Dahlias - planting and care in the open ground

Dahlias - planting and care in the open ground

Dahlias are perennials from the family of Compositae. They reproduce with tubers and do not hibernate in the open ground, so the tubers fall in the fall and store until the spring in the basement.

Mass flowering of dahlias is in August-September, when the day becomes short, and the nights are cool. Such conditions remind plants of their homeland - Mexico.

Preparing dahlias for planting

In the spring the tubers are taken out of the cellar. In the middle lane, this occurs at the end of April. Quality of tubers is carefully checked. Rotten, withered, with long sprouts are unsuitable for planting - they will grow painful and weak plants.

Selected for planting tubers need to soak for 5 minutes in a solution of copper or iron sulfate to protect against diseases. Pesticide is diluted according to the recommendations on the package:

• ferrous sulphate - 30 gr. substance per 10 liters. water;
• Copper sulphate 10 gr. substance per 10 liters. water.

Fungicide will protect dahlias from decay and fungal diseases if spring is long and cold.

Processed tubers are in a box with peat or sawdust and cover with a thin layer of loose material, so they do not become damp. The boxes are put in a room with a temperature of about + 20 ° C.

If dahlias are grown through seedlings, each tuber immediately after soaking is planted in a suitable container with nutrient ground, and the top is covered with 3-5 cm of river sand. Pots are left in a light warm room, where soon sprouts will appear from them. In the room, dahlias can be germinated for no more than one month.

Most gardeners do not trouble themselves with growing tubers in an apartment, but planting them in a permanent place, as soon as the minutes threaten to freeze. With such agrotechnics, shoots will appear 2 weeks after planting.

Planting dahlias

To plant dahlias suitable solar place, protected from the wind. Dahlias do not like open spaces. Even varieties with strong stems can break under sharp gusts of wind.

The soil must be non-acidic, moist, but not waterlogged. Preferably, loam and sandy loam rich in humus are deeply digested and well-fertilized. The beds are prepared from autumn - the soil is dug and fresh manure is introduced.

The tubers are planted in planting pits 20-30 cm deep with the rooting of the root collar at 5 cm. The distance between the bushes depends on the height of the variety. After the tuber is disembarked, they immediately drive in the supports.

Cuttings are planted with a clod of earth and immersed in the soil until the first pair of leaves. Around a stem make a small hole and immediately abundantly watered.

Care and cultivation of dahlias

Dahlias require careful and constant care - only so the plants will be pleased with large bright inflorescences, and flowering will be long. Once the tubers are in the soil, it must be maintained in a loose state, constantly removing the weeds and watering.

The soil will have to be loosened after every rain and watering. Weeds are harmful to the dahlia in that they compete with flowers for nutrients - as a result, cultivated plants develop poorly.

To less water, weed and loosen, the soil under the bushes can be covered with a thick layer of peat or last year's leaves. Mulching with compost or humus will protect dahlias in the open from drying out and become an additional food.

Watering

Watering is especially important during flowering. Under each bush poured at least 5 liters of clean warm water. The more the bush grows, the more water it needs. During budding and flowering, 10 liters can be poured under each plant. water. In the evening it is useful to spray the bushes with warm water - under such a refreshing shower plants bliss.

Protection against wind

Plants planted in the open place must be protected from strong wind, tied to high pegs. Broken stems can be cured:

1. Wash the broken stem with clean water.
2. Moisten in a solution of propolis - 6 gr. of the substance per liter of water.
3. Moisten in the same liquid sphagnum moss and wrap the stem.
4. Place wrapping around the birch bark and twine it.
5. Broken stem from both sides tie to pegs.

A month later on the site of the breakdown there will be an influx and the plant will continue to develop.

Formation

Dahlia cutlery is not the kind of flower that can be left to grow, as he pleases. To get large inflorescences, the bush will have to be formed:

• In order for flowers to be large, regularly remove small side shoots on the main trunk;
• Remove the bottom four pairs of leaves when the upper leaves develop;
• Escape the main stem from the fourth pair of leaves;
• If you need especially large buds, pinch off two competing ones and leave only the central bud.

The formation accelerates the flowering, the flowers turn out to be larger ones - in fact the bush ceases to spend nutritious elements on the pasture of the stepchildren, departing from the lower leaves.

Sliced ​​dahlias grown from cuttings, form differently:

1. Pull out all the shoots to a height of 70 cm.
2. Above leave two lateral shoots - should get a bush on a high stem.

Dwarf varieties intended for curb cultivation are not adopted.

Organic nutrition

In autumn, when cultivating the soil, manure is applied - up to 5 kg per square meter. Manure is the most valuable fertilizer for dahlias. It is easily decomposed into nutrients - available for plants. In manure, many useful microorganisms-which provide plants with nitrogen and protect from mold and rot. A single autumn application of manure provides the flower garden with food for 3-4 years.

Manure can be mixed with phosphate flour - this improves the quality of both fertilizers. Phosphorite flour. You can make and separately, in the autumn, at the rate of 200 g per square meter.

Humus and compost are strongly overgrown organic, analogous to fresh manure. Both fertilizers are very valuable. Humus or compost is applied in autumn or spring before planting at the rate of 6 kg per square meter.

Doses of mineral fertilizers

Dahlias carry a lot of nutrients out of the soil, as they quickly develop and form many leaves and flowers. Therefore, in addition to preplanting soil filling with organic, it is required for a season to feed plants several times with mineral fertilizers.

The first fertilizing should be done at the beginning of budding. The square meter is made:

• a tablespoon of ammonium nitrate;
• two tablespoons of superphosphate;
• a tablespoon of potassium chloride.

The second top dressing is needed at the beginning of flowering:

• two tablespoons of superphosphate;
• two tablespoons of potassium chloride.

Diagnosis of nutrition

With a lack of nitrogen, the leaves turn pale and thin. If the leaves changed color from green to yellowish, feed the plants with cyanamide calcium. This fertilizer contains 46% of assimilable nitrogen. It is introduced 12-15 days before budding, 10-15 g for 5-10 bushes, until the leaves get a normal color.

Phosphorus is essential for the development of flower buds and full flowering. If the soil during planting is not refilled with phosphorus, it can be introduced during the mass growth of shoots from the tuber and then carry out phosphoric fertilizing every two weeks:

1. 50 gr. superphosphate is dissolved in 10 liters. water.
2. Pour 5-8 plants.

Potash fertilizers increase resistance to frost. The lack of potassium is reflected on the leaves - they turn yellow, and only green streaks remain around the veins.

The best fertilizer for dahlias is potassium chloride. It contains up to 60% of the active substance. To properly make a potassium fertilizer, you need to dissolve it in water:

1. For 10 liters of water, add two tablespoons of potassium chloride.
2. Distribute to 5-8 bushes.