The Case for Cuttings Over Tubers
Every year I (like every other dahlia lover) buy in several new varieties. More than I should because we all know it’s hard to stop. In recent years, I’ve begun taking cuttings from these new tubers as they arrive. I do this for a few reasons but mainly so that if I really like a new variety, then I’m already a bit ahead. I try to get 2-3 cuttings from each tuber that I buy.
Usually I plant the original tuber and the cuttings together. But this year I changed it up! I planted all the tubers together and all the rooted cuttings together. They are all in the one row pictured below with tubers at the beginning and cuttings past that.
Well, the tubers were at the beginning but as you can see from the picture, the majority of them didn’t make it. This phenomenon of losing new varieties grown from tubers is way too common in a hot nasty climate like mine. I talk to other growers who have the same issue. I’ve found that over the years, that I’ve lost way too many new varieties that way ( and lots of money too!) This is why I began the cutting process from new tubers awhile back.
I’m increasingly seeing that a rooted cutting establishes better in my harsh climate. With nothing but roots to go on, the plant is forced to go search for food and water. Tubers get lazy and then our climate happens to them- We get too much rain or not enough rain and our soil temps get way too hot. The window we can successfully plant tubers gets smaller every year. But rooted cuttings with proper care can be planted pretty much any time during the frost free period.
This year our fields were planted around 70% from rooted cuttings and I have had one of the best dahlia years I can remember. My loss percentage has decreased dramatically. The cuttings weathered the harsh summer months so much better! The cuttings establish so much easier- you don’t have to worry about too much rain- they handle high levels pretty well. You can irrigate more if you are dry without worrying about rotting out your tubers. This also cools the soil down when it’s dry/hot.
I also like the uniformity of growth from cuttings. Tubers sprout at different rates. But if you plant the same size cuttings out all at once, they grow very uniformly. And as a cut flower production farm- this can be hugely beneficial in helping to predict your crop. Cuttings can also help you succession plant your dahlias if you live in a long season climate. It’s nice to have some fresh plants when all the others are getting tired.
The more I observe the difference between the tubers and cuttings- the more benefits I see to cuttings in a harsh climate.
Hurricane Helene….Thoughts from the “Been there, done that” (Can we never do it again please?) Camp
I lived in North Florida many years ago and it was there I experienced my first hurricane. I remember being a bit freaked out until my boyfriend (now husband) explained how a category 2 was nothing to be worried about. And he was right. It blows my mind how the tropical storm strength of Helene was worse than that category 2.
Today, at almost a year past, I’d like to take a look back. It’s important to learn from events like this. It’s actually amazed me how many times I’ve thought to myself over this past year- “that’s a result of the hurricane.” You don’t realize how long lasting these effects are until you experience it first hand. I’ll of course be speaking from a farmer’s perspective. For reference, my farm was about 10-15 miles east of where the eye came through Upstate South Carolina. We were fortunate to have been on the Eastern side. And we by no means had anything close to the damage of North Carolina. Please know that I’m in no way trying to sensationalize what we encountered or diminish what Western NC went through last year. However I believe all experiences are valid and should be reflected upon.
So let’s get started: We prepared the same way we do for any big storm- tropical storms happen usually at least once during our Fall season. We made sure our plants were supported well- added extra string to tie things up, made sure netting was tight, etc. We cleaned up anything around the farm that could catch in the wind. We harvested everything possible before the storm hit (which was tough b/c we had torrential rains in the days before the hurricane). And then we hoped for the best.
At first I thought the flower farm had been mostly spared. It was flooded in a lot of areas but the drainage improvements we had made over the years were working (although slower than normal b/c of the water volume). We had trees down on our pig barn and our woods will never be the same- lots of sunlight now. And we’ll be cleaning it up for another year at least.
Then however I went to our offsite flower field:
This field got tossed. This field doesn’t have the trees as a wind barrier that our home farm does. We had multiple rows of white dahlias that were coming into bloom. We had harvested for one week off of this field. It was going to be one of our major sources of income for October. Losing the harvest from this field resulted in around a $6000 loss. Overall, the whole farm included, our season ended 3 weeks early last year due to the storm damage and lack of electricity to run a flower cooler.
Side Note: I’m going to state the financial loss - not b/c it’s all about that but because of climate change creating an increasingly unstable climate this is becoming a bigger issue for farmers. It’s important to be aware of it and knowing how it affects our agricultural industry. Yes, I know I grow flowers not food. But the income from these flowers provides jobs for multiple people.
The ground was totally water logged and I feared that I not only had a loss of cut stems but also tuber loss as well. Here’s the same rows in Spring of this year: (I estimate we lost 60% of the tubers in that field total)
The rows on the left and far right (off screen) were a total loss and the other two had a lot of holes- this picture was taken May 23. At that point I really felt like I had waited long enough to let the overwintered tubers resprout. These two rows were growing on second year roots when the storm hit which is why I think they survived. The first year roots just weren’t enough and rotted quickly. I tried leaving them in but in late March, we dug and found only a handful of decent tubers.
So at this point we began filling in the holes with tubers and some rooted cuttings. And these are the same rows (taken last week):
It’s back to how it looked right before the hurricane. The resiliency of plants amazes me!
Other losses incurred from the hurricane- around $2000 of loss product that was stored in our flower cooler. This could have been much higher if the storm had come earlier in the week. We had delivered most of our product for the week (for events that were mostly cancelled). We had a gorgeous compost pile.
Since then we have acquired a generator set up that can run our flower cooler. Storms that knock out the power for a day or two are not uncommon around here.
We also lost a lot of herbaceous perennials due to flooding which resulted in loss income this past spring. Our yarrow and phlox were the worst and a total loss because they sat in saturated soil, mostly underwater for 2 days. ($3000 income loss)
However the biggest loss came in the reduction of the amount of tubers we dug a month later. What we found was good but once it was all divided, we had around 50% of the volume we normally have. Tuber sales are a major income generator for our farm. They provide income that pays our employees through the winter. Income that pays for supplies, seeds, plants that you have to buy when you don’t have any flowers to sell. When we finally got to the end of Spring and tuber sales were finished for the year, we came out around $10,000 less than previous years. I was thankful we had already begun planning to sell rooted cuttings before the storm struck. It could have been worse. The cutting sales made up a decent portion of the tuber loss.
There’ve been other random plants that I’ve noticed throughout the year- some of our daffodils rotted from flooding (and those things are so tough- this was surprising to me!) So many times I’ve realized small things that are a result of the hurricane this past year. Overall, an income loss of $18000+.
I know this is small compared to some farms that were literally washed away. But like I said before, I think all experiences are valid and should be shared. I think the real question is- how did we continue on? How were we resilient?
Well on my farm that looked like a couple of things: we ramped up the rooted cutting offerings to more than we had originally planned for our first year. We held a spring and fall plant sale. We began a cut flower membership community. All these things helped fill in the income gaps.
But more importantly, I’ve learned what this little farm and crew are capable of. I think this has been one of the hardest years of farming I’ve ever been through (yeah, even worse than covid). But I’ve seen what pivoting your business, being willing to change and innovate- how those can open doors you didn’t see coming. I’ve worked with the best farm crew I’ve ever had this past year! Seriously wouldn’t still be farming without them. There have been so many times they’ve taken the reins in one area when I had needed to focus on another.
So looking back a year later? Do I wish it never happened? Well - yeah I think we all wish we didn’t have to learn lessons by going through adversity but I’m old enough to know that is how life works. So as we come up on this first anniversary of the storm I hope we never see the likes of again, I hope you reflect and I hope you find your life better than it was.
End of Season Dahlia Checklist
I always hate to write this post but it’s really important! It’s time to begin your end of season tasks. Yes- I know they really just got going good, but some of these tasks you need to do now!
Hapet Champagne
So to prep your dahlias successfully for over winter and next year:
1. Make sure they are labeled properly. Double check every plant and make sure it’s tag reads the correct variety. I use old vinyl blinds (the cheap kind), cut them up and write on them in pencil. It has never failed me! If you are digging your dahlias, zip tie it to the base of the plant.
If you have a mislabel that you can’t identify, try posting in Dahlia forums on Facebook, asking friends, check with the supplier- there are multiple ways to figure it out. And if I can’t find the actual name, I just write a description- that way I know it’s not what the original label said it was.
20th Ave Memory
2. Figure out when you need to stop fertilizing. Look up your average first frost date and then work back a month from there. After that point, don’t fertilize any more. You don’t want to encourage a lot of new growth towards the end of the season. Just let your dahlias focus on tuber growth during the last month. If you don’t wait until frost to dig your tubers, just stop fertilizing about a month out from when you will dig. You do still want to focus on treating powdery mildew or any pest issues.
The many faces of Wine Eyed Jill
3. Decide on your winter storage method. We’ll talk more in depth about this later but decide if you are going to dig or leave your tubers in the ground.
Coseytown Gale
4. Make your wish list for next year. Decide who you want to add and who’s getting the boot to make room for new additions.
2025 Variety Highlight- Who I’m Loving Right Now!
It’s really fun but also hard to write these because who I’m loving changes weekly. But here are a few stars/standouts so far this year!
20th Ave Gwen: Some of you doubted me when I said yellow was going to be big this year. I’ve sold every yellow dahlia I can cut this year.
From left to right: 20th Ave Gwen in her July Coloring, late August/September coloring, Early October coloring, comparison of 20th Ave Gwen and Coseytown Gale (left side and bottom blooms) Coloring is currently yellow with a little hint of pink in mid September, definitely heading towards the 3rd photo.
Sweet Nathalie- an oldie but a goodie. Because of our cooler weather this fall, she’s been running more blush than lavender and she’s won me over again. Plus she’s just so darn reliable!
Sylvia- I was discussing with a customer this morning how she’s the perfect orange- not too bright but doesn’t get lost. Perfect Fall Orange color!
20th Ave Memory- 4th year growing this one and she’s definitely hear to stay! Really just the most perfect blush. Left/middle photos from early September and then she goes a bit lighter- more white/blush but still very warm looking by October.
Jabber box- I’ve been a little on the fence about this one but she complements the raspberry colors I keep getting asked for. Good tuber maker and easy to grow so probably another year for it!
Just a few varieties that are really pumping out the blooms, my customers are loving and are making my day!
PS— I also want you to notice that there’s not a single unicorn on this list. Nothing wrong with unicorns but if you are looking for heat tolerant dahlias, there aren’t a lot of unicorns that work well. All but the 20th Ave varieties are many years old and easy to find/affordable dahlias.
The Early Bird Gets The Worm
I keep hearing a lot about dahlias being “behind” this year. And it’s been a brutal summer for some areas of the country. We had a very hot July but overall- not the worst summer I’ve experienced for dahlias. Thankfully the weather is cooling down and the dahlias are loving it.
So your blooms should be along soon but what if there was a little something you could do get blooms sooner?
Plant early varieties!!
These varieties are great for several reasons- Most of them bloom within 75 days. That means they are perfect for short season climates (pretty much guaranteed a bloom before frost!) If you are in a long season, then you usually get 2 flushes out of the plants. So here are my favorite early bloomers!
Peaches N Cream- Not only is this one of the most reliable dahlia varieties for a hot climate but she’s an early bloomer. A must have in my opinion.
Wine Eyed Jill- I love a color changer like this one. If you overwinter her, she’s peachy in Spring’s cooler weather and then pink/purple in warm.
Linda’s Baby- Pinky Coral and just downright cute! Shorter growing habit means she’s perfect for throwing a little frost cloth over too - just to get a few more blooms out of her if you get hit by frost early.
(Pictured below left to right)
4. Sweet Fabienne- Identical plant structure to Linda’s Baby but a pink bloom instead- very productive.
5. Blizzard- always nice to have an early white, productive
6. 20th Ave Gwen- Beautiful pink/yellow in heat and then yellow/peach in cooler weather (my new personal favorite right now!)
(Pictured left to right)
7. 20th Ave Memory- One of the best blushes I’ve ever grown!
8. Karma Marteen Zwaan- Flowers fast- often I can get 3 flushes out of this variety in a season.
9. KA Mocha Katie- more yellow when she flowers early but then goes to the tan/burgundy coloring later in season
10. Sylvia- She’s the perfect orange in my opinion- bright but without screaming at you.
(pictured left to right)
Ten Dahlias guaranteed to get you blooms faster! What are your favorite early bloomers? Drop a line and let me know!
