Breeding Dahlias for better cut flower keeping quality

Bessie

I've been thinking about the many factors that affect Dahlia keeping quality, a.k.a vase life.
To breed a better dahlia with good vase life, you'd likely start with seed and pollen parents that are known for good keeping qualities, perhaps the Karma series. What if you could test if a dahlia seedling will produce flowers with a good vase life? In my reading, I came across a study in Roses, that correlated a lower rate of water loss in the leaves to a longer vase life. https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/937_107
Please let me know your thoughts if you think this idea of "leaf water loss" might hold true for Dahlia vase life? What varieties of Dahlias have "leathery" foilage(maybe correlated to low water loss?). I'm excited to experiment around this idea this year!

SteveM

Likely there are many genes that influence vase life. For me, the most important aspect of vase life is petal drop (shattering, floret abscission) and wilting is secondary in importance. Also, "we" don't want to breed dahlias with an extremely long vase life. The only reason dahlia cut-flower growers stay in business is because dahlias don't ship well so can not be grown in Mexico or South America for export to the US. Because of their fragility and short vase life, dahlias are one of the few flowers that can be profitably grown for local sales. But there is still room for improvement. If you could find a way to predict which seedlings will last for 7 days without wilting or dropping their petals, that would be great. 🙂

Bessie

SteveM I didn't mention that a long vase life is better than 5-6 days. The thought didn't occur to me that one could achieve a vase life comparable to most commercial cut flowers like roses or carnations. I appreciate the discussion points you mentioned. Thank you.

Honnat

I really haven't noticed a varietal difference in vase life.

Form/size difference - Yes. ie - a Miniature ball will last longer than a B-SC. Beyond that, it really has everything to do with the health of the plant, the moisture in the plant the timing of the harvest and post harvest care. I cut EVERYTHING early morning....as in, I'm crazy and am out there with headlamps from 3 am - 6 am for farmer's market harvest. A well hydrated plant at the time of harvest is KEY. Plants are most hydrated in the early hours of the day before the sun hits them.

My customers rave about the vase life of my dahlias. My "regulars" will give me week to week comparisons on occasion. More often than not, they will remark that flowers don't last as long when the weather has been hot and dry (generally before September 1). I try to time my irrigation to be the day before cutting to give them the most hydration possible.

Cosey

Honnat Same. Hydration and harvesting blooms at the right developmental stage will get you 90% there.

MissyWeitzel

I think the coloring of some varieties lend themselves to at least appearing to last longer in a vase. For example, Hapet Daydream has magenta purple tips and as it ages in the vase the magenta becomes a darker and darker purple and it just kind of goes on like that shrinking a bit and darkening for a long time before looking bad. I suppose if I put them side by side with another M FD and more "scientifically" measured them as they both aged, there might not be much difference though!

JessE

That's beautiful! WOuld love to get my hands on Hapet Champagne!

Teddahlia

Dahlias have reputation for being "event flowers" suitable for one day or perhaps two. I have always believed that the size of the flower has more to do with keeping abilities than any other factor although there are many factors. As the one day flower, dahlias can be be glorious in any size shape or color. I will always remember some of the displays that Margaret used to put together for an event.

Darce

Those are amazing arrangements! Just gorgeous

calico20hill

At a Dahlia Show in our area I can just about spot Margaret's arrangements before I ever look at the tags. IF they are drop dead gorgeous with interesting twists to the theme, they are hers.