Caring for dahlias in autumn

In autumn the whole flower garden is filled with beautiful flowers, of all the dahlias are particularly distinguished. To prolong their flowering and keep the tubers until next year during this period they need some care. What to do with dahlias in the fall, you will learn from our article.

How to properly care for the dahlias in the fall?

The handsome dahlia does not require special care during the whole period of growth and flowering. But autumn is for him a special season of the year, since it is during these months that the tubers and seeds are formed, which are necessary for its reproduction and planting for the next year. The entire care for the dahlias in the fall is the following:

1. Hilling. Even at the very beginning of September or even at the end of August, it is necessary to form a hillock 8-12 cm high around each plant. This is necessary to protect tubers from night low temperatures, and also from the first autumn frosts.
2. Watering and top dressing. With the onset of autumn, the flower does not need water or fertilizers. During this period, he needs peace, so that his tubers can mature well.
3. Termination of dried flowers. To extend the flowering and make your front garden more well-groomed, as the head withers, it is necessary to clean. In multicolor varieties, it is recommended to remove the side buds, so that the central well developed. The dried flowers of one-year varieties are not cut off, but are preserved until the seeds ripen and collect for planting next spring.
4. Pruning. After flowering, an important step in caring for dahlias is the cutting of the entire stem, but this should not be done under the root, but leaving a stump about 15 cm high. Most often, it is necessary to do this after the onset of the first even mild frosts. Since from them the ground part of the dahlia turns black.
5. Digging out tubers. In order for the tubers to mature well, after trimming it is necessary to wait 15-20 days. Dig it out with forks to prevent damage. For this, the bush is digged from all sides and raised with a clod of earth.
6. Dug up the site. The site intended for planting dahlias must be digged for the first time in autumn, and the second time in spring, just before planting.

To annually admire these handsome men on their site, it is very important to follow recommendations not only for planting and caring for dahlias, but for keeping flowers as tubers during the winter.

How to store dahlias?

Dug up the tubers you need:

• very carefully cleaned of soil;
• Rinse;
• lower in a solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide of medium concentration for 30 minutes;
• place on the grid for drying. In order to completely water the glass from the tubers and from the hollow stem, they should be placed upwards with a rhizome.

So it is obligatory to do, if on roots of a plant there are traces of illnesses. This will help to destroy the pathogenic cells that are in the ground and on the remains of the stem. If your dahlia is completely healthy, then it will be enough to remove the soil from above the bush and dry it well.

1. Prepare the tubers in one layer in boxes of mesh, and pour them with moss, peat or coniferous sawdust.
2. We put them in a dark, well ventilated room, in which the air temperature does not drop below + 5 ° C.

If you do not have enough storage space, you can lay the tubers in a few layers, each of them falling asleep with a layer of sawdust or perlite. You need to place the container on the balcony, bringing it into the house only for a period of severe frost.

But to ensure that your tubers are not lost, they should be checked during the entire storage period. The first time a month after the bookmark, and the second - after the New Year. If any rotten tubers are found, they should be removed from the vault.

Stuffed in such conditions tubers until April, and then get, look around and get ready for planting in the ground.