Learn how to propagate dahlias with cuttings and create more plants for your garden.
Dahlias are the queen of the cutting garden and beloved by flower gardeners all over the world. But dahlia tubers can be quite expensive, especially for rare varieties.
So what can we do to multiply our stock? Well, first, you can divide healthy dahlia tuber clumps and plant the divisions.
Second, you can propagate dahlias with cuttings. All you need is a healthy tuber or clump of tubers and a few extra weeks before planting.
The process is pretty simple. I’ll outline the 3-step process here and then go through each step in more detail below.
- Wake Up Your Tubers
- Snip and Dip the Sprouts
- Transplant and Wait for Blooms
Dahlias root readily and are easy to grow once they get going.
Did you save some dahlia tubers from your garden last fall? Dig them up out of storage and try propagating them!
Dahlia propagation is a great gardening project to tackle in the spring and produce more plants for your cut-flower garden.
Tools and Supplies to Propagate Dahlias
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Before you start, I recommend having these tools and supplies for propagating dahlias.
- healthy dahlia tubers to propagate
- small cell trays for rooting cuttings
- pots (any kind) large enough to hold a tuber or tuber clump
- rooting hormone
- sharp, clean snips
- potting soil
- humidity dome (link is for a kit with clear trays, cells, and dome)
Wake Up Your Tubers
Alright, now we can begin the propagation process by getting the dahlia tubers to start sprouting, or waking up.
Dahlias don’t take very long to root, but some tubers can take a little while to wake up. (Isn’t that a funny term for sprouting dahlias? Waking them up? I love it!)
Because I like to have well-rooted cuttings to plant out after my last frost date at the end of April, I usually begin waking tubers around the end of February if they haven’t begun sprouting already.
To wake your tubers, pot up the dahlia tubers in damp potting mix. I like to leave the top of the tuber (where the eyes are) exposed so that I can easily find the base of the growing dahlia stems.
You can leave even more of the top exposed than I have shown here in the photo if you want. The mother tuber doesn’t really need to be covered this fully.
Do not water the tuber again until it begins actively growing. Dahlia tubers are prone to rot if they are kept in soggy soil.
Snip and Dip the Sprouts
Next, wait for the tubers to begin sprouting. Once the sprouts have three to four healthy sets of leaves, break off or snip the sprouts off the mother tuber with a clean, sanitized pair of scissors or snips.
Then, dip the sprouts in rooting hormone and plant them immediately in prepared pots of soil.
Mist the cuttings and wait for them to root. You can cover them with a humidity dome to ensure good moisture levels. It’s important not to let the soil dry out completely while the cuttings are rooting.
Leave the mother tuber in its pot and wait for more eyes to sprout.
Repeat the process of snipping and rooting sprouts if you’d like, or just allow the tuber to grow uninterrupted.
Transplant and Wait for Blooms
After a few weeks, you may find the dahlia cutting roots poking through the bottom of your cell trays. If you plan on transplanting them soon, you can leave them in the trays, but you’ve got a while to go yet, up-pot the cuttings into larger containers.
Once your last frost date has passed and the weather is warm enough, begin hardening off the rooted cuttings.
Transplant the cuttings into a well-prepared garden bed with compost and a sprinkle of slow-release organic fertilizer.
Water transplants right away and provide supplemental water until the dahlia plants are established.
In a couple months, the dahlias should begin to bloom!
Propagate Dahlias and Grow Your Garden
As you can see, propagating dahlias is a simple process. All you need are healthy tubers, good potting mix, and time.
I hope that this post gives you all the information and confidence you need to propagate your dahlia tubers and grow more flowers for your garden.
Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or additional tips on propagation.
Thank you for reading, and happy gardening!