Questions on disbudding: When and Where and Why

Could you please point me in the direction to learn the proper way to and time to pinch the buds. I notice some pictures have several buds at the top and yet they have big blooms. I have been led to believe that if you want a big bloom you must pinch all other buds so that the energy will go to that one or is this just true with the Dinnerplate or not true at all. I have also been told to not water right away when you plant a tubular. I am very discouraged with my experience with Dahlias. My Mom / Grandmother had awesome Dahlias. I am sad to say that I did not take the interest in them until it was to late to learn from her. I had one nice bloom this year.

Thank You

This is the classic page:

http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/disbudding/disbud1.htm

I kind of have to do it because I don't have enough sun and I want larger blooms. I have a friend who has "too much sun" and she hasn't even disbudded yet (just learned topping), and she gets blooms the size of small children (well they are plenty big!) So sun is very important. Can't wait to live vicariously through her yard as she tries disbudding, it really makes the bloom larger. I remove all buds except the top terminal bud on each stem. Of course the first four flowers are usually the largest because the plant has a certain "flower square footage" as bigcityal phrased it, if it goes into less flowers, they are bigger. Later when the plant does its secondary branches, it has much more stems, hence the flowers are usually smaller.

Hi Tod and Thank You. What is topping and terminal buds. A friend of yours, Fruit of The Vine, sent me to some of your post. I told her that I would probably have to hire you to come down here and physically show me how to do this. I am such a hard head!!!!! I'm not stupid and am fairly intelligent just can't seem to get this right. I have been reading your post and drolling over your pictures. My grandmother who raised me since I was 5 months old had beautiful ones. I have a friend in NC that has 12 rows at 40 feet a row. She sells on E-bay. OK will follow your link and learn. How adout the soil does it need to be a certain type. Mom always used compost that had cow manure in it.

I have been reading and reading. Thank you sooooooooo much

Lee, that link Tod gave is a really good one. I don't want anyone to think you can get a genetically programmed 4" dahlia to become a gigantic 12" monster merely by disbudding though. A given flower has a given size potential and disbudding will only give you the biggest effort the plant's genes can offer up in the first place.

Each branch a dahlia plant forms will have a terminal bud and usually two, or sometimes several, smaller buds alongside or staggered down the branch. Those smaller buds are the ones you want to snap off if you want to let the main bud go on to be the best flower it can be. You'll get longer stems, if you like cut flowers, and more fully formed blooms if you like garden displays. But if you want lots of flowers and don't care about stems, go ahead and let the side buds develop.

Once you see that a main bud has formed and side buds (smaller) are formed, you can easily reach in and snap them off. I use my thumbnails which are always a peculiar shade of green from July through September. That is best done in cool hours: morning or evening; and wait til the main/terminal bud is big enough that you can avoid snapping it off along with taking off the little buds. Really, it becomes second nature, once you get the hang of it.

Here are some photos I took a couple years back. See the main bud, the largest, the one you want to bloom. And the side kicks formed there that you might want to get rid of to give the main bud the most energy and best chance to develop fully.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/Dahlia%20Lessons/disbudding606.jpg

The Thumbnail Attack LOL is just a scrape to break off and remove the little side buds' stem.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/Dahlia%20Lessons/disbuddingoneside606.jpg

Sorry this is blurry: It is the main bud left to grow to full potential, and the two sidebuds scraped away. The stem will go on to develop to better support the one flower, the one flower will have plenty of room to spread out and bloom to its best potential and the fallen sidebuds will become compost for next year's soil or food for some garden nibbler.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/Dahlia%20Lessons/disbuddingdone606.jpg

The best advice I ever read was to disbud the little side buds when they were "pea-sized." Any smaller and you risk breaking off the main bud. There are plenty of times I have side buds that already have stems a few cm or inches tall. Thumbnail strikes again. Formed little stems on sidebuds break off just as easily as pea-sized buds themselves, if they get ahead of you.

It really is easy. Just run your thumb nail in alongside the main bud and simply snap off the little side buds. Let them drop and get on with your gardening day.

Cow manure sounds a lot like the methods some of the best growers still employ, so your Mom/Grandma had their dahlia care in order. I hope you hang in there to learn to grow some great dahlias yourself.

lee, I'm so glad you opened this discussion. And thanks Tod and Poochella for offering your advice and step-by-step tutorial. I hope my blooms next year will be better...and I'll manage to keep my fingernails green.

My MIL is my inspiration for trying harder. She used to grow Dahlias but is up in age now and not able to garden much anymore. I gave her several blooms and know she thoroughly enjoyed them for a week. Thank you again, Tod, you made that possible.

I have learned so much. Thanks to all for all your help.

In the beginning of the summer I will be doing this a lot. But later not anymore. I have so many dahlia's and too little time left. But it is sure you get much nicer flowers doing this!

Are yours still blooming?

We've had 2 frosts so my blooms are either gone or are quickly on the way out.

They are still blooming here but not so nice anymore. I am going to dig them up tomorrow and the rest of the week when I have time.

Mr. Frost visited last night so I cut the very last straggler blooms yesterday. They are beaten up and mere shadows of their summer selves, but still pretty to me. The petals get papery thin on the outer edges. Water spots are common with rain and temp changes, but they still keep on trying which is what I love about the dahlia.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/2009/111409lastcut.jpg
Closer up below- Yellow is Candlelight, middle rosy/yellow is Summer Morn and red is little Azuma Kagami which I can't bear to cut down yet, though I'm sure the leaves are frosted as of last night. It's over for 2009, now on to 2010.

2009 is going out on a fine note with your photo, Annie. They're still lovely. I expect to cut the last of mine tomorrow. I'd have done it already except for the endless rain that Ida brought our way.

Truly and wonderously put dear pirl about Pooch's pic. I am diligently working on my weather transporter cuz I would like your rain please. Deadly dry here and I am watering in hopes that the ground freeze will hold some moisture in my garden til spring. On the up side, I have almost mostly finished gathering my dahlia pics from hither and yon and I will do a thread. Not as beautious as some we have seen this season but a reprieve from Novemberous numbnous.

"Novemberous numbnous" - I couldn't have said it better!

We are so sodden here that I spent the day cleaning the garage and loved it.

Thanks ladies. We've had our usual onslaught of rain but ours gets no name! You should move to BC, Dnut. Much more Washington-esque weatherwise. I can't even imagine watering at this late date, but probably a smart thing to do to prevent dry freeze damage on your beloved gardens.

It seems Ida was a real brute for the SE and Eastern seaboard. I finally gave in and washed the muddy, muddy rain gear. Don't know why, but now I'll be more presentable sloshing around in the muddy soil for about an hour when digging resumes Monday. We did have a blissfully dry 3 day run this week, so I can't complain.

Ida lingered too long at the rain party.

I'm always amused at how we gardens clean our rain gear, put it on the next day and it gets muddy all over again. It must be related to some kind of dahlia madness.

Pooch I lived in Vancouver BC for three years. It was too monsoonish for me. I need sunbeams or I go dormant.