The magnificent dahlias with their numerous shapes and colors adorn many gardens. However, in order for the wonderful flower to work, you have to treat the tubers carefully.
Watering dahlia tubers can be devastating
Watering dahlia tubers - pros and cons
In general, before planting in spring, it is recommended to soak dahlia tubers in a bucket of water for about half a day until fully saturated. This should wake the plants more quickly from their hibernation - which they spent dry and cool in a box and now look quite shriveled - and encourage them to sprout. However, watering can cause significant problems, especially if the spring is unusually cool and rainy. In this case, they will be oversupplied with moisture and quickly begin to rot - after all, dahlias are not only very sensitive to cold, but also prefer it rather dry. For this reason, it is better to avoid watering and instead proceed as follows:
- Plant out the tubers in good weather from March.
- Don't water them, plant them dry.
- Don't put them too deep in the ground.
- Mark the spot with a plant stick.
- This can later be used to connect.
- Water the planting site, which is now covered with soil, a little.
- Repeat watering over the next few days as needed.
- Protect the tubers from frost, for example by covering them with compost.
Better than watering: prefer dahlias
However, it is even better to grow dahlias in a pot on the windowsill from around March onwards and plant them in the garden after the ice saints as already strengthened plants. In this case, neither too much rain nor surprising cold snaps in spring do any harm, so you can look forward to the coming dahlia bloom. That's how it works:
- Soak the tubers in warm water for about an hour or two.
- Fill a deep planter with loose potting soil.
- Conventional potting soil is sufficient, but it should not be fertilized.
- Plant the watered tubers in there.
- Just cover them lightly with soil.
- Place the pot in a warm and bright place.
- However, avoid direct sun.
- Keep the substrate slightly moist.
tips
The easiest way to regulate the amount of water is to moisten the potting soil with a spray bottle.