Thank you, this is very informative and right on time! What is the composition of the medium you put the cuttings in? And is it easier than rooting in inert sand? I was planning to use sand to root the cuttings and than pot on to regular potting soil, but the sand is very very heavy….
We just use a proprietary multipurpose compost adding in 20% perlite. We also have good success using @Sylvagrow peat free multipurpose compost which is naturally more free draining so wd have to be extra careful with the watering regime.
Thanks David, good video. Did you see the cut flower guy on BBC Gardeners World who said that dahlias grown from cuttings produce stronger coloured blooms than plants grown directly from a tuber? If so, do you agree with him? I haven’t got any heat in my greenhouse so I can’t get cuttings going until early April at the earliest. I’ve found that they flower too late, so I stick to dividing tubers which produce plants that flower much earlier.
I was asked that by a colleague when that programme first aired. Although Dahlias will tend to flower earlier from tubers, the plants from cuttings will tend to be stronger, colour will be better and you will have more control over how the plant grows. We don't take cuttings for our planting stock until the end of April for planting out mid June. It means we don't have much flower until end August onwards but when they do start flowering they are full of vigour and the colours are very vibrant.
Really helpful, thank you so much
Good video David, will be very helpful to many new growers.
Thanks very informative.
Thank you, this is very informative and right on time! What is the composition of the medium you put the cuttings in? And is it easier than rooting in inert sand? I was planning to use sand to root the cuttings and than pot on to regular potting soil, but the sand is very very heavy….
We just use a proprietary multipurpose compost adding in 20% perlite. We also have good success using @Sylvagrow peat free multipurpose compost which is naturally more free draining so wd have to be extra careful with the watering regime.
Thanks David, good video. Did you see the cut flower guy on BBC Gardeners World who said that dahlias grown from cuttings produce stronger coloured blooms than plants grown directly from a tuber? If so, do you agree with him?
I haven’t got any heat in my greenhouse so I can’t get cuttings going until early April at the earliest. I’ve found that they flower too late, so I stick to dividing tubers which produce plants that flower much earlier.
I was asked that by a colleague when that programme first aired. Although Dahlias will tend to flower earlier from tubers, the plants from cuttings will tend to be stronger, colour will be better and you will have more control over how the plant grows.
We don't take cuttings for our planting stock until the end of April for planting out mid June. It means we don't have much flower until end August onwards but when they do start flowering they are full of vigour and the colours are very vibrant.