Did you know that when you pinch your dahlias, you can root the pinched part to make more dahlias? It’s a quick and cost-effective method to increase the number of dahlias you have. Here’s how we make dahlia rooted cuttings from our pinched dahlias at the farm.

We pinch varieties we want to root at sun-up so they’re as hydrated and chilled as possible. Then we immediately stick them into prepared trays and slide them onto heat mats in our passive solar tunnel under an overhead misting system with a timer that keeps them hydrated.

These cuttings are stuck into a sterile seed starting mix, and are under a backyard cooling misting system on a timer that mists 3 minutes every hour.
Within a few weeks (exact timing depends on how steady the heat mat temps are, how warm your greenhouse is, and the vigor of your dahlia variety), the cuttings will root and are ready to plant back into the field!
This method gives us plants that will flower this summer and produces a small tuber clump we can save and replant next season. 

We’ve linked to all of our favorite dahlia rooted cuttings supplies over on our Amazon page.