Successful Cultivation Of Gorgeous Dahlias. The Basics

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The varietal variety of dahlias made them the favorites of gardeners. Storing tubers in winter is the most difficult task facing summer residents. For this reason, desperate amateurs refuse to grow beautiful plants. To solve the problem, it is necessary to understand the difference between the needs of the tubers and the aboveground part of the bushes

Nutrients

Active florists, in order to grow lush cut specimens, do not spare mineral fertilizers, manure, and water the plants abundantly all summer. The bush forms a powerful stem, large tubers, blooms profusely. At the same time, the underground part does not have time to mature properly. Dies during winter storage.

Experienced collectors advise keeping dahlias on a "starvation diet":

1. Give up completely fresh organic matter.

2. A minimum of complex mineral fertilizers in summer. The last feeding with phosphorus-potassium elements at the beginning of August.

3. Rare watering according to the principle: "to quench your thirst, and not to drink until you are full."

4. Removing extra buds.

5. Leaving medium-sized planting material.

Why does a plant need a tuber?

During growth, reserves of nutrients accumulate in the root thickenings. Renewal buds are located on the root collar. In winter, during storage, they receive the necessary elements from the old tuber, maintaining their vital activity.

When planting, the first period of growth is due to the substances accumulated in the last season. Without this, the buds can dry out.

Tuber dimensions

The size of the planting material affects the speed of germination and the ability to form small suction roots. Many people find it better to plant larger specimens by increasing the planting depth.

With this method, the sprout safely emerges from the soil, but young thickenings are not always formed. They are located at the junction of the stem with the old tuber.

In autumn, upon close examination, an increase in the size of the "mother liquor" with a dense network of thin roots is found. There are no full-fledged replacement nodules. During wintering, most of the material dies.

Experts recommend shortening the fleshy part in half before planting, dusting the sections with ash or disinfecting with green paint.

Golden mean

A mixture of 40 g of boric acid, 5 kg of dolomite flour is prepared in advance. 300 g are scattered per running meter of the ridge, adding 40 g of complex mineral fertilizer azofoski. In the fall, they dig a bed on a shovel bayonet, evenly distributing the components. The roots of perennial weeds are selected.

In the spring, ridges with a width of 100-110 cm are formed. Passages are 70 cm. In mid-May, tubers are planted in two parallel rows 50 cm apart. Set the distance in a row for high specimens 60 cm, low - 40 cm.

The wells are not watered. Set up seedlings. The root collar is slightly deepened by 2-2.5 cm, allowing the sprouts to develop normally. The hole is not completely covered with soil.

Loose, breathable soil is preferred. On a clay substrate, sand, peat, compost are added as a baking powder.

Lack of fertilization during planting stimulates the roots to grow in length. They are looking for their own food. When manure is introduced, the desire to look for food disappears, development stops.

Covering the beds with non-woven material through arcs has a number of advantages:

• creates favorable conditions for rapid growth (increase in temperature, ambient humidity);

• provides early laying of flower buds;

• protects plants from recurrent frosts;

• makes it possible to plant tubers earlier;

• reduces evaporation, the soil stays moist longer;

• the ground warms up in a short time.

After the stems grow back by 20-25 cm, soil is poured into the hole to the level of the entire garden. The total soil layer above the root collar is 7-8 cm in total.

We will consider the rules for caring for gorgeous dahlias in the next article.