Planting and flowering time of the perennial bulb plant dahlia and the price per jin of its seeds

Dahlia, also known as xiaoliju or xiaolihua, belongs to the Asteraceae family. The plant is low-growing with a long flowering period, making it an excellent groundcover plant. So when is dahlia generally planted and when does it bloom? How much does a jin of seeds cost? How do you grow it? According to a seed company in Changsha, dahlia seeds are priced at 130-180 yuan per jin, with a seeding rate of 6-7 jin per mu.

When is dahlia generally planted and when does it bloom?

Sowing:

1. Dahlia is usually propagated by sowing, and the selection of seeds is particularly important. To ensure sowing quality, it is best to use seeds produced from artificially pollinated and controlled seed setting for sowing.

2. Dahlia seeds are generally sown in early May. The seeds are sown by dibbling or drilling in flower pots or seedbeds, then lightly covered with 0.3 cm of soil. Keep the temperature between 15°C and 20°C, and control humidity and sunlight at around 70%. Under normal conditions, they will germinate in six to eight days, and can be transplanted after growing two leaves.

3. After transplanting, the temperature needs to be maintained between 18°C and 25°C. When five to seven true leaves have grown, the seedlings can be transplanted. When transplanting, note that the seedlings must be moved with their original soil, which can effectively avoid damaging the dahlia's tuberous roots and help them survive. The distance between transplanted seedlings should be kept between 20 cm and 30 cm.

Flowering:

1. Dahlia's morphology is similar to that of Dahlia pinnata, and it belongs to the dwarf-type cultivar group among dahlia varieties, but the plant is relatively short, only 20 to 60 cm in height, much branched, with capitulum inflorescences. Several flowers can grow on one peduncle, with flower stems 5 to 7 cm. Flower colors include deep red, purplish red, pink, yellow, white and many other colors. Flower shapes are highly variable, and there are both single-petaled and double-petaled types. In a suitable environment, it can bloom all year round.

2. Dahlia flowers are 5.8-12 cm in diameter, the total plant height is 35-75 cm, and the flowering time is 85-105 days, with slight differences from place to place.

How do you grow dahlia?

I. What kind of environment is suitable for dahlia?

The quality of the soil directly affects the quality of dahlia seedling development. If the soil quality is very good and the growing environment is very good, management will be much easier. Dahlia has few restrictions on soil; it can be sandy soil, loess, or clay, but soil with high sand content generally has mediocre seedling emergence. Dahlia is afraid of waterlogging, so it needs flat terrain that is convenient for drainage. When summer comes, there is more rain, and water must be drained in time, otherwise large numbers of seedlings may die. The key point for the land is that it facilitates drainage of accumulated water; ordinary soil quality is fine, and sufficient sunlight is needed.

II. Land preparation

1. Plowing: Dahlia responds quickly to nutrients. With sufficient soil nutrients, the flowers will be large and brilliant, and the plants robust. However, much of the soil at landscaping sites is land with ordinary nutrients. For this reason, if you want brilliant flowers, you must apply enough farmyard manure before sowing. Spread 4,000-7,000 kg of cow dung and chicken manure per mu. After applying fertilizer, plow deeply once and harrow finely once, so that the soil and fertilizer are fully and evenly mixed together, with no large clods, which is favorable for sowing and improving seedling emergence.

2. Making beds: To facilitate necessary maintenance measures such as watering, weeding, and topdressing during the annual growing period of dahlia seedlings, Changjing Landscape suggests making the land into beds with a fixed width of 1.6 m and a total length of 12-25 m, depending on the actual land conditions.

III. How do you grow dahlia?

Dahlia seeds are medium in size and have good germination ability. Very shallow sowing is recommended, with a soil covering depth of no more than 4 cm. Broadcasting is commonly used. Choose calm conditions, mix the dahlia seeds into moist sand, and evenly broadcast them onto the ground. After sowing, you can cover the soil by raking manually or mechanically. After covering the soil, water once. Seedlings will generally emerge in about 8-12 days.

IV. How do you care for dahlia?

The management and care workload during the dahlia seedling stage is very small; it basically has no pests or diseases and grows well. The key work is all concentrated in the flowering period. Before flowering, apply 40 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. Fertilizing before flowering is to prolong the flowering period, produce more flowers, and make the flower colors more attractive. After flowering begins, no more fertilizer is needed. During dahlia's flowering period, more water is needed, and at this time you should decide whether watering is needed based on weather conditions.