Taking Dahlia Cuttings

Teddahlia At a trial garden they removed the bottom leaves from one of our entries and then again. and maybe third time.(fungus?) The plants were 11 feet tall and could not be judged as the flowers were too high on the plants.

You were asking last season why there seemed to be so many comments about HH Dungeness growing into a ten foot tall plant (presumably yours aren’t as tall). Perhaps this is why - I definitely remove leaves up to about 18” off the ground once the plant is large enough. (And my Dungeness was one of the 10 footers).

Speaking of HH Dungeness: We have another birdnest dahlia that needs to be released and I will have lots of tubers of it next year and have lots this year. Margaret thinks it is not refined enough. I love it and it is only
8 feet tall when Dungeness is 9 feet tall.

I like that one too. I grew Hollyhill Dungeness and it is usually yellow for me till the fall when we cool down then goes more pink. Looking at my map I grew it beside sir paxton j which I also loved I think i had both marked as inverted cactus

I made a visual aid for the cutting terminology discussion. I struggled to put a label to the “Top cutting”. Is it just a nodal cutting? Or an apical (as opposed to lateral) cutting?

I also side-stepped the use of “node” on the leaf cuttings and opted for the term from @Bessie ‘s textbook: “Leaf-bud cutting”.

In Botany, they have more words to describe every part of a plant than Carter has pills(Carter's Little Liver Pills used to be a cure just about everything). Your terminology is very descriptive and the picture seals the deal. White cuttings can be slightly different as they can be the same as tuber cuttings but with no green color or they can be two nodes(one for roots and one for leaves) from a very long white sprout that has several immature nodes on it. I have mentioned that Dutch growers like white cuttings.

I have a single tuber that happens to be sprouting from 2 eyes. I wasn’t planning to take a cutting, but the opportunity has presented itself. If I were to take a cutting of one sprout when it’s 3-4 inches tall, using the method of taking a sliver of tuber with it, could I prevent any additional sprouting from occurring? My reasoning is that all the tuber’s resources would be directed to the remaining sprout instead of growing many additional. Am I way off base, or potentially creating different/additional problems down the road? My understanding is that taking a sliver of crown with a cutting is undesirable because it prevents additional sprouting. Are there other negative impacts of this “technique?” I only have one of this variety and don’t want to inadvertently make it unhealthy.

KitCMC is that all the tuber’s resources would be directed to the remaining sprout instead of growing many additional.

Cate, I've never noticed one stalk growing from a tuber is any more, or less, robust than multiple stalks growing from a tuber. If the plants are given ample room and fertilizer it should make no difference.

KitCMC Are there other negative impacts of this “technique?” I only have one of this variety and don’t want to inadvertently make it unhealthy.

I generally don't like to do any more surgery on a tuber than is necessary but this could be a personal phobia. I suppose, since bacterial infections, such as crown gall, are initiated by wounding the tuber, it could possibly increase those infections. I doubt if the increase would be large enough to measure.

The operation killed the patient. Or, the operation was cosmetic and the patient went from having two sturdy stalks to one. Excess stalks are a blessing to the cut flower grower who grows smaller flowers. Excess stalks are not allowed in the strict show garden where grooming plants is one of the keys to success. The casual gardener wonders what is the fuss about?
Random picture of a random dahlia from last year.

Sounds like leaving both stalks and planting the tuber would be A-OK. Taking a cutting as I normally would (just slightly above the tuber) and then planting the tuber, with whatever new growth occurs, also sounds like it is likely to work out. I will avoid tuber surgery.

My dahlia friend in WA who I sent unrooted cuttings to a couple weeks ago sent me 2 unrooted cuttings that I received today. She tried 2 methods also. 1 was stuck into a moistened root riot cube that was wrapped in plastic wrap then taped to the inside of a clamshell box. The second was just loose in a ziplock bag with a little fuzzy cushioning (not sure exactly what) and it wasn't blown up at all, just kinda flat in the bag.

Both look pretty dang good! The one that was in the bag is a little wilty. I'll report back in a couple weeks.

NCDahlia yes, batting maybe!

Krista Half strength is half as much fertilizer powder per gallon of water. I use a teaspoon per gallon for most things indoors.

Teddahlia Thank you!

NCDahlia that’s what I thought, too.

I potted up 36 cuttings and it took a little over an hour. I am taking the last cuttings of many of the varieties/seedlings. My coleus cuttings are mostly rooted in the 9 days since I took them. Margaret took cuttings from a fancy salvia and they also rooted in 9 days. I would have left them under the lights longer but we need the room for more dahlias.

Well, I'm feeling fairly confident that my first ever cutting of one of my first ever Hollyhill varieties has rooted, thanks to everyone in this discussion thread! Even after its dreadful bleach-swish, clumsy leaf-knocking-off, and mycorrhizae dip, and I’m feeling very pleased tonight. Thank you!

Krista Yay! It’s a good feeling, even with the bumps along the way. I’m amazed that all of my cuttings (30-ish?) appear to be chugging along. I lost the very first one when I broke it. In retrospect, it might have been fine. I’ve been erring on the side of too small, mostly because I am impatient. Now that my annual seedlings can live outside, I’ll have some more room to foster the cuttings. It’s definitely habit forming

JessieC Yes! Dahlia cuttings are definitely starting to take precedence which is a whole new can of worms. It used to be that there were too many vegetables and annual flowers for my indoor grow space and now there are so many more contenders. The hardiness of cuttings adds a whole new level of reward with dahlias, it’s very exciting!