DISBUDDING DAHLIAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 January 1939, Page 9

DISBUDDING DAHLIAS

EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.

Disbudding dahlias needs some experience. To do it successfully you must know your variety, as success partly depends upon the removal of the buds at the right stage. At the same time do not let this prevent you from having a try at the job, because there is a long range between the correct and the harmful stage. Let the buds get to a size at which it can be readily seen which is the best, and strongest, or the one which will give the best bloom. Better to let the bud get on the large size, rather than to remove it when too small. As a'rule it is best to leave the central bud, but should this bud be injured or in any way malformed, or injured by insects, take it away and leave the next best.

The terminal bud is usually th> strongest and is the one more often chosen, but that in no way qualifies it to be the best. With some varieties, especially some of the very large sorts, it will be found that the lateral buds give a fuller and a better coloured bloom, but this is one of the points that can only be learned by experience. When you are wanting two or three flowers on a stem or on the one plant, and all open at the same time, sacrifice the central buds and save the lateral buds which are near the same stage of development. Use a sharp, small blade of a pocket knife for the disbudding. To obtain good blooms late in autumn the plants must be well disbudded and heavily manured. The value of sheltering or shading the blooms required for show is not often considered, but it is an advantage. About 12 days before the show, or the date you require the flowers to be ready, some slight shading material should be fixed over the opening buds. Select well-formed buds, giving preference to those packed tight with petals and with a small hole in the centre. A piece of wool loosely wrapped round the stem of the flower will prevent insects from crawling up the stem to the bud.