Best Practices

We recommend that you bring your cuttings in immediately following delivery and get them unboxed. 

Cuttings should be hardened off out of direct sunlight for 2-3 days, after which point they can be planted out. This can be inside of a garage, in a kitchen, or under a shady tree. The goal is to gradually acclimate them to outdoor conditions by slowly increasing their exposure to the sun and wind. These cuttings have not lived outside yet. This process helps prevent transplant shock when they are tucked into their final destination in your garden.

Plant in a sunny spot with at least 6–8 hours of sunlight daily once soil reaches 60°F and frost danger has passed. Cuttings are temperature sensitive and will be killed by low temperatures. Cuttings must be watered frequently until roots have established. Rooting cubes can dry out much more quickly than you would think on hot days. Dahlias have fasciculated tuberous adventitious roots — for the best tuber production, plant your cuttings deeply. They will produce tubers from leaf nodes. Do not be afraid to remove a set of leaves if necessary to plant deeply. 

If you can't plant your cutting out immediately, it can be potted up in a 4" pot using a potting mix that does not have "moisture control". Moisture control formulas can cause the dahlia cutting's roots to rot. We recommend ProMix.