Dahlias are flowers from the Astrov family. They came to Europe from South America. Today, there are many varieties of these elegant ornamental plants. They are known for a variety of shapes and colors, bush height and size of flowers. Although not very picky dahlias, planting and caring for them requires certain skills. The fact is that a common feature of these plants is their extreme sensitivity to cold. Even a slight freeze can destroy them.
Dahlias are herbaceous plants with tuber roots. In their homeland, they grow as perennial plants. With us, however, they can only be grown as an annual crop. Tubers of plants every autumn have to be dug up to save in the winter. In the spring they are again planted in the garden. There are several ways to plant dahlias. It is known that they can be propagated by seeds, cuttings and tubers. The most convenient and common way is planting tubers.
How to prepare dahlia tubers for planting
Usually, dahlia tubers are placed in the cellar for the winter at temperatures above 0 degrees. Unfortunately, wintering is not always successful. Part of the tubers may rot, while others may dry out. In the spring they get out and prepare for landing. This should be done half a month before landing in the ground.
For this, the rotten parts of the tubers are removed. The cut site is lubricated with a solution of manganese and sprinkled with crushed coal. This will protect our dahlias from disease. Landing and care in this case will be more successful. If the tubers are dried, they need to be put in water for 2 hours, and then, after drying, lay out in bags. Tubers are divided into dividers. Each of them should consist of a part of the stem with pecking buds in the area of the root neck and two or three small tubers.
After the dahlias have been prepared, planting and care are as follows: the tubers are laid out in transparent plastic bags and left for two weeks in a warm and bright place. During this time, the kidneys in the divisions are biting. Holes must be made in the walls of the bags so that the tubers breathe.
Some gardeners, after the shoots become long, continue to grow tubers in wet sawdust or in the ground. This gives to the time of planting in the soil already quite grown plants. Dahlias should be planted in the ground so that their shoots do not fall under the return frost.
Planting dahlias
For dahlias choose a bright place. In addition, it must be protected from the wind, since dahlias break easily when strong winds occur. Place should be as dry as possible. These flowers grow well on loam and do not tolerate acidic soil. Therefore, if the soil is acidic, it is recommended to add garden lime to it when digging.
They dig the earth well and make holes in it. Their depth should be about 30 cm. Peat or humus should be added to the wells and superphosphate should be added (1 tbsp.spoon).
A few words about how to plant dahlias so that they grow better: tubers in the hole are placed not vertically, but horizontally. When planting, do not deepen the root neck. She should protrude a little over the soil. It is necessary to let in growth no more than 3 shoots. All other lateral shoots on tall dahlias should be removed. When dahlias grow up, they are tied to a support.
Dahlia Care
If you first bought dahlias, planting and care should not bother you too much. These plants are not particularly demanding. With good sunlight, warmth and moderate watering, they feel great. From time to time they need to podkuchivat. Do not forget to fertilize them. During the season this must be done at least 3 times. Full mineral fertilizer or mullein solution is introduced. Try not to flood dahlias - this can lead to rotting of the tubers. This will be enough for the plants to please you to the frost with their beautiful flowers.