Can dahlias be propagated by cuttings? A detailed guide to the cutting method

  Dahlia is a flowering plant with large, brightly colored blooms. When in bloom, its flowers bear some resemblance to peonies, similarly revealing an elegant and graceful character. And precisely because of this, in the eyes of many people, the dahlia is also a symbol of great wealth and nobility. In addition, this flowering plant has a long blooming period and is highly ornamental, so many gardening enthusiasts grow and keep it as a potted plant.

  Dahlia is a flowering plant that grows underground tuberous roots and belongs to the bulbous flowering plants. So, when it comes to propagation, we can usually directly use its tubers to propagate young plants. This has been shared many times before in previous articles. So, can dahlias be propagated by cuttings?

  In fact, dahlias, like many flowering plants, can also be propagated into potted young plants by taking cuttings when certain conditions are met. Moreover, compared with the method of propagating with tubers, propagating dahlias by cuttings also has its own advantages. And these advantages are even something that tuber propagation cannot match.

  Dahlia has poor cold tolerance, and the original plant is not even cold-hardy, so after winter arrives, the above-ground parts wither and die. The underground tuberous roots also gradually enter a dormant state due to the effects of low temperatures, and the tubers need to be stored scientifically throughout the winter so as to ensure they can take root and sprout the following year. Not only that, when using tubers to plant dahlias, in spring it is often also necessary to promote sprouting to encourage germination, thereby increasing the survival rate.

  Compared with the cutting method, the process of propagating dahlias with tubers is relatively more complicated, and the survival rate is usually not as high as that of cuttings. Therefore, propagating dahlias into young plants by taking cuttings is not only easy to carry out, but also has a relatively high survival rate. Thus, we generally recommend using the cutting method to propagate potted dahlia seedlings.

  Dahlia cuttings are best taken in spring and summer, when temperatures are relatively high and the weather is relatively warm, because its cold tolerance is rather poor, and when temperatures are too low it is prone to freezing damage that affects the survival rate. The best cutting time is from June to August in summer. As long as we carry out the cuttings according to scientific methods, the survival rate is very high.