nice! What is your setup like for the potted tubers you take the cuttings from? Is there a minimum depth pot you use? What temperature? I've never done it before, wondering if I can keep the mothers under a poly tunnel outside in z6 early spring. My dahlias are just starting to show eyes, need to pot them up =)

How many are you at now, Dave? Sounds like you're having a ball! I find taking cuttings very therapeutic, and have a hard time stopping. Last year I discovered I had taken ten cuttings of just one variety! Oops.

These are backup cuttings, which will be planted outside IN THEIR POTS so the roots stay compact. Most won't have enough space to bloom properly, but that's okay. Sometimes I tuck them next to the mother tuber, which typically grows quicker and overshadows them. Or I 'plant' a long double row of pots with no space between them, and lay a soaker hose down the middle.

If I leave enough space around the planted pot, the plant will grow full size and produce normal flowers... Often I am surprised in fall when I dig, expecting a big clump but instead out pops a four inch pot!

I believe most folk just take the rooted cutting and plant it directly into the ground without the pot. It grows to size very quickly, and by fall you won't know the plant came from a cutting.

Potroots are perfect for hard-to-store varieties that tend to rot or only produce spaghetti roots. I store them in the pots, and water/ warm in the spring. I can then take cuttings off of them, and plant the mother potroot out in the garden without the pot.

Smilingspring, if you're still out there and still want a response about potting up tubers, I'd be happy to do that for you, though it's almost planting time in most regions. Let me know... I'll watch this thread for a while.

Cici, I don't have much room but I do a lot of cutting, as you say, just for the pleasure. And there's always a place to tuck another dahlia. Heating pad died and I keep forgetting to buy a new one so I'm doing cuttings with no bottom heat this year, success rate is down to about 50%. I'm OK with that since I really don't have room for that many.

Are you a breeder or just crazy for dahlias?

Definitely 'just crazy.' ;-) I've done a hundred cuttings so far, and have at least 20 more to go for proper backups of the higher valued dahlias.

Interesting about your experience with bottom heat... I did a small test a few years back, and found the opposite true, where bottom heat tended to cause mold to grow and damp-off was increased. I keep the cuttings room-temp, but am sure to have some kind of plastic overtop the pots to keep humidity between 70-90% (average room normally 40-50% humidity). I bought a couple two-dollar humidity gauges online, and use them all the time this season to monitor levels under the plastic domes. It's been fun seeing the differences and it's nice to know when to water the cuttings (or if the back of the dome is cracked open accidently, where I can't see it).

I've heard professional growers say that neither bottom heat nor root hormone help dahlia cuttings develop roots, yet there are always others that swear by one or the other. {shrug} Whatever works is good. If you root cuttings in a greenhouse, bottom heat is probably a good thing. Clean knife/pots and fresh potting mix with high humidity and an inside light setup is the magic that works for me. I've lost one so far; I'll take the 1% failure rate.

Some of the ones I took cuttings of last night were Skipley Bonanza (tubers tend to not overwinter well, and plants tend not to produce many tubers), Ayers Glory (lost all but one this winter, and variety is high-value), Warf (bicolored r/w giant that is not available in the states, high-value), Bubbling Over (very poor tuber maker/keeper with knockout blooms), Hollyhill Karen Lee (great tuber maker that I received in a trade and I want more stock of).

I'm still waiting for several Hollyhill varieties to give me adequate sprouts for cutting... HH Augustine, HH Pink Martini, HH Fairy Queen, HH Fireball, HH Moonsong, HH Regal. Three that I am supper excited about getting extras of are Clearview Eddie, Cumulus and Mothers Love.