Advice

💖 Prepare for Late Season LUSTER: The DAZZLING World of Dahlias! 💖

Get ready to be utterly captivated, because dahlias are the MOST FULFILLING, JAW-DROPPING stars of your late summer and autumn garden!

🌈 V-E-R-S-A-T-I-L-I-T-Y is Their Middle Name!

Dahlias don't just grow; they SOAR and SPARKLE! Their sheer range is an absolute spectacle:

• Height Heroes: From tiny, charming bedding plants standing at a neat 30 cm, they explode into true hybrids hitting heights up to 200cm! And if you want a floral skyscraper, some species dahlias can tower up to a staggering 300 cm!

• Bloom Bonanza: Get ready for bloom size anarchy! We're talking miniature 52 mm pompons all the way up to the GIANT classification, where flowers EXPLODE past 260 mm across! (That's bigger than your hand!)

🎨 A RAINBOW Reimagined!

Forget boring! Dahlias offer a VOLCANO of colour! You can find every shade imaginable, barring only blue or true green, and each hue is delivered with subtle, mesmerising tints and dramatic nuances!

🔥 Fun Fact: Ever heard of the "Dinner Plate Dahlia?" That irresistible term was originally coined by the Dutch mass market suppliers—the perfect, punchy way to describe those huge, spectacular blooms sold straight from the packet!

Achieving high quality blooms

💥 Unleash the DAHLIA DYNAMO: Secrets to SPECTACULAR Blooms! 💥

Want dahlias that don't just bloom—they EXPLODE with perfection? Forget mediocre! To achieve the absolute pinnacle of dahlia quality, you MUST commit to growing from ROOTED CUTTINGS every single year!

The Cutting Edge Advantage!

This isn't just gardening; it's flower alchemy! Rooted cuttings deliver flowers that are transcendent!

• ⚡️ STRENGTH: Experience unyielding, powerhouse stems!

• ✨ SIZE & SHINE: Witness flower heads that are MASSIVE, with colour that boasts blinding clarity and electrifying intensity!

✂️ The Pro Grower's Secret Weapon: DISBUDDING!

This is the non-negotiable step to greatness! VIGOROUSLY remove those sneaky side shoots (disbudding!) from the upper leaf joints. Why? Because you're redirecting ALL that incredible plant energy straight into the star attraction—the main flower head!

• The result? A colossal main bloom perched on an epic, skyscraper-long stem!

• Warning: Ignore this, and those pesky side shoots will steal the show, leaving your main bloom feeling underwhelming.

🔪 Harvesting for Maximum Impact!

When you're ready to harvest your bounty or dead-head, DO NOT NIBBLE! Plunge your cutters DEEP into the plant. This bold move is the key to stimulating the secondary flowering stems to surge forward—resulting in long, perfect replacements that keep the flower party going!

The Tubers Trade-Off: Border Brilliance!

Tubers will give you more flowers, that's true, but be warned: they are the understudies of quality!

• This is the perfect technique for the EXUBERANT BORDER GARDENER! If your goal is a kaleidoscope of colour, a non-stop carnival of dahlias intermingled with glorious perennials and shrubs, tubers are your ticket to focal points of dazzling, mesmerizing colour!

🛑 The Annual Tuber RITUAL!

If you use tubers, you MUST lift them every year! Leave them in the cold ground, and you are signing their floral death warrant! Over time, their performance CRASHES! You'll end up with weak, wobbly stems and blooms that are a sad, washed-out shadow of their potential!

LIFT THEM to guarantee the show-stopping quality you deserve!

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Are you ready to dive into the thrilling world of dahlia propagation to start growing those rooted cuttings?

Commercial, Wholesale, growing

💥 DAHLIA DOMINATION: Why Only the ELITE Make the Wholesale Cut! 💥

Let's shatter a myth: While every dahlia is a marvel, MOST are simply not equipped for the relentless demands of the commercial and wholesale flower market! We don't just grow pretty blooms; we cultivate market-ready perfection!

The Florist's Guarantee: ZERO Margin for Error!

Florists buying wholesale are betting their reputation on our product. They need IRON-CLAD assurance for high-stakes events—a wedding, a gala, a corporate colour scheme! They must know, without a shadow of a doubt, that their order will arrive EXACTLY AS PROMISED. They demand:

• ⚡️ RELIABILITY: Supply must be utterly dependable.

• 💎 CONSISTENCY: Quality must be flawless, bundle after bundle.

The Wholesale COMMANDMENTS:

The market doesn't ask—it DICTATES its terms for performance:

• Packing: Standardised in bundles of 10.

• Stems: They must be RAMROD STRAIGHT and a minimum of 75 cm long.

• Colour: UNYIELDING clarity and searing intensity!

🎯 Our Cultivar CONQUERORS!

We run a brutal selection process! Only cultivars that prove they can OVER-DELIVER on our stringent criteria are grown for this market: They must be POWERFULLY PROLIFIC, maintain SPECTACULAR CONSISTENCY, boast SUPERIOR STEM LENGTH, and guarantee an EXTENDED VASE LIFE!

⛈️ The Unpredictable Fight: Forecasting and FURY!

Success demands we are two steps ahead—forecasting our harvest for weeks in advance! But operating outdoors means a constant war with Mother Nature. We know the score: THE WEATHER IS A FORCE OF CHAOS that can obliterate even the best harvest projections!

The Hard Truth: Beauty Isn't Enough!

We grow fantastic dahlias that are garden legends—blooms of breathtaking beauty! But they fail the commercial test! Their stem length might falter, their consistency might waver, or they are simply too unreliable for bulk sales. We know this because we keep them for ourselves! They are too inconsistent for commerce, but perfect for the garden!

End of Season Lifting and Storage of Tubers

🔬 Post-Senescence Tuber Management: Maximizing Dahlia Viability for Overwintering

This protocol details the critical steps required for the successful dormancy and storage of Dahlia tubers, ensuring optimal viability for subsequent cultivation cycles.

Phase I: Preparation and Extraction

The initiation of tuber lifting (extraction) is contingent upon one of two physiological events: the cessation of satisfactory floral aesthetics or the onset of foliage destruction by frost.

    1. Stalk Decapitation: The primary stems must be reduced to a consistent length, approximately  6 inches / 15 cm above the soil line. This uniform cut provides a stable base for the subsequent drying stage.

    2. Careful Extraction: Tubers must be meticulously excavated, taking extreme precaution to prevent physical damage to the crown (the junction from which the subsequent season's growth buds, or 'eyes,' will emerge).

    3. Inversion for Drainage: Immediately invert the extracted tubers, resting them upon their prepared, even stem bases. This crucial step facilitates the passive drainage of residual moisture (sap) from the hollow stalks.

Phase II: Post-Drainage Conditioning and Preservation

Once sap flow has ceased, further reduction and conditioning are mandatory prior to storage.

    1. Final Stem Reduction: Trim the drained stalks to a length of ½ to 1 inc // 1 to 2 cm proximal to the crown. Crucially, tubers must be fully dehydrated before boxing. Storage with any residual moisture in the stalk will inevitably lead to stem rot, resulting in the necrotic loss of the critical apical 'eyes,' thereby preventing spring sprout initiation.

    2. Fungicidal Treatment: Apply powdered yellow sulphur (S) to the trimmed stems and the entire tuber surface as a preventative measure against fungal infection.

    3. Optimal Storage Environment: Pack tubers securely in storage containers using inert, moisture-regulating media (e.g., peat, vermiculite, wood shavings, or sand) to mitigate desiccation.

        ◦ Environmental Parameters: Storage must be strictly frost-free (most non-heated sheds/garages are inadequate). Avoid excessive warmth, which induces detrimental shriveling, and cold, damp conditions, which promote lethal rot.

        ◦ Benchmark Conditions: The objective is to replicate the cool, consistent, and moderate humidity environment observed in successful niche storage methods (e.g., controlled wine cellars).

Phase III: Dormancy Monitoring

Routine inspection throughout the dormant period is imperative for maintaining tuber health.

    1. Periodic Assessment: Examine tubers multiple times during the winter months.

    2. Mitigation of Infection: Should any evidence of mildew or localized decay be identified, the affected tissue must be surgically excised. The resulting wound should then be immediately dusted with yellow sulphur to inhibit further microbial progression.

Propagation of Dahlias

After winter storage (which these days is just a few weeks due to the lateness of frosts) the tubers can be started off to produce cuttings. To obtain maximum growth from the new plants, the tubers should be encouraged into early growth ideally about mid February to late February.

Set the tubers on a light bed of moist light compost and then cover the tubers almost completely with the same, leaving only their crowns exposed. A tomato tray or seed tray is ideal for this although if you have a large number of tubers, setting them down on the bench in the greenhouse works well. Place the boxes somewhere with a little warmth to start the tubers growing, such as a conservatory or warm greenhouse. With the moisture from the compost and an average temperature of around 15 degrees C, (we aim to maintain a temperature range of 15C to 25C) growth will start within two or three weeks. Eyes will appear on the crown of the tuber, and these eyes will produce the shoots that can be used for cuttings. Keep the compost moist while the tuber is growing, but be careful not to overdo it. The compost should not become soggy. Use a watering can with a very fine rose to give you good control over the amount of water you are supplying.

When the shoots are sturdy with two or three leaf joints they are ready to use as cuttings. Use a sharp knife to cut away the shoots a little above their base, where they join the crown. Take care not to cut the crown itself, which would prevent further shoots forming. Trim neatly immediately below a leaf joint, dip in rooting compound and plant in either seed trays or pots filled with a gritty seed compost (John Innes Seed) or an equal mixture of sand or seed compost. They may look a little droopy for 7-10 days, this is quite normal! Three weeks on and roots will begin to form. Once the cutting is clearly rooted and showing signs of growth, prick out and pot up in 90 mm pots into a well draining potting compost such as John Innes No 1. We strongly recommend that all purpose or multi purpose composts are not used as they may contain materials that will kill the delicate rooted cutting. Larger flowered cultivars especially would benefit from being potted on into 125 mm pots at the end of April. Plant out in mid to late May after the danger of frosts has gone.

Planting Out

🚀 LAUNCHING YOUR DAHLIA EMPIRE: Planting for EXPLOSIVE Growth! 🚀

Get ready to plant the foundation for a spectacular dahlia season! While your local microclimate dictates the final countdown, these are the proven, high-impact strategies we deploy right here on our farm in the High Weald of West Sussex!

🎯 The PERFECT Positioning & Preparation!

• POWER SPACING: Give your heavy hitters room to dominate! Plant standard dahlias with 75-90 cm (2.5-3 ft) of elbow room! (Bedding varieties get cozy at $40$ cm / $15$ in).

• SOIL COMMANDMENTS: Dahlias are fierce, but they demand two things: PLENTY of MOISTURE and FLAWLESS DRAINAGE!

• WINTER WEAPON: Don't wait! Supercharge your soil during winter by digging in rich compost or aged manure where your dahlias will reign supreme.

• FROST PROTOCOL: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT plant until the threat of frost is a distant memory! For us, that's typically the THIRD or FOURTH WEEK in MAY—plan your planting date like a tactical operation!

⛏️ Creating the THRONE for Your Tuber!

1. DIG DEEP: Excavate a hole that's a precise $20-23$ cm (about $9$ inches) square and deep!

2. THE COMPOST CUSHION: Throw in half a bucket of high-quality compost! This isn't just feed—it's a moisture retention sponge, and it ensures a clean, easy lift in the autumn!

3. STAKE IT: Drive your support stake STRAIGHT into the centre of the hole now—before the plant goes in!

🌱 The High-Energy Planting Sequence!

1. PRE-HYDRATE: Hours before planting, give your potted dahlias a MASSIVE drink!

2. GENTLE RELEASE: Carefully remove the pot (unless it's biodegradable like ours), but GUARD THE ROOT BALL—do not disturb it!

3. PLANT and FIRM: Position the plant right next to the pre-installed stake with a hand trowel. Plant it deep enough so the final soil level is JUST BELOW the lowest leaves—then FIRM IT IN WELL!

4. FIRST WATERING: Give it an immediate, thorough soak!

5. THE POWER BOOST (72 Hours Later): Three days post-planting, hoe in a dynamic $60$g (2 oz.) application of Fish, Blood, and Bone or an equivalent high-quality fertilizer around the plant, and water it in AGAIN!

FINALLY: Label EVERY SINGLE PLANT! Don't lose track of your champions!

Remember to label each plant.

Growing Activity

Stopping is the removal of the growing tip when about four or five pairs of leaves have been formed. Nip out the tip just above the pair of leaves, but avoid squashing the stem. This causes strong side shoots to develop at the leaf joints, forming the framework of the plant on which strong flowering stems will grow.

Dis-budding is the removal of all buds that appear in the leaf joints below the primary bud.

Retain the primary bud but remove side shoots from the two or three upper leaf axils on each stem. This can get a bit subjective as the habit will vary from one cultivar to another, the objective is to promote as long a flowering stem as possible whilst leaving sufficient leaf axils for future blooms. Disbudding is performed to encourage growth to the primary bud which will result in specimen blooms.

Caring for your Cut Flower Dahlias

🚀 UNLEASH the VASE LIFE REVOLUTION: Secrets to Immortal Dahlias! 🚀

Tired of your stunning dahlias collapsing into premature mush? Get ready to defy expectations! This is the ultimate, punchy, and scientifically backed protocol to keep your magnificent cut flowers looking fresh, vibrant, and utterly spectacular FAR LONGER than you ever thought possible!

1. The Critical First Cut: A High-Temp Shockwave!

The second you cut a dahlia, air is the enemy! It rushes into the vascular system, creating airlocks that plug the cells and stop water uptake dead!

• THE FIX: Plunge those stems IMMEDIATELY into FAIRLY HOT WATER (the heat accelerates absorption via kinetic energy!).

• THE TECHNIQUE: While submerged, use a RAZOR-SHARP KNIFE (NEVER crushing secateurs or scissors!) to trim the stems to size at a CRITICAL 45-degree angle! This diagonal slice ensures maximum cut surface contact with the water.

  THE SIN: Secateurs CRUSH the delicate vascular bundles—it's a death sentence!

2. The Golden Rule: Strip, Sanitize, and HARDEN!

Before they enter the vase, you must wage war on bacteria!

• STRIP DOWN: RUTHLESSLY remove any foliage that will sit below the waterline! Leaves in the water are a breeding ground for bacteria, leading to the premature demise of your beautiful blooms!

  DECONTAMINATE: Give your vase an ULTRA-CLEANSE using a bleach solution to annihilate all lingering bacteria.

• THE HARDENING HACK: Leave your vase of hot-water-prepped flowers to cool SLOWLY. This process, known as HARDENING, turbo-charges water uptake. In this brief cooling period, your flowers drink nearly as much water as they will for the rest of their vase life! The objective is simple: get water and nutrients to the bloom NOW!

3. The Elixir of Life: Beyond Basic Water!

Tap water is okay (the chlorine helps disinfect!), but for truly extended life, consider the next level:

• THE SWEET SECRET: For a quick boost, DITCH THE WATER and use CHEAP, full-sugar LEMONADE! (The acid and sugar mixture works wonders).

• THE ELITE CHOICE: If your tap water is high in salts or fluorides, switch to DISTILLED WATER!

• THE MYTH BUSTERS: Forget the folklore! Aspirin, wine, bleach drops, or old pennies are USELESS! Homemade concoctions simply can't match the complex mixture of preservatives and nutrients found in professional flower food.

4. Daily Maintenance: Repeat the Ritual!

To truly maximize longevity, this isn't a one-time thing—it's a commitment!

• RE-TRIM RITUAL: Every 1-2 days, pull the blooms, RINSE the stems, RE-CUT the bottoms by a quarter inch, and return them to a SPARKLING CLEAN VASE!

• CULL THE WEAK: If a bloom looks wilted or floppy, it's not drinking well. RE-CUT IT! If it doesn't revive, DISCARD IT—decaying flowers release gases and bacteria that threaten the rest of the arrangement!

5. Position for Power: Location, Location, Location!

Protect your precious blooms from environmental assassins!

• AVOID HOT ZONES: Keep them far from sunbeams, hot spots, or hot/cold air drafts.

• THE ETHYLENE WARNING: NEVER place dahlias near ripening fruit! Fruit emits ETHYLENE GAS, a silent killer that dramatically SHORTENS VASE LIFE!

  Go forth and enjoy your incredibly long-lasting, utterly glorious dahlias!