Purple wellies tiny steps - clear as mud!

Towards the end of June I start to pinch out the growing tips of my plants as it is takes around eight weeks from stopping to flowering for most of the varieties that I grow. I usually stagger this procedure over a week or two so that I don’t get all my flowers at the same time. Depending on what the variety is will depend how much of the growing tip I remove. If it is a large or giant variety I will usually leave just two or three pairs of leaves from the base of the plant. This will limit the amount of time it will take later on de branching the plant. If it is a medium variety I will leave maybe four to five pairs of leaves as this will allow eight to ten stems to branch out. Generally, the smaller the flowers the more breaks you allow to grow on.

It does seem a shame at the time to remove so much growth but after just a week or two you will see the difference with all the side shoots springing into life.

Once the plants start to put on an abundance of new growth the time to begin de branching begins. The idea behind this is to focus all the plants energy into producing a limited number of blooms which will improve the size and all round quality of the bloom. To achieve a show winning giant variety most growers will only grow three or four blooms per plant, four to five on a large, six to eight on a medium and six to eight on small flowered varieties. This depends on the variety and how it grows for you.

Towards the end of July and the beginning of August you will begin to see the first buds forming at the end of each stem. This is when the hard work really begins with the onset of disbudding. This involves removing the two side buds either side of the central main bud and usually at least the next set of side shoots below. This will improve the main flower and strengthen the stem. Again, depending on the variety, you may have to remove the side shoots further down the stem.

Throughout the season you may wish to spray your dahlias against insect attack and fungal infection. 2012 was a very wet season and for the first time ever my plants suffered from a fungal infection called Dahlia Smut. Having never suffered from any such infection before, I had not even considered spraying with fungicide as a preventative measure, but will do so in future. The disease appears to only affect the lower leaves causing white spots on the leaves that eventually turn black. Spraying with a fungicide appears to stop it from spreading but repeated spraying is required to prevent it from returning. The disease doesn’t appear to affect the tubers or the following years cuttings so there is no need to destroy affected plants. The disease doesn’t appear to affect the flowers either but does effect the quality of the foliage.

By the middle of August you should start to see the first signs of colour from your plants and from now on you will be enjoying some wonderful colourful blooms up until the first frosts blacken the plants and the whole process starts again ready for next year.