Rooted Cutting Care 101
So you took the plunge and ordered some rooted cuttings! What do you do now? Well most likely you’ll be waiting a few months on them to arrive but it gives you time to prepare for their arrival.
When that magical box arrives- OPEN IT IMMEDIATELY! Don’t let it sit on the counter- you’ll forget about it. Remember it contains live plants that have been locked up in the dark for a few days. So even if you are busy, open it and open the plant enclosure and at least let the plants breathe. If they are dry, you can put them in cups with a 1/2” of water and let them slowly absorb it.
The environment you keep them in for the next few days is pretty important. Remember they’ve been growing in a warm 65 degree environment. So if it’s still on the chilly side outside, you don’t want to shock them. If you are hardcore and have grow lights in your spare bedroom (you know who you are!), place them under there until you can move them outside to begin to harden off.
So what is hardening off? It’s an expression you hear a lot in the plant world. It is the process of acclimating a plant to it’s environment. Most plants need around a week to adjust to a new environment.
Our goal is to ship your plants as close to your planting time as possible but it’s also hard for us to know the exact climate and timing all over the country. So you may have to give the plant a little care in the meantime.
Potting up your cutting into a 3” pot is also helpful. I highly recommend this for home gardeners who aren’t dealing with 1000’s of plants. Letting your cutting double in size before you plant it will only increase your chances of success. When planting, pull off the bottom set of leaves (the bottom 2) and then plant the node (the place where the leaves attach to the stem) under the soil level. By putting that node under the soil level, you just gave the plant another place to grow tubers from. So you are increasing the number of tubers you will get at the end of the season and also giving your plant a jump start on creating a healthy root system. You can also remove the bottom set of leaves again when you plant it in your garden (more nodes underground=more tubers).
Now say you don’t have grow lights and a protected place to keep your cutting. What do you do? Pot it up and then place it outside during the day so it can get good sunlight. (I don’t recommend window sills because usually the light isn’t strong enough). Make sure it’s at least 50ish outside. Then if it’s going to be freezing at night, bring it in.
But again - let me stress- the goal is to get your cutting to you within a week or two of your time to plant. However I know not every farm is the same and sometimes you might want a cutting really early- so now you know what to do with it.
So why would you want a cutting early? Well to propagate from it of course! You can take a cutting from a cutting. However I learned a bit about the timing on when to do that this summer while I was attending an ASCFG conference. I used to take the cutting as soon as the center had grown big enough for me to pinch out. But this causes the plant to branch too early and often results in two weaker stems. So let the plant grow on several nodes. I’m letting them grow to the 4th or 5th node and then taking the cutting from the center. This would be the same timing as pinching your plant back to create branching. Remember every time you pinch, you create more branches. So you want to be aware of how many pinches you take off a plant. I really think the process of having a plant that is just for cuttings is best (like you wouldn’t worry about planting it out) because taking too many can create weak stems and also lots of those weak stems.
So when do you plant? First off- you want to make sure you are past your last frost date. You also want to make sure your soil temps are at least 60ish. Planting a dahlia into cold soil does nothing to help it get going- it’s just going to sit there. So even if you are past your last frost date, you might want to wait just a bit for soil to warm up (but this also depends on what the current temps have been in your area in previous weeks). I use a cheap compost thermometer to check my soil temperature.
So let’s summarize:
1. Open your box immediately upon arrival. Offer water if cuttings are dry.
2. Harden off your cutting to acclimate it to your enviroment
3. Pot up your cutting to increase your tuber count and give it a head start on a healthy root system
4. Plant out once your last frost has passed and soil has sufficiently warmed.
A little TLC and your cutting will produce a beautiful healthy plant that will bloom a lot sooner than your tuber planted dahlias!
All the dahlias you see in these pictures are available as rooted cuttings in our ongoing sale!
