Dahlias presents a long-blooming kind of flower that real holds a sense of beauty. Dahlias can be grown alongside other plants or on their own as borders. They can be grown in straight rows or as a background color for other landscape plants. Dahlias grow in about any soil or location. The plant is grown by following very simple procedures and rules as follows:
- . Prepare the site and Select the tubers to be planted.
- Plant the tubers in pots so that they develop a number of leaves and some roots. The dahlias do well in pots before being transplanted.
- Prepare the holes to plant the dahlias tubers each being between 5 and 6 inches deep. One may stake the plant at this point in order to avoid damaging it later. This is done by pounding a stake of about 4 to 5 feet tall into the soil beside the hole where the tuber will be planted. This supports the plant as it grows and ensures maximum flower production.
- The spacing between the dahlia tubers and other plants should be relatively big since they take up a lot of space once they bloom. The space will also allow one to freely pick the blooms
- Place the tubers in the hole, lying horizontally on its side while the eyes that will sprout facing upwards. Where the tubers have been planted in a pot for a while to allow the shoots to grow, precaution should be taken to ensure that the sprouted shoots are not damaged since they are very fragile.
- Cover the hole with dirt. No fertilizer should be added in the hole since they may damage the young shoots.
- Do not water the plants until the first shoots have spouted above the soil surface.
- When the dahlias are about 6 to 8 inches tall, and have at least 3 or 4 four pairs of leaves, supplement them with a nitrogen fertilizer that is soluble in water. The fertilizer should be dispensed in small amounts at the base of each dahlia plant. Repeat this procedure every three to four weeks.
- As the plants mature, more water should be given to them since they require more water. If they plants show signs of wilting, the amount of water should also be added.
- On maturity, the dahlia blooms will be in clusters of three. You may choose to disbud the plant to promote the size of the remaining terminal bud.
- The withered blooms should be removed regularly to minimize the chances of contracting diseases and simply to keep the blooms very tidy.
- The blooms can now be harvested by cutting. Once they are cut, the plant responds by producing more dahlia blooms.
Growing Dahlias is simple but the plant cannot withstand cold winter or frost. The flower blooms prolifically during late autumn and summer when other perennials and annuals are out of season.