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Dahlias - Locating Stock To Plant: There are at least three main ways to obtain your Dahlia plants, first from tubers which are either purchased from hybridizers or or stored from last year, or second, from cuttings. Third, we have some great tubers at excellent prices available at our plant sales. (hey! Such a deal!) If you are in the Greater Toronto area, please stay in touch, or check our website for details - all such information will be posted under 'Our Calendar' as soon as our plans are confirmed on times and locations. There are many garden centers which offer tubers for retail sale. You may otherwise search the internet for worldwide producers and wholesalers. Several offer either printed or electronic catalogs. If using the internet, you need to shop early, or face disappointment. On the other hand, these growers will seldom send tubers out either by post or by courier, until risk of freezing in the package has been minimized. A good rule of thumb is to order in the fall, and expect shipments in the spring just before planting. If you wish to try taking cuttings, you can obtain quite a number of plants from a clump of tubers and increase your stock of new or expensive cultivars. To start this process, place your parent tubers on dampened soil in propagation trays on gentle bottom heat in the middle to last week of March. Once the shoots have reached 3", the cuttings can be taken. An ideal cutting is from 2.5 to 3" in length. Cut below a leaf node. The stem must be solid; any that are hollow should be discarded. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone and place it in a propagating case. A good potting medium should be light, yet water-retentive, such as a 50-50 mix of Perlite and peat moss. Many people use Promix, or some similar soil-less mix. Once the cuttings have rooted (a light tugging at the cutting will tell) pot into a rich light soil mix. The young plants will grow rapidly and will have to be moved into a 4" pot. From these pots, they are planted right into the garden.
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Send mail to
mg.thompson@sympatico.ca with
questions or comments
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