|
|
Post by ian on Apr 12, 2017 17:39:17 GMT
Hi JJ yes top the plant this will encourage shoots to start forming in the lead axles these can then be taken as cuttings when big enough. The original plant after taking all the shoot can then be pot tubered for stock. Challenger is quite an early variety so plenty of time yet JJ
Ian
|
|
|
|
Post by Cat on Apr 12, 2017 19:55:51 GMT
So after being quite poorly for over a week and a half today I have managed to dig/turn the main plot by hand. My eldest Aaron emptied the large compost bin onto the plot for me to dig in too. We took a further 50 or so cuttings this morning. They are on the heatbed. (seems strange to say this  ) So far the previous 30 or so cuttings havent rooted but they dont look limp so we live in hope. The boss received his pocket money Halls order yesterday and David has done him proud with some lovely healthy young plants. There is still hope yet |
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 13, 2017 17:58:27 GMT
Thank you ian I'll do that.
Good to hear you're on the mend Cat and cuttings are finally coming for you.
Well I now have 36 potted on cuttings and about another dozen cuttings still in the propogator so my first attempt at taking cuttings has been pretty successful .
One more question from me, the cuttings are potted on into 9cm pots will I need to pot them on again to say 11/13 cm pots or should they be ok?
OK that was my final question for a while. I'll keep reading this forum and the NDS Facebook page to try and keep learning, thank you all for your help meantime as I know all the guys who are growing to show must be very busy, your help was much appreciated. Good luck to everyone whether showing or just growing for the garden like me.
I'll be back in a few weeks with the 'growing up' question !!!
Thanks again
johnjess
|
|
|
|
Post by johndoe on Apr 14, 2017 9:43:57 GMT
Morning Johnjess. I wouldn't bother with 11cm pots, because you won't be planting out till the end of May. So they'll just out grow that size by the end of this month, and you'll have to pot the up again!! Pot them into 2lt pots when they're ready, and that should be good enough till planting out. As you've said, this is a busy time of the year. This is the period for taking show plant cuttings, over the last couple of days I've potted up 360 cuttings into 9cm pots, and 76 into 2lt pots for my front garden display. All my mother plants are in 1lt pots, and will stay in them after I've finished taking cuttings from them, too form pot tuber stock.
Glad to hear your first cutting experience has been a successful one. For me, it's one of the best times of the dahlia season. Good luck with the rest of the year, and enjoy our beautiful flower.
And keep on asking them questions!! |
|
|
|
Post by Cat on Apr 14, 2017 14:34:57 GMT
Today we changed to clonex rooting gel and took another 40+ cuttings. The first 3 cuttings we took have finally got roots of which 1 a hillcrest Jersie we potted on today too. We have a few tubers that we have started away on the heat that we wont be showing such as Sorbet and Formby Art but as the Boss likes them we will be growing them in large florist buckets.Tomorrow we shall pot these tubers up and start hardening off to help release greenhouse space. Being in Cornwall we can have plants out during the day now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lou78W on Apr 15, 2017 14:06:55 GMT
You are so lucky!! Its another month until I can start hardening plants off and the end of May to be confident there will be no frosts....
|
|
|
|
Post by Cat on Apr 15, 2017 21:01:48 GMT
You are so lucky!! Its another month until I can start hardening plants off and the end of May to be confident there will be no frosts.... I have to constantly watch the weather forecast until the end of may just to make sure we put on fleece etc if needed. tonight is supposed to be really dropping so it's swings and roundabouts. |
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 20, 2017 17:31:40 GMT
Hi again everyone, I'm back with another question. I now have a lot more cuttings than I need so I will give most of them away to family and friends but I would like to have the best ones for my own garden so my question is do I keep the older plants which were taken as cuttings in February or will the last cuttings I took last week be the ones to go for or do I pick out the strongest looking plants and disregard the date on the label?
My first instinct would be to go for the older ones simply because they are bigger and looking quite healthy at the moment, but its probably not as straight forward as that so any advice would be welcome.
Thanks again
johnjess
|
|
|
|
Post by johndoe on Apr 20, 2017 19:29:08 GMT
Hi Johnjess. If you are only growing for your garden, the date, doesn't matter too much. The earlier the cutting, the earlier to flower. The reason why exhibitors aim for cuttings being taken around now, is because the show season doesn't start till late August, so we don't want the plants trying to bloom too early. All my garden display plants are already in 2 litre pots, hardening off during the day ready for planting out. So go through your plants, and pick the healthiest looking ones, and give the others away!! Oh...and don't forget to keep some back for pot tuber stock, just in case.
Good luck |
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 21, 2017 7:34:49 GMT
Thanks johndoe, I'll do that. Regarding your timing for shows is there a rule of thumb in timing from taking the cutting to when it will flower or do you work it all out when buds start to form?
davidv can I ask when you started your tubers off ? Just that I started mine off in early January which really was way too early for what I required as I have discovered with way too many plants cluttering my spare room!! Your timing seems much more what I should be looking at for next year.
|
|
|
|
Post by diggie on Apr 26, 2017 17:23:59 GMT
The May edition of the RHS publication The Garden carries an article on hormone rooting powder. The article states that a widely used ingredient in hormonal rooting compounds, NAA (1-naphphylacetic acid) will be withdrawn on 30/06/2017. Any stocks must be used up by then, or disposed of. There are no plans to seek its re-approval. This will affect 11 amateur and 4 professional products. IBA (4-indol.3ylbutyric acid) used in 3 amateur and 9 professional products is also being withdrawn. Its approval has been renewed and reformulated products offered.
It remains to be seen what products will be available in the future.
|
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 27, 2017 21:06:26 GMT
Some of my plants are now getting quite tall and I feel I need to cut them back a bit so I need to check if I'm understanding the growing up question!!
If the plant I am going to do this to has four pairs of leaves and a growing tip and I then remove the growing tip these four pairs of leaves will each produce a shoot which will grow to a flower this plant would be growing 8 up?? And if I removed the tip of each of the eight shoots two more should grow from each therefore 16 up???
Can someone confirm whether I have cracked it or is it back to do more readingđŸ˜€!!
One other question, is there a recommended growing up number for different flower types, small s, miniatures,mediums etc
Thanks again
johnjess
|
|
|
|
Post by johndoe on Apr 28, 2017 11:47:31 GMT
Well done, you've cracked the code  . Varieties that grow 6-8 up can be grown on a single stop, 4 or 5 pairs of leaves. Varieties 8 or more up are grown on a double stop. So to this point you are spot on. Then it starts to get a bit more tricky. If you have a variety that needs to grown 8up, you will need to stop at 5 sets of leaves, as you will always find there will be a couple of weaker stems. Removing these is called de-branching, basically selecting the strongest stems for show blooms. To your second question. When I first got started with show dahlias, some of the books I read said, Giants, 2-4 blooms, large, 4-6, medium 6-8, small 8-10, and miniature 10+. In reality in comes down to the variety, rather than the class. This is where the fun starts. Nowhere is there a chart to tell you which variety should be grown how many up! You can ask other exhibitors for advice on numbers, and all would gladly tell you THEIR answers. But there will never be a definite single answer. I think this is due to local conditions, i.e. soil, weather and geography. So my best advice to you, is to get a number, and work to it, then with trial and error, 1 up, or 1 down for your site. Take notes and keep records your know what works for you. Sorry it's not a straight answer, but that Mother Nature for you  |
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 28, 2017 19:10:24 GMT
Thanks johndoe, I'm pleased I've finally got a basic understanding of growing up. I didn't realise you had to grow extra stems to cover poor growth losses though
I'm growing mainly small s and a couple of mediums with Kenora Challenger my only large so I'll give those numbers a go and see how I get on .
Thanks again
Johnjess
|
|
|
|
Post by johnjess on Apr 29, 2017 18:01:13 GMT
Planting out time approaching fast now , what fertilizers would you recommend? I have fish blood and bone , is there something better? I see Q4 mentioned a lot on gardening sites.
I was watching a planting out video on YouTube , and they were sprinkling fertiliser in the hole before planting , would these be just additional fb&b or are they more specific nutrients?
Sorry these are more beginners questions again. I'm just trying to get my dahlia s to be the best I can this year
Thanks
Johnjess
|
|
) So far the previous 30 or so cuttings havent rooted but they dont look limp so we live in hope. The boss received his pocket money Halls order yesterday and David has done him proud with some lovely healthy young plants. There is still hope yet 
. Varieties that grow 6-8 up can be grown on a single stop, 4 or 5 pairs of leaves. Varieties 8 or more up are grown on a double stop. So to this point you are spot on.
