Have you ever wondered how the warmth loving, sun seeking Dahlia can stand some of that vicious Fall weather that drives us indoors. They can stand a light frost for Heaven's sake! And a few inches of soil can provide a whole winter's protection on occasion.
Well, it occurred to me that maybe I have been pampering my early Spring seedlings & cuttings too much. I set out to see if they actually needed to stay on the heating cable for several weeks. Seeds were planted March 8 in the house and left in my unheated basement under some fluorescents that I would turn on when they germinated (5 - 10 days). They were transplanted to individual 2" pots as soon as I could see some true leaves showing and taken out to my cool greenhouse and onto the heating cable bench for about a week. Then they were transplanted into 4" pots and onto the regular benches at the end of March. I was a bit nervous and only did a few at first, but they seemed to thrive and the rest followed over the next week or so. Excellent growth for a month and then out to the cold frame or just a sheltered spot the first & second week of May. Planting began a week later and was finished by the beginning of June. Stocky plants, some branching - I was very pleased.
Tubers for cuttings were set on heat March 1 in the greenhouse onto a soil heating cable. Cuttings were placed into individual 2" pots of peat/vermiculite mix and taken into the basement to the fluorescent lights. Cuttings need a lot of light to manufacture the stuff of new roots, but they can't stand to dry out, so I put them into clear Tupperware containers with loose lids in sets of 3 X 7 = 21. This works very well and I had no losses at all this year. When roots are evident in 10 days or so, they were potted into good compost & vermiculite in 5" pots and taken to the unheated greenhouse benches to join the seedlings. NOTE - I always keep the cuttings and seedlings just a bit apart in case of virus which the seedlings are VERY unlikely to have, but which the established varieties might have. Some of the earliest cuttings were too advanced by the time they could be planted. These are the best candidates for pot roots. Plant the smaller and more vigorously growing plants into your valuable garden spots. They will out-grow the larger, but woody, plants in no time.
Copyright © 1996 Wayne Holland
email to nospam_hydahlia@shaw.ca just delete the nospam part!