How to care for dahlias in autumn
About the explanation of how to care for dahlias in autumn in the aspect of green plants and flowers, let's follow the editor to see the specific content!
Dahlias have always been one of my favorite bulbous flowers. Dahlias usually bloom in spring and autumn, and they are in a state of dormancy or semi-dormancy in summer. In fact, I've been wanting to write an article about autumn management of dahlias for a long time, but it has been delayed for various reasons. Today, I will talk about the autumn management of dahlias based on the problems encountered by two flower enthusiasts.
Autumn management of dahlias
Dahlias are actually quite heat-sensitive, so in summer, the above-ground parts usually wither completely, and for some heat-tolerant varieties, the above-ground parts wither partially, with a small part of the branches remaining green and having tender tips, but growth will stagnate.
In autumn, the whole plant usually has yellow leaves, with only a little green at the top. For dahlias that do not wither completely in summer, pruning is necessary in autumn.
Trim off the withered parts of the old branches and also the upper parts, retaining the position of the buds close to the lower part. It doesn't matter that the lower branches have no leaves; after pruning, new buds will grow quickly. The picture above shows the new branches that have grown after pruning.
In addition to side branches growing on old branches, new buds may also grow from the soil. These buds, when they grow up, can all bloom. For varieties of dahlias that have completely withered above ground in autumn, they will grow new buds from the soil, just like in spring.
These new buds can bloom as long as the temperature is suitable, until frost hits. After being frosted, the above-ground parts will wither again. If kept indoors at a temperature of about 10 degrees, dahlias can continue to bloom in winter.
However, autumn is a season with a high incidence of pests, and our dahlias are often attacked by pests. For example, the dahlias in the picture below are all new branches, but the tender leaves have become deformed, and some leaves have become damaged and blackened.
How to care for dahlias in autumn
This is actually the result of pest infestation. The deformation of new buds is caused by thrips, which have sucked the sap from the new leaves, leading to leaf development abnormalities. Thrips control is relatively simple; just spray with dinotefuran.
The leaf damage is mostly caused by caterpillars or snails eating the leaves, especially when it rains a lot in autumn, as snails often come out. Last week, the seedlings I planted on the Green Plants website were all eaten by snails.
When it rains a lot, you can look for snails with a flashlight at night, as snails come out to eat leaves at night and hide in the soil during the day, so they are hard to find during the day.
You can manually remove snails from the balcony, but in the garden, where there are many plants and a large area, it is very difficult to remove snails manually. You can buy aluminum sulfate and sprinkle it in the garden, which can greatly reduce the number of snails.
Besides pests, some flower enthusiasts have also found that dahlias are prone to yellow leaves in autumn, like the picture below.
Actually, the yellow leaves at the bottom are quite normal and are part of the metabolic process. Some are old leaves that have naturally turned yellow with age, and some are caused by poor ventilation inside the plant due to too many leaves. In either case, you don't need to worry too much; just remove the yellow leaves.
The above is the complete introduction on how to care for dahlias in autumn. I hope it can be helpful to you. Don't forget to visit the Green Plants website for more flower care experience and knowledge!