Any advice or favourite tips for splitting /starting off Dahlia tubers
welcome please

I have a greenhouse and was wondering if i would do well to start them off
in large pots now

Many of the Dalia tubers i have just bought have 8 or 10 sections to them
........can i safely split these off

"nambucca" wrote in message
...
Any advice or favourite tips for splitting /starting off Dahlia tubers
welcome please

I have a greenhouse and was wondering if i would do well to start them off
in large pots now

Many of the Dalia tubers i have just bought have 8 or 10 sections to them
.......can i safely split these off
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Take care. These are root tubers [cf stem tubers with potatoes] and
will not sprout unless having a stem bud. Divide them as you wish but do
check for the important bud at each tip. The buds should soon be obvious
and then separation can be manual or with a sharp knife. They are frost
tender so plant them deepish or keep in the greenhouse.
Best Wishes Brian.

"Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond writes:

"nambucca" wrote in message
...
Any advice or favourite tips for splitting /starting off Dahlia tubers
welcome please

I have a greenhouse and was wondering if i would do well to start them off
in large pots now

Many of the Dalia tubers i have just bought have 8 or 10 sections to them
.......can i safely split these off

Take care. These are root tubers [cf stem tubers with potatoes] and
will not sprout unless having a stem bud. Divide them as you wish but do
check for the important bud at each tip.

I always used to start mine off in trays of loose compost, then split
them once the top growth had started and pot the bits up
properly. Once the shoots get to a reasonable size you can use part of
them for cuttings.

Anthony

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:13:05 +0000 (UTC), "nambucca"
wrote:

Any advice or favourite tips for splitting /starting off Dahlia tubers
welcome please

I have a greenhouse and was wondering if i would do well to start them off
in large pots now

Many of the Dalia tubers i have just bought have 8 or 10 sections to them
.......can i safely split these off

I'm not absolutely sure about this but I think you need to get some
roots growing on your tubers and then cut off the pieces with roots.
Alternatively you can put them in slightly damp soil till the shoots
appear and then take cuttings of the shoots. As long as you can keep
your greenhouse frost free with plenty of air circulation they should
be fine to put into soil now.

I don't grow any particular posh named dahlias - it seems a lot of
messing about tying them up and pinching them out, and trying to keep
them from going mouldy over the winter was a pain - but I love the
bright colours of the short ones when they're all massed together and
always grew them from a packet of seed every spring. That's why I'm
not so sure about what to do with the tubers!

Joan in Ayrshire
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