Taking Dahlia Cuttings

blown_dry · 2023-02-04T23:34:14+00:00

Continuing from https://cubits.org/Dahlias/thread/view/92091/#end_of_thread

Juliarugula

(But not the organic Miracle Gro! I haven’t found anything that does well in the organic Miracle Gro)

SteveM

MissyWeitzel I decided I hate the cubes themselves plus the added expense.

I use them because I can fit 500 cuttings on my 2'X5' heating mat. I am just about out of oasis cubes so this is a good time to switch to a propagation potting mix rather than ordering another case. I have flats with 3/4 inch plugs so I will need to experiment to find a suitable rooting media. Maybe sand.

BackyardBouquets_17

SteveM
I really like vermiculite for rooting. When they have a decent amount of roots it’s simple to pull em out and transfer to trays with potting mix.

MissyWeitzel

SteveM is there a reason to use another medium rather than root directly into potting soil? I know people like sand or vermiculite or whatever but I guess I never understood why, when it works just putting them into potting soil and skipping that whole step?

SteveM

BackyardBouquets_17 I really like vermiculite for rooting.

I have always used perlite just because it is easier to source here. I think both perlite and vermiculite work equally well and I know another commercial grower who prefers vermiculite.. I don't like to work with either because of the fine, airborne particles they both seem to throw up in the process of filling pots, mixing, etc.

blown_dry

MissyWeitzel Ocean Forest is a big favorite of mine.

SteveM

MissyWeitzel is there a reason to use another medium rather than root directly into potting soil

There are a lot of reasons but it is possible none of them are good reasons. 🙂 It has been years since I placed cuttings directly into a potting mix. At that time the commercial standard for cuttings of all types was to use a mixture of 3:1, perlite:peat moss. This media required making dibbles to insert the cuttings. It is possible, if I use a peat-based potting mix similar to what you use, I won't need to make dibbles. Do you make dibbles or do you insert directly into the potting mix?

BackyardBouquets_17

MissyWeitzel
For me my basement tends to stay cooler so ones in the sungro potting mix tend to rot. With vermiculite it’s easier for me to keep moisture levels correct and once I switched to that I didn’t have the rotting anymore. Just what worked for me and once I found something that worked I didn’t try to mess with it further 😀

MissyWeitzel

SteveM after I fill the trays with soil and water them I go through with the end of a small paint brush and make all the holes at once. It takes very little time, but I'm not doing nearly as many cuttings as you I'm guessing!

SteveM

MissyWeitzel Thanks, that is what I did when I used larger cells. The cells I want to use now are only about 3/4" square and not sure the peat mix will hold a hole without collapsing. I will give it a try today.

SteveM

MissyWeitzel I tried 100 cuttings of Peaches-N-Cream using your method with my "go to" Sunshine #4 mix. The mix was loose enough that I really didn't need to make dibbles so I did some with, and some without. The mix is peat-based and "feels" like it will hold too much water and not provide enough air space, but maybe I am wrong. I think I am going to end up using 25% Sunshine #4 potting soil and 75% perlite on my next try.

calico20hill

MissyWeitzel zero sign of fungas gnats sounds excellent to me! I'll be picking up the Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil as soon as we are out where the farm store is again! I much prefer planting in soil to any kind of cube.

MissyWeitzel

SteveM please keep us updated! I hope they grow happily for you and will potentially save a step and the expense of plugs! 😊

Emilyp

SteveM I love Sunshine mix #4, it is what I use to root cutting 3:1 mix/vermiculite, and it works great! No fungus gnats too, which is a major bonus. I used to use straight jiffy organic seedling mix, which worked great, but the fungus gnats were unbearable.

MissyWeitzel

SteveM how are the cuttings straight into soil doing?

BackyardBouquets_17

SteveM for that reason I always like to wet my vermiculite first and then fill my trays but neither am I doing it on a scale like you are. I might grow 100 cuttings tops per year.

Maybe you shared this before and I didn’t see it or maybe it’s not something you share but something that snagged my interest. When growing at that scale how does the mother tuber situation look? Pots ? A tuber propogation bed? Or?

SteveM

BackyardBouquets_17 When growing at that scale how does the mother tuber situation look? Pots ? A tuber propogation bed? Or?

Yes, a combination of all those methods. I grow mother plants all year in my shade house under long day-lengths (16 hr) to keep them from going dormant. I have no heat except for my heating mat which provides bottom heat for cuttings. Nights are in the 40s and days are in the 60s so the mother plants grow slowly. If I only need 20-30 cuttings of a variety i keep one or two mother plants perpetually growing in 3 gal. pots. If I need 100s of a variety I grow several flats of that variety, most from pot tubers. When it is necessary to force tubers I place the dormant tubers on top of a few inches of moist soil in a bulb crate and then put the whole crate inside a large trash bag to raise the day temps into the low 80s.

BackyardBouquets_17

MissyWeitzel im going to have to see if I can get my hands on some of this to try. I always struggle with fungus gnats in my seed starting set up so this Sounds like it would be worth a trial.

MissyWeitzel

I have been rooting dahlia cuttings in 36 inserts. A few years ago I accidentally ordered 10x the amount of 36 inserts I thought I was getting and I'm gonna use these up and then upgrade to the reusable heavy duty airpruning trays.

I took a few scented geranium cuttings tonight too. This is only my second time taking cuttings of geraniums and the first time they were from my much larger outdoor plants. The ones I took today were from those small cuttings I overwintered and I didn't have much plant material to work with so I'm not sure the nodes on some of these are deep enough in the soil. It's an experiment!

DarcyD

MissyWeitzel Oh I love these little cuties!! I’ve never tried scented geraniums. Someone was talking about them last year (maybe it was you?) and I started researching them but the timing was off to order. Where do you like to get them from & which are your favorites?

Teddahlia

scented geraniums: Margaret likes them for some of her containers. Just a stinky plant resembling a weed to me.

calico20hill

Teddahlia How does Margaret put up with you, Ted? My husband used to call my treasured collection "Your weeds" and I did not think it funny.He has learned better since I started getting checks for selling my "my weeds" to other people who value them...

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