Exchanging Plant Material for Cuttings

SteveM

Exchanging plant material for making cuttings is a great way to share some of the hard-to-get dahlia varieties. Who has used this method and what were your methods/successes/failures? Below is a December 1 bloom of Hollyhill Lilibet grown from a lateral shipped to me by @Bessie 4 months earlier.

MIDahlias

SteveM How / where did yiu grow it to get a bloom on December 1?

Krista

SteveM I shared unrooted cuttings last season for the first time; some in the spring and some in the fall.

I bagged the foliage in plastic ziplocks and included a damp paper towel wrapped around each variety. I liked when I could send enough plant material so that the recipient could split into multiple cuttings. And I liked when I could fill the box with enough plant material to limit jostling through transit. Some shipments I used compostable peanuts or packing paper to make sure the foliage stayed snug.

I’ve received feedback that my packages arrived in good condition, and varying feedback on the success of cuttings taken from the plant material I sent.

Bessie

SteveM that's so great to see a bloom from a cutting!
I am very thankful for receiving cuttings from both you and @Krista this past summer. The cuttings arrived in perfect condition. I would say this was a learning experience for me, since I was not very successful. Most all rooted, but some varieties I couldn't get to root. Once I had nice transplants in pots, most just failed to thrive. Definitely feel like a failure! Next time I will watch for over watering (and not too big of pots), over fertilizing, and fungus gnats. I'm really not sure why the plants didn't grow, but it could have been multiple factors. I'm pretty sure I have some baby tuber clumps in pots, but won't know if they're viable for a month or two.

janell

SteveM I shipped cuttings in ziplock baggies in small boxes to a couple growers in mild months (June and October), and both growers had success rooting them. I didn’t include a damp paper towel, but I think it is a nice idea. I’d much prefer to send unrooted cuttings to rooted ones.

SteveM

MIDahlias How / where did yiu grow it to get a bloom on December 1?

We were fortunate to have our fourth year in a row without a freeze so I grow my cuttings on benches outside. I use LED bulbs about 4-5 feet above the cuttings (and mother plants) to increase the day length to 15-16 hours.

Krista

@KitCMC was kind enough to let me practice my first ever shipment of plant material in this way. She even sent me photos of the resulting contents!

I’ll also add that I shipped 2-3 day, priority mail. And I far preference this over shipping rooted cuttings. It requires less fiddling with securing a rootball, and using excessive tape/plastic to ensure safe travels.

Juliarugula

Krista wow! Those look like they got there in very nice condition!

KitCMC

Krista they were plump, not wilty, and the leaf cuttings grew! The plant material looked so good.

SteveM

Krista Great job! I like the idea of getting leaf cuttings as a bonus!

Krista

Juliarugula Thank you! I feel that this is a really successful method. I wonder if shipping in this stage might reduce stress on the future plants (totally made that up) and I really like that it gives the recipient more than one “cutting” opportunity.

Teddahlia

I promised an unrooted cutting to good friend and he will be able to root it. When you send an unrooted cutting, it is a lot less work for the sender.

Bessie

I'd like to update my failure analysis of unsuccessful growing of some cuttings.
I'm about 90% confident the root cause of the failure of the cuttings to thrive is/was fungus gnats.
I've seen how bad they can infest my seedlings, and even when I think I've treated for them, I'm not doing a good enough job doing that. Overly moist soil, cool evenings, pots with lots of soil compared to the above ground plant material, rain, and a really mild climate all contribute to ideal insect reproduction.
Yesterday I ordered more gnat larva killer, a pound of BTi , enough to make 32 gallons of full strength solution. I strive to be diligent going forward!

Teddahlia

Fungus gnats destroyed most of our tomato seedlings last year.

Bessie

Teddahlia fungus gnats are so frustrating! And, it's usually too late when you realize you have an infestation. I now know to suspect fungus gnats when I see seedlings that seem to fail to thrive.

calico20hill

I recieved two pricy rooted cuttings from Triple Wren today and I can see fungas gnats through the plastic cases. Now putting a mosquito dunk in water to disolve and will treat them before taking in the greenhouse to pot up. The mosquito dunk in a big bucket of water has been working well in my greenhouse tent in the garage.

Bessie

calico20hill as you know, the dunks only treat the larva. To be safe, consider also using an insecticide, so the gnats get killed, and won't be introduced into the greenhouse. I just put up a bunch of the sticky traps to catch a few random gnats in my inside growing area.

calico20hill

OK, I will give them an ammonia spray before taking into the greenhouse. And open the cases they are in outside...

calico20hill

They are recovering in the shade and warm outside air now. (Its 71 degrees, quite warm for April!) I wonder how long ago they started packing to ship as the leaves were rather pale and the plants quite curved to fit the packing. I would say they need to do some more thinking about their process. MY cuttings were quite lanky...maybe 5" with 2 sets of leaves.

NCDahlia

calico20hill Yea I was hesitant to do cuttings from them. I also ordered from them first for tubers have yet to get my shipped.

I did see some people who ordered from stone house on IG their cuttings looked very good which im happy for as last year was a mess for them. Always good to support good people.

Hope yours green up and they can make a decent plant.