Dahlias, planting and care when grown from tubers

Dahlias - flowers from the family of Astrovs. They came to Europe from South America. To date, there are many varieties of these elegant ornamental plants. They are known for a variety of shapes and colors, the height of the bush and the size of flowers. Although not very fastidious 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. It can even be easy to kill them.

Dahlias are herbaceous plants with tuber roots. At home, they grow as perennials. We, however, can only grow them as an annual culture. Plant tubers every fall have to dig out 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, dahlias tubers are placed in a cellar at a temperature above 0 degrees for the winter. Unfortunately, wintering is not always successful. Part of the tubers can bend, the other part - wither. In the spring they are taken out and prepared for planting. Do this for half a month before landing in the ground.

For this, rotted parts of the tubers are removed. Place the cut with a solution of manganese and sprinkle with crushed charcoal. This will protect our dahlias from diseases. Planting and nursing in this case will be more successful. If the tubers have dried, they need to be put in water for 2 hours, and then, dried, put into packages. The tubers are divided into groups. Each of them should consist of a part of the stem with gnawing buds in the region of the root neck and two or three tubers of small size.

After the prepared dahlias, planting and care are as follows: the tubers are laid out on transparent plastic bags and left for two weeks in a warm and bright place. During this time, the kidneys are squashed on the pieces. In the walls of the packs, holes must be made to make the tubers breathe.

Some gardeners, after the sprouts become long, continue to germinate the tubers in wet sawdust or in the ground. This gives rise to already grown plants by the time of disembarkation into the ground. Plant the dahlias in the soil in such a way that their shoots do not fall under recurrent frost.

Planting dahlias

For dahlias choose a bright place. In addition, it should be protected from the wind, as dahlias with a strong wind are easily broken. The place should be as dry as possible. These flowers grow well on loam and do not tolerate sour soil. Therefore, if the soil is acidic, it is recommended that garden lime be added to it when digging.

The earth is well digged and holes are made in it. Their depth should be about 30 cm. In the holes, peat or humus should be added and superphosphate (1 tablespoon) added.

A few words about how to plant dahlias in such a way that they grow better: the tubers in the hole are placed not vertically, but horizontally. When planting, the root collar can not be deeply embedded. It should protrude slightly above the soil. Start up in growth, no more than 3 shoots. All other side shoots on tall dahlias should be removed. When the dahlias grow, they tie them to the support.

Care for dahlias

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. Periodically they need to be bored. Do not forget to fertilize them. For the season, this must be done at least 3 times. A full mineral fertilizer or Mullein solution is applied. Try not to pour dahlias - this can lead to decay of tubers. This will be enough for the plants to delight you to frost with their beautiful flowers.