General Dahlia Chat 2023

blown_dry · 2023-02-04T23:41:17+00:00

Continuing from https://cubits.org/Dahlias/thread/view/91587/?offset=560#end_of_thread

Teddahlia

I believe the "secret sauce " for pulse watering is that the goal is to get the water to the plants and not to allow the soil to get wet. The plant roots immediately take up the water leaving none for the soil below. Since it is done quite often during the day, they can stay hydrated. Perhaps a crappy analogy would be taking in your water in a cup or having an IV inserted into you vein. Very crappy analogy.

SteveM

The main advantage of Pulse watering is to keep the moisture and fertilizer in the root zone instead of letting it drip lower, past the root zone. This "advantage" would probably be a disadvantage in my case because much of our water is from the Colorado River and irrigation water can be pretty salty. Without leaching, I would worry the irrigation and fertilizer salts would build up to a harmful level. If I used this method I would have to do a deep watering occasionally.

Teddahlia

When we get a soil test, they test to see if we have enough salinity, not too much.

SteveM

Teddahlia You are lucky, saline irrigation water is a problem here, especially for the avocado trees.

AKWindWatcher

SteveM I'm fascinated by the pulse watering approach. Really not needed so much here from a conservation perspective but, you know me, I like experimenting. I might try it with some this summer.

SteveM

AKWindWatcher For me, watering containers is trickier to keep even moisture so Pulse Watering might be the perfect system for containers. Looking forward to your experiments!

Teddahlia

In an overly warm greenhouse there is a mistake you can easily make concerning watering the tender plants in the really hot weather. The mistake is giving them too much water and just like the pulse watering, you should give the plants a short burst of water several times and AVOID getting the pots very wet. This is not logical. Why would you not keep the soil moist and the plants would survive the hot weather? The answer is root rot. Really hot temps added to really wet soil in pots cause root rot. Once plant has it it generally will die a slow death. It is better to let the plants get wilty than over watering.

MissyWeitzel

If any of you enjoy listening to podcasts, this episode is what sent me down the rabbit hole of pulse watering.

https://notillflowers.libsyn.com/the-power-of-pulse-watering-effective-irrigation-and-better-plant-health-with-emma-horswill-from-earthenry-farm

If you want to go even further into crazy and super interesting topics, also check out the episode on Brix.

https://notillflowers.libsyn.com/the-magical-brix-number-that-stops-pests-an-exciting-conversation-with-dr-tom-dykstra

I saw the owner of microflowerfarm mention brix briefly on IG and ever since then I have been trying to read up as much as I can on the subject. It is easy to find info about brix levels in fruiting plants like grapes, and how that relates to wine making. It is also easy to find information on brix and growing cannabis hydroponically/ indoors. It is not easy to find anything about it regarding field grown flowers. If this is an actual achievable thing, and if this dude isn't full of crap, this would be a magic bullet when it comes to dealing with pests! I ordered a refractometer and I can't wait to try it out this season. My plants will probably be like a 4 on the brix scale. 🤣

Bessie

MissyWeitzel this is my kind of info 😊. Lots to learn about.

Crazy_Ivan

I'm not certain of the specific forum in which my question is most appropriately posted, so feel free to move as y'all see fit.
When selecting specific cultivars, what moves you to acquire them? Is it form? Is it color? Is it utility? Or something else?
As I sit here making tags for the herd, it's become abundantly apparent that I have selected many of them based upon form (weird, wild, artistic, and/or wonderful) and color (particularly drawn to those in which transposons are operating, ergo my profile picture). Which is weird, because I never really gave it much thought. I suppose I should qualify the transposon thing, since a college genetics class served as my initial intro to dahlias. But form? Not a clue. Just a purely visceral reaction, the more far-out, the better. Frustrated artist??
I'm certain there are as many answers as there are members of this group, so if you wouldn't mind sharing I would absolutely love to hear your stories.
Thank you!

Bessie

Crazy_Ivan I grow dahlias for their cut flower potential. How will they look in a vase with other flowers and how long will they last. I gravitate towards beauty, artistry, and a quality of the flower having "life" where I might see it change over time in the vase. I also grow dahlias to make seed, and experience the exhilaration, anticipation, and hard work of growing a new dahlia variety that's hopefully special. First year growing from tubers was 2022, and some of the first cuts went into these bouquets.

Darce

Crazy_Ivan
I really find myself drawn to pattern - picotee especially and color variation - either clearly defined variegation or that soft smudgy watercolor shift of one color melting into another. Little details of color are especially entrancing - I haven’t been able to get it yet but OH I want Skipley Spot of Gold! The dahlias that have random variegations from almost solid to completely variegated like HH 6 in 1 are also very attractive to me. I like a dahlia whose aspect might seem like it changes from one glance to the next I guess!

Krista

Bessie Beautiful bouquets! I love all of the different foliage and fillers you use, arranging flowers is an area of expertise I could use a lot of improvement and coaching in - your photos are such juicy inspo!

Teddahlia

As long time breeders, we are not acquiring flowers from others to breed except if we want to get some cultivars for their new genetic trait(s). I generally do not trust the flowers that are introduced. I quote a famous plant breeder who said that most of the dahlia introductions are "mongrels" . When you use mongrels to breed they do not produce good seedlings. What should a new breeder use for seed parents?

Bessie

Teddahlia

Teddahlia What should a new breeder use for seed parents?

The answer to that question is why I was a Teddahlia groupie on Cubits.org, and now look for any glimmer of knowledge I can find of a good seed parent(s).
I hope I find those great seed parents, and then, I have the generosity to share the knowledge.

Krista

Bessie You must attend the 2023 ADS National Show then so that you can join us for the tour of Hollyhill Garden on Monday, August 28th then!

Teddahlia

Those lists of good seed parents are generally pretty good. I wrote a whole bunch about Odyssey on Facebook and there was some discussion about Ryecroft Jan too. There is no such thing as a good seed parent unless you have breeding goals. You must define what you want to breed as they do not just pop out of the replicator on the Starship Enterprise. You have to put together compatible parents to get nice seedlings. Like to like to get like is the basic rule. Later on you may be able to deviate from that a bit to improve your flowers.

NCDahlia

I think my favorite kinds are C SC IC not sure why but I just like them. I think 40% of what I grow is some form of cactus. Usually win at shows with them too

edewitt

I couldn't build up the nerve to toss my rotting Hillcrest Kismet tuber after I'd taken a cutting from it a few weeks ago. I tossed it in a pot and didn't think much more of it. I was shuffling pots around today to see two sprouts coming out, one was nearly as thick as my pinkie. The tuber still isn't doing well but I'm hoping the sprouts will grow a couple more inches so I can either take some more cuttings or maybe they'll root on their own. I stuck it under my grow light for now. The original cutting seems to be doing fine as well. Hooray!

MissyWeitzel

edewitt Here's the terrible advice you never asked for from a crazy lady. Root those babies now! I pretty much only take teeny tiny cuttings these days. I'm talking smaller than a pencil eraser barely a hint of the first set of leaves tiny. I did it a bunch last year and still got nice plants and tubers so I'm just rolling with it now. I'm sure someone with far more experience than I will have reasons why this is a bad idea, but here are my non-scientific thoughts that I can't prove but just feel they are correct:

I think taking teeny cuttings uses less of a tuber's energy and if it is a variety you have few tubers of and want to replicate more of quickly, this means the tuber is likely to give you more cuttings. Also if you want more cuttings ASAP, taking them quickly means the tubers gets back to work sending up more sprouts more quickly. (This isn't always the case because some tubers just send up a bunch of sprouts all at once no matter what but for those slooooowwww ones that send up one that barely grows day to day, get that initial one off when it's tiny so it develops more, more quickly!)
I think tiny cuttings are less needy in terms of water and humidity so they're less likely to wilt or become unhappy before rooting.
Again, this is so not best practices, but when I see your picture I see sprouts I would have cut off a week ago. 😆

edewitt

It was pretty good timing too because I almost ordered Kenora Lisa this morning to replace it.

calico20hill

Wow! THat is really exciting. This was such a beautiful variety the year I grew it though it came on very late for me. I hope with your surplus of sunshine it will grow strong and give you lots of lovely flowers.

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