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Taking cuttings from dahlias

WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
Not done this before but would like a couple of extra plants from tubers I only have one of (including one from a unique seedling from last year). 

Sarah Raven has a video where she takes off a little chunk from the dahlia tuber with the cutting, while another video shows just cutting into the green. Which  is better?

Thanks
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Posts

  • TenNTenN Posts: 184
    This worked for me https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-take-basal-cuttings-from-dahlias/

    I did find that new plants took a while to get up to full glory. I normally leave Dahlias in the ground over winter but I dug the new tubers up and stored.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I've done both in the past,  but the ones with a little bit of tuber certainly strike very easily. I did one a while ago with a new dahlia I got which was already sprouting well. It was potted on fairly quickly as it rooted well, and when I looked at it the other day, the roots are through the bottom again and it needs moved on again.
    I don't want to take any cuttings from it, because it's clearly rather vigorous, and I won't have room for them before they can  go outside permanently!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    Thank you! I have just done a few and tried both ways... hopefully will have some success.

    What is your rigorous new dahlia, @Fairygirl? Sounds like a winner!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Neon Splendour. It's going to go in one of my large pots at the foot of the steps by the back door, instead of the sweet peas or Ipomoea I usually have there.
    Apparently it gets to a fair old height...
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Just looked that one up, it is a beauty, @Fairygirl
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I've bought a few new ones @punkdoc, as last year's [Arabian Night] all got decimated with the wet/freeze in the shed, which had decided to spring a leak at the front/door after me spending ages re roofing it...
    They were cheapies from B&Q so it wasn't the end of the world. 
    The new ones are a mix of purples and oranges. The dark Obsidian one is also in the mix, so I'm hoping they all take well enough. That one is bl**dy massive already.

    I'll keep them in the house this year . The girls will just have to move out  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    I usually keep my tubers overwinter.  I tried cuttings one year, just for the experience.  I did exactly as Monty Don did on Friday with a Delphinium.  I cut at solid brown "wood", between the tuber and the hollow green part.  Simples.

    I don't have room for many dahlias.  I grow them in large plastic pots and place them in the borders to colour up a quiet patch.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    It really is a stunner, @Fairygirl
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Many people dislike orange, but I love it. It's also a question of putting it with the right planting, and appropriate colours. Purple is always a good foil for it, but whites and greens are great too, as they are with any colour.  :)
    I've just been re planting some crocosmia [E. McKenzie] which I'd lifted from a bed I've dismantled. In with lots of whites/greens. Very useful for later in the year  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I have a red, yellow, orange and lime green border, with Dahlias, Cannas, Crocosmia, Ricin, oriental Poppies, Marigolds and lots of tropical foliage.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
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