bAHLIADEL NURSERIES 
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 shoiild be han' 
died as the previous set as soon as they have deveh 
oped 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 aid' 
ing 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 cut' 
ting 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 pans. Should 
water get into the stalk, slit the stalk just above the 
nodes with the point of a sharp knife, and by twist' 
ing 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. 
Pinching out once is best for varieties that branch 
readily, while pinching out twice will prove advis' 
able on varieties that grow main branches rapidly 
and develop lower branches slowly. 
EH 
IH 
oissuoo&D ■ ■ mot disbudded 
ONCE TWICE 
Pinched back pinched back 
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. 
Key Letters to Drawing 
B Terminal Flower Bud 
C Secondary Terminal Bud 
D Lateral Bud 
E Branch 
F Side pruning, removing B and D 
1 Internode 
L Lateral Branch 
N Node 
P Pinched out once 
P2 Pinched out twice 
R Stalk 
S Stem 
T Where shoot or bud has been removed 
U Stem Stalk 
These drawings are made with the hope of mak' 
ing disbudding easier. The left side of each draw' 
ing 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. 
Drawing Y differs from X in that it is for a va' 
riety that is known as a crotch bloomer, or for a va' 
riety 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' 
Drawing Z is another system, which is recom' 
mended for some varieties but can be used for most 
dahlias (except crotch bloomers) should you desire 
to see one early bloom. Our reason for not recom' 
mending this is that dahlias are not at their best in 
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