bAHLIADEL NURSERIES 
t ■ Grow 
» Potash Fcd^ 
1.DAHLIAS ' 
DISBUDDING, as indicated by T in drawings, is 
the pinching or rolling out of the small bud growing 
at the base of each leaf. These can be cut out with 
a pointed knife if they have developed considerably 
before disbudding. 
When the terminal bud on each of these stems is 
about the size of a small acorn, or as soon as the side 
shoots are large enough to pull out, disbud by taking 
out all the side buds and shoots except the lower pair 
on each of the branches which should be allowed to 
grow to form later flowers. Leave only one side 
shoot as shown in Drawing X or one to two shoots 
on Drawing Y, should you desire very large flowers. 
These new branches should be handled as the pre' 
vious set as soon as they have developed sufficiently. 
All of the disbudded stem should be cut with the 
flower, when following X or Y. This early disbud' 
ding and pruning is not solely for the benefit of the 
first six flowers, but mainly to keep the bush low and 
properly branched for the future crop, also aiding 
in root development. 
Should you fail to pinch out when plants are small, 
it will be necessary to use system shown on Drawing 
Z or exercise care with late topping or cutting back 
not to open hollow stems so that water can get in 
and start stem rot. These openings can be stopped 
up with wax or plaster paris. Should water get into 
the stalk, slit the stalk just above the nodes with the 
point of a sharp knife, and by twisting the knife let 
the water out. 
Certain varieties branch to excess. These should 
be thinned out at intervals of two weeks, and not 
more than six shoots allowed to come into bloom for 
the first flowers. This affords the plant better air 
circulation and sunlight. Without plenty of air and 
sunlight your blooms cannot be fully developed and 
your foliage will be easy prey to mildew. 
PINCHED BACK TWICE 
Drawing X is recommended for most large flow- 
ering varieties under normal growing conditions. 
Pinching out once is best for varieties that branch 
readily, while pinching out twice will prove advisable 
on varieties that grow main branches rapidly and 
develop lower branches slowly. 
These drawings are made with the hope of making 
disbudding easier. The left side of each drawing 
shows half of the plant disbudded, while the right 
side shows the normal development of branches and 
buds on the same plant when not disbudded. 
Key Letters to Drawing 
B Terminal Flower Bud 
C Secondary Terminal Bud 
D Lateral Bud 
E Branch 
F Side pruning, removing B and D 
I Internode 
L Lateral Branch 
N Node 
P Pinched out once 
P 2 Pinched out twice 
R Stalk 
S Stem 
T Where shoot or bud has been removed 
U Stem Stalk 
pinched back, pinched back 
Drawing Y differs from X in that it is for a var* 
iety that is known as a crotch bloomer, or for a var* 
iety with short stems where the flowers are often 
down in the foliage. This is easily handled by side 
pruning, as indicated at F, using the secondary ter- 
minal bud instead of the first terminal bud for your 
bloom. The right side of the drawing shows nat¬ 
ural growth after pinching out twice, which is not 
desirable except for mass color in landscape effects, 
