Dahlias for Beginners 2015

Down at the bottom of the forum, there is a section called How Too. In there is posts on How to upload pics using Tinypic and Photobucket. I use Tinypic and this one Postimage.org

Aw Raymond.....that's a rotten shame!!. I never use mcp to strike cuttings....seed and cuttings compost is the way to go, as you are going to do...you should have better luck....fingers crossed xx
Hope you have some luck with Halls

Just a total annoyance. Thanks your the good wishes Cat Lou78W dianthus . Just not my lucky year.

Chin up keep going let's see what happens. Off to gc to buy some bits. Well I have 4 winholm Diane rooted and one Ac Abby and tels plants that should give me best in show beating Dave Spencer and his 1000 ! hahahaha

So sorry to hear of your struggles, Raymond. I remember losing a whole batch last year of newly released traded unrooted cuttings, and it still makes me sick to think of all the black ends traveling up and infecting the whole sprout. I used peat-based potting mix, and I'm sure something was contaminated.

I've always had good luck rooting cuttings in straight vermiculite in a sterile pot, covered with plastic for the first ten days. No watering, heating, rooting compound or misting needed, and it keeps any pathogens from wandering over... As long as I keep my hands off and let them do their own thing.

Oh, goodness, no! Sorry, I make sure the vermiculite is quite moist after the cutting is in the pot. But I don't bother draining out the excess, as sometimes I use small yogurt containers without holes due to laziness. The cuttings do just fine with a bit of water at its base, I've found.


The golden rule is to keep pathogens from getting access to the cutting before it can put down roots. Nice thing about vermiculite is that it is basically clay popcorn that holds water, and is sterile straight out of the bag. Bacteria doesn't grow on clay, so using vermiculite as a rooting medium helps reduce one of the many things that can go wrong.

I've used wet floral foam and Oasis foam with the bottom half inch stuck in water with good success, but then I have to try to take off the foam before transplanting, or the foam can rot the stalk. I don't bother with that method anymore, although it is cool to watch the roots grow over and through the foam.

I've read about a grower swearing by just sticking a cutting directly into water, but my one attempt at that with a spare cutting resulted in slime. I think the cup wasn't sterile, so I'm sure it was my fault. Still, I feel better using a medium that the developing roots can choose to go into more or less water, so I don't have to babysit with watering until it's rooted. Every time you fuss with cuttings, it's one more chance to invite pathogens to take over.

Vermiculite is treated mica, rather than clay, cici. It is a mineral found in Igneous and Metamorphic rocks. It's the see through element in a paraffin lamp, as glass would shatter.  

Thank you for the correction. The process and history of vermiculite was truly fascinating when I had researched it in depth a year ago, but I had not known about that particular use for it. 

I was just trying to make the point that it is an absorbent and sterile medium that comes from the earth, not biodegradable plants, so it resists bacterial growth.