Dahlias - to pinch or not to pinch?

[pigletwillie]

Like wise Jennie, my seedlings are about 4-6 inches tall. What height do I nip out the top.

[nick the grief]

Hi Piglet,

If they are big jobbies you can do it when they ahave 4-6 pairs of leaves that will give you 8 - 12 breaks and hope fully you should get 3 flowers per break the middle bud ( crown bud) will open first the one of the side buds about 1-2 weeks later then the other side (apical) bud 1-2 weeks after that.

If you want bigger blooms take the crown bud off & that will divert energy into the two Apical buds. If you want them for showing it's not so easy as you have to get the size right but you would typically take them down to one bud.

If they are bedding jobbies then they will probably break on their own.

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks Nick! I just want a good show, rather than for showing! I'm just about at the 4 pairs, so a bit to go yet.

[Protea]

Oops, looks like i may have pinched them out a bit too soon then - never mind! My cold frame is completely full of my dahlias which are loking very strong and bushy (although there was a minor aphid attack in one corner!), can't decide whether to plant them out or not - we've not had a very cold night for ages but it would be just my luck to plant them out and then get a late frost

[nick the grief]

I've only just started to take cuttings It doesn't matter if you stopped them early Protea, you can always stop the subsequent breaks to give more, smaller flowers

[terrier]

Sorry to bubble this thread up again but my dahlia tubers have just decided to sprout in the last week or so. I've potted 3 sprouts up in compost on a sunny windowsill and am hoping for good things. Are there any dahlia gurus out there can tell me what are the best conditions to grow them in or am I just too into the season again.

[heebiejeebie]

Wow! I had no idea the dahlias were so complicated!
I bought a few half-price last year and whacked them into the garden straight away, left them there over the winter and now they're all sprouting up again merrily.

If I want to divide the tubers so I get more plants, when do I do it?

[Two_Sheds]

If I want to divide the tubers so I get more plants, when do I do it?

I always take cuttings of my faves in the spring - loads of free plants. You can divide the tubers too, but each bit must have an 'eye' on it (did I say that right?). I'd personally always go with cuttings, its dead easy

[heebiejeebie]

um... any chance of an "eejit's guide"?

[Two_Sheds]

um... any chance of an "eejit's guide"?

ok. I Googled it, here's a good one:
http://www.scdahlias.org/howto/digdivide.html

[heebiejeebie]

Ta! Just what I need.

[terrier]

Thanx Two Sheds, thats a good site. I now know why I cant get many of my tubers that I save to shoot, I've been cutting off the bits with the eyes on. I assumed they were like spuds and developed shoots from different parts of the flesh and not just the bit at the crown. I've been trying for years to grow dahlias and never was told that!