Gro 'n Sell
Dahlia (from cuttings)
I'm pretty excited about this. Rooted dahlia cuttings, actively growing and shipped when you need them!
These dahlias are guaranteed to be virus free and true to type. We take this very seriously. The farm where the cuttings are produced is spotlessly clean, and the propagation material is rigorously tested to make certain there are no viruses hiding in the plant. Now, if you have virus circulating in your stored tubers you or insects can easily spread it to any other dahlia, so do some homework on avoiding accidental virus transmission.
We all know Café Au Lait by now. Even though it came out in 1968, it has found new popularity in recent years as a luxurious, if slightly finicky cut flower. But that color just can't be beat. Do note the this variety is not stable, and may produce pink flowers some of the time. It seems that these virus free plants produce more uniformly cream colored blooms.
The Karma series was bred in Holland specifically for its cut flower properties. Long straight stems, with little lateral branching, and good vase life.
We hope to expand our offerings as time goes on, but we hope you are also excited about the idea of low cost, healthy dahlias without all of the digging, storing, and dividing.
'Moon Lady' is a very bright, beautiful, bold yellow that is difficult to capture in a photo. It is not a subtle pastel if that's what you're going for!
***A note about Cafe au Lait***
Cafe au Lait is a very old variety, dating back to the 60's. It is known to be quite unstable in both its color and its shape. Honestly it's one of the worst cut flowers we all insist on growing! Stressed plants tend to produce flowers with fewer petals than those getting everything they need. You will probably see more single flowers as days shorten in autumn. This is typical of C.A.L. Make sure your dahlia plugs receive abundant nutrition and moisture after planting. They will need more care than dahlia grown from tubers, as they are still babies, lacking the resources of the tuber to help them establish. If you give them some TLC they will flower as well as a tuber grown dahlia, they just need a little more care in the early stages. Contact us for a culture sheet if you need more information. We are happy to share.
As always, order in quantities of 3 full trays per ship date. As these are half trays, you can order half trays of other items (such as Scabiosa, Veronica, Hypericum, Gypsophila) and full trays to fill up your box. (for example 2 half trays + 2 full trays = 3 full trays)
Grown in a 51 cell tray, billed as 50.
Order 7 or more weeks in advance of desired ship date.
About Tray Sizes (please read)
210 and 125 cell trays are full-sized trays, and three of these will fit in a shipping box.
50 cell trays are half-sized trays (unless otherwise noted) and two of these are the equivalent of one full sized tray. Six of these will fit in a shipping box. These trays are long and skinny. (Think hotdogs). There are not compatible with 25 cell half trays. Scoop scabiosa, veronica, solidago, gypsophila, hypericum, herbs, some tweedia, and others are grown in the 50 cell tray.
25 cell half trays are also half-sized trays, but they are short and square. (Think hamburgers). These are not compatible with 50 cell half trays. Limonium and astrantia are grown in this tray.
Gerberas are also grown in a 25 cell half tray, but are tall that the others, and FOUR of these half trays of gerberas fills a box.
18 and 32 cell trays are full sized trays specifically for our vernalized perennials. These have their own set of shipping rules (find details HERE) and cannot be combined with items grown in 210, 125, or 50 cell trays.
Growing Guides
Click here to access all of our comprehensive growing guides.
Photo Credit: Mark Twyning (Marktee1) at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
| Common Name | Dahlia |
| Genus | Dahlia |
| Species | Dahlia Pinnata |
| Family | Asteraceae |
| Life Cycle | Tender tuberous herbaceous perennial, can be grown as an annual. |
| Format | Plugs |
| Plug Care | Harden off before planting out. Do not allow plugs to become rootbound - plant soon after receiving or pot up into larger cells. Keep soil evenly moist - avoid drought and oversaturation. |
| Netting / Staking | Dahlias can grow quite large and benefit from staking. For small numbers of plants, individual staking will suffice. For rows of plants, utilize T-posts and heavy duty twine to stake the entire row. Some growers have found success using the Florida weave method. |
| Temperature Range | Extremely frost sensitive at all stages - best transplanted after soil has warmed in the spring and nights stay above 55F. |
| Spacing | 12-18" between plants, 2-3' between rows. The tighter they are planted, the less airflow between plants and therefore greater risk of fungal issues. |
| Soil Preference |
Fertile, loose, well draining soil of neutral pH. Dahlias benefit from soil amended with composts and granular fertilizer, or a light feed with irrigation every two weeks. Heavy, saturated soil can initiate root rot. |
| Day Length | Dahlias are facultative short day plants. This means the plants will bulk up and be mostly vegetative during the long days of early summer and budding will be initiated as the days shorten. They require full sun conditions to thrive. |
| Pinching | Pinch one time, when the plants reach approximately 12 inches in height. Remove the main shoot down to the 2nd or 3rd set of leaves to initiate the development of side shoots. This will delay flowering by a couple of weeks but the plants will be much more floriferous later in the season. |
| When to Plant | Spring, after the danger of frost has passed and the temperature is expected to stay above 55F. |
| Harvesting | Expect to harvest the first flowers approximately 90 days from transplant. Dahlia buds do not continue to open after harvesting and the flowers in general do not have the longest vase life. Cut when the flowers are approximately 3/4 of the way open. Cut deeply for a long stem, do not be afraid to remove 2 or 3 leaf nodes with each stem. This provides the highest quality cut stems and encourages the plant to continue branching near the base. |
| Post Harvest Care | Cut early in the day before the temperature climbs. Plunge cut stems immediately into cool water. Keep in a cooler until ready to sell. Vase life is highly dependent on variety - here at Farmer Bailey we try to source high quality cut flower varieties for the longest vase life possible. |
| Diseases / Insects |
Dahlia mosaic virus and crown gall are two highly infectious diseases that are currently common in dahlia collections across the world. Our plants have been screened and cleaned of these diseases through the meticulous process of tissue culture. Powdery mildew and botrytis (grey mold) may be observed during extended periods of cool wet weather, or late in the season when powdery mildew runs rampant. Increased airflow between plants helps prevent or slow the spread of fungal diseases, as well as drip irrigation to avoid wetting the foliage. Thrips, Japanese beetles, tarnished plant bugs, cucumber beetles, earwigs and slugs are just a few of the many insects that feed on dahlia plants and flowers. |
| Bailey's Notes |
Dahlias grown from cuttings do not always produce a tuber in the fall - sometimes all of the energy goes into flower production. To avoid the labor and costs of digging and dividing dahlia tubers every year, consider growing dahlias as annuals - the price per plant is much cheaper when purchased as plugs compared to tubers. Our plugs are guaranteed virus and bacteria free, which is always a risk with purchasing tubers from untested stock. |
| Resources |