Dahlias are one of the brightest and most beautiful ornamental plants. They are widely used for decorating flower beds, border lines and flower beds, as well as for decorating summer cottages as solo or pot plants.
Dahlias stand out among other decorative perennials for their majestic, catchy beauty. It is also important that they are quite unpretentious in growing. For their successful growth and long flowering, it is enough to create favorable conditions: choose a bright place with good soil, timely water, feed, stepchild and crop. In this article, we will talk about how to care for these amazingly beautiful flowers, and also explain how to plant dahlias in spring. We hope our tips will help you create a magnificent flower garden on your site!
Preparing the tubers for planting
How to plant dahlias in spring? First, the flowers need to be prepared. In late March or early April, dahlia tubers wintering in the storehouse are transferred to a warm room or greenhouse where they maintain a constant temperature within +18 ... + 20 ° C. Planting material is inspected and cleaned of dry or diseased roots, all damaged areas are removed, and then sections are treated with brilliant green.
After the preparatory procedures, dahlia tubers are placed in a container with a nutrient substrate (sawdust, sand, peat or humus mixed with earth) so that they protrude 2 or 3 cm above the soil surface. Some gardeners recommend treating dahlia tubers with potassium permanganate solution. After planting, they are left alone for 10-14 days. Remember, the development of new sprouts requires good lighting and a comfortable temperature of at least +18 ° C.
Dahlia tubers division procedure
After one to two weeks, sprouts will begin to develop from the eyes. When they reach 5-7 mm in length, it will be necessary to divide the root tubers into several parts. This can be done with a clean and sharp knife. Cut them so that at each planting unit there is at least one kidney together with the root neck. From one root tuber (depending on its size), 3-5 divisions can be obtained. Then the parts of the tuber are again placed in the seedling boxes or pots with the nutrient mixture and cleaned in a dark place. Seedlings are periodically watered. After the cuttings take root, they can be moved to a permanent place. Tip: if you do not need a large number of delenki, the root-tuber cutting procedure can be omitted. If you do not have planting stock prepared in the fall, you can buy dahlia seedlings in the store. Remember that you need to buy them no earlier than April. Choose fleshy and strong root tubers with low sprouts. Dry, soft and without sprouts is not recommended. How to plant dahlias in the spring in the open ground we will describe further.
Choosing a good place to land
How to plant dahlias in spring? It is possible to transfer flowers to the open ground when it warms up well enough and steady heat comes, that is, not earlier than mid-May. Typically, planting is done in late spring or early summer. An important point in the successful cultivation of dahlias is the right choice of footprint. These decorative perennials do not like drafts and prefer a ventilated and well-lit place. How to plant dahlias in spring? It is advisable to allocate for them a sunny area with well-drained, nutritious and loosened soil. It is optimal if the earthen mixture is slightly acidic or neutral. Too acidic soil for dahlias is not suitable, therefore, slaked lime should be added to it in advance . Before planting, sprinkle a small amount of wood ash on the selected site, and also add mature, non-deciduous compost. Cover the ground with a rake. It is advisable in advance, it is better in the fall, to enrich the area reserved for dahlias with compost and humus. It is recommended to change the seat for flowers every year in order to protect them from diseases. In addition, perennials should not be planted in the place where asters had grown before.
We plant dahlias in the spring
The procedure for planting perennials is as follows. First prepare the holes for the flowers. In size, they should be larger than the root tubers - about 30 cm in depth and 40 cm in diameter. Fill the dug holes with rotted compost or manure. Sprinkle a little earth on top to prevent burns to the root system. How to feed dahlias in the spring? You can use complex fertilizers. They should be added at the rate of 50 g per well. Mix fertilizer with a small amount of earth. How to plant dahlias in spring: put a tuber in the hole and dig it with the soil mixture. At the same time, it is important that the place of attachment of the neck to the sprout is under a layer of earth 4-6 cm thick. If you are planting a tall dahlia, then immediately install the support for the stem. If the ground is wet after planting, you can not water it. In the event that the plant has already thrown leaflets out of the sprouts, moisten the hole. After planting, mulch the soil with a layer of sawdust or small wood bark, mixing them with compost or peat. Now you know how to plant dahlias in spring . Finally, we will tell you about the rules for caring for these magnificent flowers.
Agrotechnics for growing dahlias
Caring for these perennials is quite simple and includes timely watering, weeding weeds, pinching and pruning. Humidification of the earth should be plentiful, with a frequency of once or twice a week. A lack of moisture will prevent the plant from blooming and developing normally. Feeding dahlias is done three, four times maximum per season, with cow manure infusion. The last fertilizer application is carried out no later than August 20. Large - flowered dahlia varieties need to remove lateral shoots. Stitching is done so that the flowers are as large as possible. If the extra buds and shoots are not removed, the flowers will grow small and inconspicuous. When dahlias are reached a height of 50 cm, they should be tied to supports.
Tuber storage
When the first frosts come, cut the stems and dig up the root tubers. Clean them from the ground, place them in water, then dry well. A few days later, treat the tubers with a solution of foundationazole and potassium permanganate. Dry again and put them in drawers. Sprinkle the tubers with sawdust and winter them in a cool, ventilated area. It is advisable that the temperature in it does not exceed +7 ° C. Do not forget to periodically inspect the roots and remove rotten ones.