Dahlias Are A Bright Parade. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. A Photo

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Dahlias Are A Bright Parade. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. A Photo
Dahlias Are A Bright Parade. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. A Photo

Video: Dahlias Are A Bright Parade. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. A Photo

Video: Dahlias Are A Bright Parade. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. A Photo
Video: Growing dahlias - everything you need to know about how to choose and grow dahlias 2024, March
Anonim

How pleasant it is to admire the bright colors of dahlias in the garden! The variety of shapes and colors of these warm and very domestic plants surprises and delights. The first name was given to the dahlia by the Aztecs, they called it "acoctil". Deified by the ancient Aztecs and Mayans, the flowers were grown to decorate the temples of the Sun and rituals of sun worship. Their hollow stems are said to have been used as water pipes in those days. Today, dahlias can be found in almost every garden. Indeed, in addition to being highly decorative, they have one more great advantage - unpretentious care. Details are in the article.

Dahlias in the garden
Dahlias in the garden

Content:

  • Botanical description of dahlia
  • Choosing a place in the garden and planting dahlias
  • How to care for dahlias?
  • Dahlia breeding
  • Dahlia diseases and pests

Botanical description of dahlia

Perennial plants with fleshy, tuberous-thickened roots, stems are straight, branched, smooth or rough, hollow, up to 250 cm tall. Leaves are pinnate, sometimes twice or three times pinnate, less often whole, 10-40 cm long, different pubescence, green or purple, located opposite.

Dahlia inflorescences - baskets, cup-shaped wrapper, consists of 2-3 rows of green leaves, fused at the base. The marginal flowers are ligulate, large, of various colors and shapes; the middle ones are tubular, golden yellow or brown-red, the fruit is achene.

Choosing a place in the garden and planting dahlias

For growing dahlias, it is necessary to choose sunny places protected from cold and strong winds with good air circulation. They should not be planted in low and swampy areas. The planting distance depends on the height and shape of the bush of a particular variety. The site chosen for the dahlia should be lit for at least six hours during the day.

In the middle zone, dahlias are planted in open ground at the end of the first decade of June, when the danger of late June frosts has passed. Dig a hole on the bayonet of a shovel, drive in a stake 130-150 cm long to tie the future "bush", put in the hole, if required by soil, rotted manure, 20-30 g of superphosphate, mix everything well, water abundantly and plant a tuber with a lump of earth pre-grown at home on a windowsill or in a greenhouse.

With proper planting, the dahlia root collar should be 2-3 cm below soil level. The plant is tied to a stake after planting. Then the garter is carried out as the vegetative mass of the bush grows. Further care consists in regular watering, weeding, loosening, feeding.

How to care for dahlias?

Caring for dahlias includes pinching, occasional pegging, regular watering and timely feeding. Previously, no more than two buds should be left on each tuber, in the future, the remaining shoots are broken out so as not to weaken the growth of the main ones. Dahlia garter pegs are driven in before planting. The height should be 40 cm lower than the estimated height of the plant itself. The stems begin to tie up when they reach 30 cm and continue to do this as they grow to protect them from breaking out.

Hilling plants has the same goal. For an earlier flowering, it is necessary to regularly remove the appearing stepsons - lateral shoots growing in the leaf axils, and this should be done as early as possible in order to less injure the plant. Starting with the fourth pair of leaves, side shoots are left to form a bush. Low varieties of dahlia do not stepchild.

To obtain a larger number of inflorescences suitable for cutting, the main shoot is pinched above the fourth pair of leaves, the formed upper lateral shoots - above the second. The central bud is removed, which leads to lengthening and strengthening of the peduncle, and an increase in the size of the inflorescences. This is especially important when growing display dahlias. If the inflorescences have not been cut, then they are removed as soon as they begin to fade. Otherwise, the appearance of the plantings deteriorates and the development of new buds is delayed.

Dahlia border Melody Mambo
Dahlia border Melody Mambo

Dahlia fertilizing is carried out after the plants take root after planting (not earlier than 5-7 days), with an interval of 10 days after watering the plant. Around the bush, a hole is made 10-12 cm deep, fed, and then immediately the hole is leveled. For feeding (3-4 times), use mullein infusion (1:10), adding superphosphate and nitrogen fertilizers (20 g per 10 l of water) to it. It is also good to carry out 3-4 feeding with superphosphate (50 g per 10 l of water) with the addition of 3-4 handfuls of wood ash.

With this care, abundant flowering of dahlias is achieved and the size of the inflorescences is much larger. Top dressing is carried out in June and the first half of July, and in August only one top dressing with potassium sulfate is made for better ripening of tubers (30 g per bush). You should not get too carried away with nitrogenous fertilizers, as this reduces the intensity of flowering, the bush only gains a large vegetative mass, blooms poorly and forms tubers that are poorly stored. Since September, they stop watering and feeding.

Dahlia breeding

Seed propagation of dahlia is used mainly for a group of non-double varieties and in breeding work. To prepare seedlings, sowing seeds is carried out in March-April in boxes with a mixture of peat and sand (3: 1). To avoid diseases, seeds are etched for 5-10 minutes in formalin solution (10 ml of 40% drug per 1 liter of water), dried on filter paper. Dahlia seedlings dive, usually in peat cubes or small pottery pots. They are planted in open ground after returnable spring frosts.

For grafting dahlias in late February-early March, root tubers are laid (after treatment with 0.1 potassium permanganate solution for 15 minutes), on racks or in boxes, covered with 1/3 of the height with nutritious light earth, moderately watered. The room temperature is maintained at about 20-25 ° C. When the buds begin to grow, watering is increased, and the temperature is reduced to 15-18 ° C. Cuttings are taken after 3-4 weeks, from late March to mid-May.

First, 200 g of coal powder is prepared and sieved through a fine sieve (0.5 mm). Then it is mixed with a solution of heteroauxin (1 g of potassium salt per 200 ml of snow water). 100 g of potassium or sodium humate, a solution of ammonium molybdate (5 g per 100 ml of water) and 50 g of talc are added to the mixture. Mix everything thoroughly. The resulting mixture is dried without heating in the dark and pounded into powder. This amount of the stimulant is enough to process 15 thousand cuttings. Powder is poured into the jar with a layer of up to 5 mm, so that the stalk is in contact with it only with a cut.

Since dahlia cuttings develop not only on the root collar, but also on the root tuber, a sharp cutting tool with a straight and curved blade is prepared (it can be made from halves of curved scissors and tweezers). A blunt instrument will crush the tissue of the plant, causing it to rot. The stalk is cut with a heel. The larger it is, the more successfully the plant takes root. However, on the other hand, an increase in the heel leads to a decrease in the number of harvested cuttings, since dormant buds are cut from the root tuber, from which new shoots will later develop. With careful work, up to 50 cuttings can be obtained from one root tuber. The instrument must be disinfected in alcohol after each operation.

It must be borne in mind that the use of hormones and the correct technology for removing cuttings will not bring the expected result if this variety has a low ability to form roots.

For rooting, cuttings are taken, the stem of which is at least 3 mm in diameter, and the length is 8-10 cm. From the thinner, plants are obtained that bloom very late or do not have time to bloom at all. In the greenhouse, it is advisable to remove cuttings early in the morning or in the evening. Dahlia shoots cut off during the day in sunny weather often die during rooting. This can be explained by the fact that at such a time the greenhouse heats up strongly, the air humidity decreases, the evaporation of water by leaves increases, and the shoots are in a depressed state. (The same can be attributed to cutting flowers.) 15-20 minutes before cuttings root tubers must be sprayed with water, preferably snow or rain water, in order to increase turgor in plant cells.

Dahlia cuttings planted in boxes are poured abundantly with warm water from a shallow watering can. A tag is placed in the box with the date of cuttings. For two days, the cuttings should be in a shaded place, then 5 days under diffused light. And only after that they can be exposed to sunlight, but not more than 8 hours a day. During the rooting period, the substrate should be heated.

Water the cuttings with a sprayer early in the morning and in the evening. If the temperature in the greenhouse rises above 30 °, the plants need to be sprayed more often. Cuttings that have withered for any reason must be removed immediately.

Dahlia rooting occurs, on average, after 10-15 days. Cuttings from boxes are planted in pots, from greenhouses - into open ground. Before planting, the plants must be hardened. Rooted cuttings in early June are planted in groups or rows at a distance of 60-80 cm.

Dahlia root tuber in autumn
Dahlia root tuber in autumn

Dahlia root tubers are divided shortly before planting, cutting with a sharp knife into two or three parts so that each division consists of a root tuber and a piece of a root collar with two or three eyes. All cuts are sprinkled with crushed charcoal with sulfur (1: 1). Planting in place is carried out in late May - early June, deepening the root collar by 3-5 cm (rooted cuttings to the first pair of leaves).

Dahlia diseases and pests

Preventive treatment of dahlia tubers from diseases and pests

After all the operations carried out, it is time to treat the tubers with fungicides (any systemic fungicide or sulfur is suitable). You can powder the tips of the dahlia tubers with the preparation, or you can dilute it in water and completely immerse all the roots in the solution. No one expressed concern that during the operation of sequential complete immersion of dahlia tubers in the same container, the spread of viruses could occur.

When choosing a liquid form of fungicides, keep the tubers in the solution for about 15 minutes. After this procedure, it is necessary to dry them by placing them on a wooden base, cardboard or several layers of newspapers (carry out this procedure sequentially, according to the varietal groups of tubers, so that there is less chance of confusing varieties).

Do not dry dahlia tubers on concrete surfaces. they help to draw out moisture and premature shrinkage of tubers. Always have a label with the variety name for this group of tubers at hand. If several containers with a solution are prepared, place tubers of the same variety in each and stand for 15 minutes. Some gardeners also add a systemic insecticide to the prepared fungicide solution.

Remember that all procedures with wet tubers at this stage of working with chemicals must be carried out with rubber gloves!

Various authors recommend 15 to 30 minutes for the treatment of dahlia tubers. And many experts do not see the feasibility of using fungicides at all. Perhaps the climate plays a decisive role here: in a more humid climate of growing dahlias, the likelihood of fungal diseases in them increases than in a dry one.

Sucking and gnawing dahlia pests

The first group includes spider mites, aphids, greenhouse thrips, and drooling pennies. In dry years, they are especially harmful. In addition, some insects serve as carriers of the viral mosaic of dahlia, therefore, the timely implementation of all preventive and extermination measures is a necessary condition for a successful culture.

The spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) settles on the underside of the leaf, where it forms a cobweb. Adult mites are light yellow or greenish, 0.3-0.5 mm long. In damaged dahlias, leaf fall or the appearance of whitish-brown spots on them was noted. The decorativeness of the plant decreases, and in case of severe infection, it dies.

Aphids (Aphis fabae, Myzodes persicae) - insects 1.4-2.5 mm long, black (bean aphid) or pale green (greenhouse aphid) color. They form large colonies, cause leaf deformation, stunted growth and flowering, loss of decorative effect. The leaves are covered with sugary secretions, on which a sooty fungus develops.

Greenhouse thrips (Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis) is dark brown, 1-1.5 mm long, narrow body, yellowish forewings and legs. The larvae are white, differing from adult insects in smaller size and lack of wings. Thrips settles on both sides of leaf blades, feeds on cell sap. The leaves acquire a silvery sheen, turn yellow and die off.

The slobbering penny (Philaenus spumarius) lives in the axils of leaves and shoots. Its yellowish larvae, which form foamy discharge, are harmful. From late May to June, they damage the leaves from the underside. The leaf blades wrinkle, covered with yellow spots; peduncles are not fully developed.

Measures to combat sucking insects: collection and destruction of plant residues and weeds, autumn digging of soil; spraying with one of the drugs - antio (0.1-0.2%), trichlorometaphos-3, fosalon (0.2%), karbofos (0.2-0.3%), green soap (2%) or tobacco infusions (2%), yarrow (8%), onion peel (1/2 bucket is poured with water for a day).

Dahlias
Dahlias

Against the tick, you can also use keltan, rogor (0.2%), infusion of garlic (2%), potato tops (10%), dust the plants with pyrethrum. The effectiveness of treatments increases with the addition of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (50 g of chloride or potassium sulfate and 100 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of water).

Of the gnawing insects for dahlias, the most harmful scoops are purple, pea, garden, as well as clickers and beetles.

Lilac scoop (Hydroecia micacea) damages the stem - its caterpillar 30-40 mm long eats away the core in it. The shoots wither and often break off. Butterflies lay their eggs on plant stems.

Garden scoops and pea scoops (Polia oleracea, P. pisi) eat leaves and flower petals. Pupae overwinter in the soil. Flight of butterflies is observed in June-July, females lay eggs in heaps on leaves.

Measures to combat scoops: when caterpillars appear, plants are sprayed with chlorophos, rotor, trichlorometaphos-3 (0.2%), karbofos (0.2-0.3%) or entobacterin-3 (0.1-0.5%). For better adhesion of poisons, paste is added to the solution at the rate of 10 g per 1 liter.

An ordinary earwig (Forficula auricularia) is pitch-brown, the body is elongated (up to 20 mm). Damages plants at night, gnaws holes on leaves, eats flower petals and growing shoots. Earwig affection occurs from July to September.

Control measures: deep digging of the soil in the fall, spraying the plants with infusions of garlic and onion scales. At night, to attract insects, bait from grass, boards are laid out. During the day they are looked through and the sheltered earwigs are destroyed.

Dahlia tubers and roots are often damaged by the larvae of click beetles (wireworms) and beetles. Young plants die at the same time, and adults lag behind in growth; the tubers rot.

The dark nutcracker (Agriotes obscurus), the striped nutcracker (A. lineatus), the sowing nutcracker (A. sputator), the wide nutcracker (Selatosomus latus) and the black nutcracker (Athous niger) are the most common. The body of the larvae is narrow, long, yellow or brown; the pectoral legs are short, of equal length. The beetles are black or brownish-brown, they hibernate in the ground, and in May they come to the surface and immediately lay their eggs - in the upper soil layer, in small groups. The larvae develop for 3-4 years. They prefer moist soil, with the onset of dry weather they move to deeper layers.

Eastern May beetle (Melolontha hippocastani) and June beetle (Amphimallon solstitialis) are dangerous dahlia pests. The larvae are 40-45 mm long, fleshy, pale yellow, with a brown head and a well-developed gnawing mouth apparatus. They develop within 3-5 years - depending on the type of beetle, terrain and climatic conditions of the year.

Measures to combat wireworms and beetles: watering the soil with 0.2% chlorophos in May-June, deep autumn digging with 12% HCH dust (8 g / m2). Pre-sowing application of small doses of HCH (1.5 kg / ha) mixed with granular superphosphate, frequent loosening, manual sampling and destruction of larvae are effective.

My grandmother has been dealing with these flowers for a long time. When you come to her, so many different species, flowers, forms of these plants can be seen in her garden that the eyes run up. And from the stories of my grandmother, I realized that these flowers are quite unpretentious, and when they bloom, you will not get enough of this bright floral outfit!

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