Care of Dahlia Cuttings

Growing dahlias from Rooted Cuttings is different than growing dahlias from tubers.  Check out our Instagram @lyonparkdahlias for some helpful videos about care for your cuttings. Here are some keys to success:

Hardening off:

After receiving your dahlias, we recommend that you place your cuttings outside, but not in direct sunlight, for 2-3 days.  This is called "hardening off" and helps the dahlia get used to a new environment.  Our greenhouses are humid and the cuttings are not acclimated to direct sunlight.  Keep the plugs watered, but not soggy. 

Plant deep:

After hardening off for 2-3 days you can plant them directly into the ground.  Remove the two sets of lower leaves on the plug and plant those nodes (were those leaves attached to the stem) below the soil level.  Burying nodes under ground will help your cuttings produce tubers.  Cuttings will need daily watering during their first couple of weeks outside until their roots grow out into your garden soil.  Do not drown them, but don’t let them dry out.  Dahlias need 8 hours of sun to thrive. 

Fertilize:

We strongly recommend fertilizing weekly with an all-purpose fertilizer (something like 20-20-20) to help the plant reach its full potential, and to help stimulate tuber development.  Once established after 2 months, you can switch to a higher phosphorus and lower nitrogen fertilizer to stimulate tuber development and blooming.  We recommend removing flowers before they are spent and possibly even removing some flower buds for the first year, so that the plant can store up energy in the tubers for next season. 

If you can’t plant outdoors yet, you can pot them in nursery pots to allow space for roots to develop.  Follow the practice above of removing the lower leaves and planting nodes on the stem below the soil level.  Use a well-drained potting soil (not top soil) in your container and make sure the container has drainage holes.  Newly planted dahlia cuttings in containers will not need to be watered frequently as frequently.  Allow the soil to dry until the top 1” of soil starts to feel dry.  It’s very easy to overwater newly planted cuttings in containers.  We recommend using only water for the first watering.   After that use an all-purpose fertilizer every other watering until you plant outside.  If it is warm enough during the day (55-60 degrees or warmer) we recommend putting the planted dahlias outside during the day where your plants can get ample sunshine, but bringing them back inside before it drops below 50 degrees.  Inside, the plants need to have very high light levels.  Dahlias do not thrive indoors next to a window or under grow lights.  We DO NOT recommend growing dahlias long term indoors, under grow lights.  We know there are lots of you out there doing it, but dahlias don’t thrive in these conditions.  They need bright light to thrive.  Once your climate is past the threat of frost, move your plants to their permanent location outdoors for the summer.