feel good on the site, you can plant them next to tall trees, agricultural buildings, as well as with other fences. If you live on a slope in central Russia, then you can plant this plant on the southern or southeastern side.

But if you live in the South, then you should plant flowers on the northern slopes. Remember that dahlias do not tolerate both cold air and repeated frost. Therefore, do not plant flowers in lowlands, pits.After all, it is there that the plants most often freeze. And dahlias recover very poorly after frost.

Talking about illumination, then you should highlight those places where the sun illuminates the plant during the day for about 10 hours. However, dahlias can grow in the shade. There they also have a pleasant appearance and high decorative effect.

Do not plant the plant very close to tall trees. Since usually the root system of more powerful neighbors simply clogs the flowers, oppressing their tubers. Therefore, choose the right neighbors who will not negatively affect their fellows.

Dahlias also do not like waterlogging of the soil. If you have a wetland at your dacha, then it is advisable to artificially raise the beds with dahlias so that the root system of the plants does not rot.

But in southern latitudes, on the contrary, dahlias are often planted in recesses, surrounding flowers with earthen ramparts. This is done so that moisture better flows to the roots of plants, and the water lingers for a long time in the deep layers of the soil. In order to prevent moisture from evaporating from the surface of the earth, gardeners also mulch the soil, laying the plants with dry grass, sawdust and straw.

Dahlias growing care - preparing the soil

growing dahlias

Further, the successful cultivation of dahlias requires the correct selection of soil. Dahlias love light and loose soil. Therefore, it is advisable to plant this crop on well-structured soil, which will have good air and moisture permeability. Plants do not like heavy soils, since tubers do not develop well under such conditions.

If you want to give the soil airiness, then you can add a little peat, humus, rotted manure, straw chops or compost there. In order to improve water permeability, a little sand, peat, ash or fine gravel should be added to the soil.

If in your country house, on the contrary, the soil is too loose, which does not retain moisture well, is easily washed out, then you can add a little clay or vermiculite there. The soil contains many small stones - you should not clear the ground, as such a substrate will not affect the development of the culture in any way.

If we talk about the acidity of the soil, then the cultivation of dahlias is best done on neutral or slightly acidic soils. However, there is no fundamental difference in the type of soil. Dahlias also grow poorly on highly alkaline soils. Therefore, if you want to grow beautiful and large dahlias, then you will need to check the soil acidity level.

To do this, you can use a litmus test, which is sold in any agricultural store. Moreover, it costs quite a bit. If you have an alkaline soil, then you should acidify it, add peat to the soil. But if the opposite is true - the soil is too acidic - gardeners recommend calcifying the soil.

Before planting a dahlia, it is advisable to dig up the soil on one shovel bayonet. And about a month before the planned date of planting plants in open ground, the top layer of the earth should still be nailed, loosened.

Growing dahlias outdoors. Landing

Growing dahlias is also a correct and timely planting. When to plant dahlias? How to correctly determine the landing date? Gardeners have been tormenting themselves with these questions for a long time.

Of course, dahlias should be planted outdoors in the spring. However, the timing of planting varies depending on the climatic characteristics of a particular region. Here in the middle zone of our country, sometimes dahlias are planted even at the beginning of summer, because it is during this period that the night cold finally recedes.

However, in early June, already sprouted tubers should be planted. Many gardeners plant dahlias at the end of May when the soil warms up well. If you plant non-germinated dahlias, shoots may appear in a couple of weeks.Watch the air temperature carefully, as night frosts negatively affect the development of this culture.

Therefore, if in your region the cold has not yet receded, then you do not need to plant plants. If you want to enjoy early bloom, the best time to plant your dahlias is in May. Be sure to grow the tubers. However, in the beginning, you still have to cover your plantings, so that they are not frozen by the cold.

First comes prepare a seat... It is advisable to dig wooden pegs into the soil, at this place you will dig holes in the future. Do not forget about the distance, dahlias are planted at a distance of one meter from each other, this rule also applies to row spacing.

Dahlias need a lot of free space in order for them to grow well. Wooden pegs are needed not only for marking, in the future you will tie up plants to them. Moreover, they should be about one and a half meters in height.

If you prepare pegs from coniferous trees, they will stand for more than one season. Some gardeners recommend painting the supports, treating them with iron sulfate so that they are durable.

You can use plastic or metal pegs prepared in advance. However, it is imperative to tie up dahlias, otherwise they will break, and you will not wait for beautiful flowers. Place the tubers as close to the root as possible. However, the root collar should be buried about 5 centimeters from the ground.

If you received a seedling by cuttings, and the plant is hybrid, then the root collar should be deepened even more, by about 10 centimeters. If you are planting cuttings, it is best to place two plants in one hole in order to increase the percentage of germination.

Plant dahlias should be followed late at night, preferably in cloudy weather. This is done so that the plants adapt normally to the new place, and their fragile leaves do not suffer from the sun's rays.

Before planting plants harvested from cuttings or by dividing, you will need to water them intensively with water. And only after that, place it in the hole. However, it is advisable not to fall apart the earthen lump so as not to damage the plants.

In order to make it convenient to water in the future, small deepenings are made near the hole. Sometimes, for the same purpose, it is possible not to completely fill up the landing pits. To make watering convenient, you can also make small grooves so that the moisture does not splash, but flows directly to the roots.

Tie up dahlias should not be in one place, but in several, so that the support firmly holds the plant. Sometimes information sheets are fixed on the tops, with the name of the dahlia variety. This is done so that you better understand which plant blooms more intensely and which does not.

After you plant the plants, be sure to water them regularly and abundantly. Monitor air temperature and humidity. During particularly hot and dry summers, dahlias should be watered every day.

How to care

In order for dahlias to bloom profusely and intensively, you need to properly care for them. Therefore, planting plants is half the battle. Growing dahlias is also the right care.

When the seedlings finally adapt, watering needs to be cut. However, you should always pay attention to keeping the soil moist. If moisture is lacking, the stalks of plants will become woody, flowering will deteriorate, and growth will slow down. Therefore, watering is so important for the development and growth of plants.

If we talk about the temperature of the water, then it should be noted that it should be warm. The plant should be watered either early in the morning or late in the evening. This should not be done on a hot afternoon. Very often, watering is carried out along with spraying water so that the air humidity is also optimal.

It is especially important to do this in dry and hot summers. The soil after watering should be regularly loosen, and also to clean from weeds. After applying top dressing, the site should also be worked out. When the dahlias begin to bloom, loosening the soil should be stopped.

And the soil around the plants is simply recommended to mulch. For this, humus or peat is used. This way, no earth crust will form and weeds will not grow. In addition, mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil, so you will not need to water the plants often either.

If the green mass in plants is too voluminous, then the lower leaves can be removed so that the air circulates better throughout the area. In addition, the presence of a thick stem negatively affects the safety of plant tubers.

When the cold weather comes, flowers can spud... Moreover, the height of such an earthen rampart should be at least 15 cm. Such a blanket will protect tubers from early frost. However, if you planted dahlias deep enough, then you do not need to huddle them.

Don't forget about dressing. Dahlias love mineral and organic fertilizers. If the soil is not very fertile, then do not forget about organic matter. For these purposes, it is recommended to add humus to the soil. Gardeners often recommend using complex mineral fertilizers. This is mainly done in the summer, but organic matter is introduced into the soil in the spring.

You can apply these very fertilizers in different ways. For example, fertilize the soil directly during planting. Root and foliar feeding methods can be used.

However, if you choose the wrong fertilizers, this can negatively affect the development of plants. Therefore, once every few years, experienced gardeners recommend carrying out a chemical analysis of the soil in order to reliably accurately determine which nutrients are lacking in the soil and which are present in excess.

Very often in the fall, before digging a site, manure, compost, as well as wood ash and peat are introduced into the soil. Many substances are washed out of the soil very quickly, so it is useless to add them to the soil. They will not bring any benefit to dahlias, so you should not spend money on ammonium nitrate, potassium salt, potassium chloride.

However, do not forget that the land must be fertile, light and loose. If you feed the dahlias during planting, then you no longer need to fertilize the soil in the spring. Often for these purposes, gardeners use wood ash, stove soot, humus.

When dahlias begin to grow and bloom profusely, they are often fed with mineral fertilizers, about once every 2 weeks. For these purposes, manure or chicken droppings are suitable, which are previously diluted in water, and the dahlia bushes are watered with the resulting solution.

Potassium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium sulfate are often added to this mixture. Usually a bucket of top dressing is enough for 5 plants. In summer, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers should be applied to the soil. And closer to August - only phosphorus supplements.

It is best to use root methods. However, some gardeners often spray the leaves of plants with nutrient mixtures. Moreover, it is not necessary to buy fertilizers in the store, you can prepare them yourself.

If plants lack water, potassium, and phosphorus, they will not develop well, and nutrients will not transfer from leaves to tubers. As you remember, dahlia tubers should be dug up in late autumn. This is done when the green ground part dies off. The tubers are usually kept cool.

Dig dahlias will be needed when the air temperature is above zero. Because if you are late, the buds may reactivate and the tubers will begin to grow again. Before you dig up dahlias, you should cut off all the stems from them. It is advisable to leave about 3 cm from the root collar. Dig out the flowers with a shovel or pitchfork.Do this carefully, do not damage the roots.

Then the tubers are placed in special containers or boxes and sent to a cool place. The air humidity there should also be high. At the bottom of the container, soil is usually poured, and only after that the tubers are laid.

Sometimes dahlias are treated with a special clay mixture. For this, gardeners are preparing a kind of chatterbox. The tubers are first thoroughly washed under clean water, then dried, dipped into the prepared mixture and dried again. You will get a kind of dragee. Such tubers are perfectly stored until spring, and do not deteriorate at all.

Growing dahlias: how to form bushes

If you propagated dahlias with tubers, then you need to know that the bushes should be formed in such seedlings. It is best to leave no more than 2 powerful and strong shoots, and remove all the rest mercilessly. If you were engaged in cuttings, then it is best to leave one stem, but the top should be pinched so that the bushes have voluminous foliage and green mass.

If you grow large-flowered varieties of dahlias, then do not forget to regularly remove all stepchildren, namely, side shoots. Moreover, this must be done in a timely manner. Try to cut the stepchildren as close to the main stem as possible. If you do not do this, then your flowers will grow slowly and bloom less luxuriantly.

In addition, in large-flowered dahlias, the growth of the main stem may disappear, stepchildren will interfere with the development of the plant. If you break them too close to the surface of the ground, fungal infections can enter the wound. Therefore, shoots that are too low should not be removed, otherwise the plant may die in the future.

Remember to break off the side shoots to the point where the bud is formed. It is better not to engage in formation during flowering.... Remember, too, that many varieties of dahlias simply do not stepchild, so before removing shoots, carefully study the features of a particular type of plant.

However, in many varieties of dahlias, not only shoots, but also buds should be removed. This is done mainly in order to further cut flowers and sell plants. Usually, the buds are formed by three things per inflorescence. Or rather, not in an inflorescence, but in a group.

The middle bud blooms more intensely. However, his peduncle is the shortest, so cutting it off is very inconvenient. If you want the remaining two buds to bloom more intensely, the middle bud should be removed. Just the remaining flowers have longer flower stalks, so you can easily put these dahlias in a vase.

In order for the bushes not to lose their decorative effect, you should also remove faded buds. They spoil the decorativeness and appearance of the plant. Basically, all varieties of this culture are quite high. However, you can easily grow a short bush. Only for this you should adhere to separate rules.

At the end of winter, some tubers should be planted in a nutritious soil and placed on a windowsill. In this case, the air temperature should be high enough, not lower than + 15 degrees. When the first shoots appear, you will need to leave the strongest shoots. The cut branches can be used as cuttings.

When the fourth pair of leaves forms on the bush, the top should be shortened. Thus, 2 will develop from one stem, when a pair of leaves appear on them, they should be re-pruned. Usually, such bushes grow to a height of no more than 1 meter, so you can grow miniature dahlias, undersized.

About breeding dahlias

Growing dahlias is difficult to imagine without knowing the basics of plant propagation. Dahlias are also propagated in different ways. Namely: by cuttings, dividing tubers or seeds.

The easiest, of course, is to grow dahlias directly. from tubers... At the same time, you can grow 3-5 new plants from one tuber.In the fall, the roots should be dug up, and in early spring they should be prepared for a new planting. It is advisable to soak the tubers for a few minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then leave for a week in warm water, in the light.

When you find that the first shoots have appeared, you can start dividing the tubers. Usually, five parts can be obtained from a good planting material. Remember that at least 2 active buds should remain on each mini-tuber.

A knife should be used to split the plant. However, do this with extreme caution to avoid damaging the root system. It is advisable to remove all deformed and dried parts. After the division, the wound should be treated with charcoal. Then the tubers should be planted in boxes so that they germinate.

When stable warm weather settles in your region, and the night frosts recede, you can plant tubers in open ground.

Some recommend breeding dahlias. cuttings... Old tubers should be regularly replaced with new ones. Moreover, these new plants retain all the varietal characteristics of the mother bush. Cuttings are planted in nutritious soil, deepening the lower part by about one third.

Over time, shoots will begin to appear on the handle. When there are enough of them, it will be possible to plant new plants in open ground. Sometimes the cuttings are left in water to take root. If you want to speed up this process, then you should treat the lower part of the cutting with a stimulant.

For a while, the container with the handle should be covered with foil and placed in a warm place. An interesting fact, you can cut up to 30 shoots from one tuber bush.

Very often dahlias are propagated seeds... However, it is not necessary to do this in a seedling way. The seeds can be planted outdoors. This is done in April, usually shoots appear after a few days. After 2 weeks, the seedlings should be dived.

Over time, dahlias should be hardened, but they should be planted in open ground only when the night frosts finally recede. Don't forget about distance. Seeds can only be planted in open ground in May.

However, these plants will bloom only at the end of summer. As you understand, dahlias can be propagated in different ways. This culture is considered not picky enough, so many gardeners grow these beautiful plants on their backyards.

If you adhere to all the rules and recommendations, then you can turn your dacha into a real greenhouse. Believe me, dahlias will surely delight you with their bright colors and unprecedented aroma. And growing dahlias is not such a difficult task.