How to care for dahlias?

After planting dahlias, it is important to water them regularly to keep the soil moist. After a few weeks, the first leaves appear. Snails love this, so make sure that no snails can get to it during the period when the dahlia leaf sprouts. 

Do you want a nice compact plant? Then it is best to pich out the top growing point when the plant has made 3 to 4 clumps of leaves. As a result, the plant does not stop growing, but more energy goes to the plant core, making it fuller and more compact. If the stem gets too long and can fall over, add some sticks and tie a piece of string around it. 

Do dahlias need extra nutrition?

A dahlia likes a rich soil with a lot of organic material. You can create this soil yourself by mixing some compost, leaf soil or potting soil with the garden soil. When you see the leaves of the dahlia turning light green or yellow, it is best to add some fertilizer to the plants. Make sure they are getting enough water first.

Then remove faded dahlias

A dahlia can give endless flowers during the season. That is why it is important to take good care of the dahlias by removing the old faded flowers so that new flower buds develop. When the old flowers have been removed, all of the plants energy can go into the next flower buds, that are in the leaf axils of the upper leaves. When the faded flowers remain, that energy goes to the seed development of the faded flower. This way you will have continuous beautiful flowers until the frost returns.

What should you do with the dahlias in frost?

As soon as it gets colder, the dahlia turns yellow and the foliage slowly dies. It is best to remove the dahlia from the ground when the foliage has completely died back. Sometimes this is not the case, but it does start freezing, then remove the tubers immediately, because they cannot withstand frost. Remove the tubers with a fork, be careful as the dahlia tubers may have grown. Put the fork in the ground and slowly lift the tubers out of the ground. The remains of the stems are still on the tuber, cut them off a few centimeters above the tuber.

Now that all the tubers have been removed from the ground, it is time to store them. Do not rinse the tubers, the soil residues ensure that the tubers dry out less quickly. Put the tubers in an airy box, wrapped in newspaper and store them in a dry and cool (but frost-free) place. This keeps the tubers at a pleasant temperature and prevents them from drying out. You can plant the tubers again around April, after the last frost. They may look dried out but there are growing points on the cut stem.

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Make it bloom!