Grow DAHLIADEL NURSERIES 
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DARLIAS 
MILDEW. Commonly known to most growers, it 
starts with grey spots on the leaves and is more prev- 
alent in the fall. Adverse growing conditions, planting 
too close, poor air circulation, and extremes, are all 
contributing factors. Dusting sulphur applied to the 
underside of the leaves on its first appearance will 
usually control it. 
STUNT, a general term, can be sub-divided as follows: 
1st—From lowered vitality as a result of poor culture, 
lack of cultivation or adverse weather conditions. 
2nd—The ravages of attacking insects, thrips, aphids, 
leaf-hoppers, red spiders, stem borers, etc. 
3rd—The rotting of feed roots caused by chemical burn 
or soil too rich in nutrients, excessive water where 
drainage is poor, or water in hollow part of stalk 
where openings are not plugged. 
4th—Virus disease, either mosaic or ring spot. Mosaic 
is best identified by the following characteristics: 
The veins of the leaf become lighter than the other 
areas. This can be detected by looking through it 
toward the light. The leaves are smaller, somewhat 
crinkled, the inter-nodes in the top of the plant be- 
come shorter instead of longer as they would in 
a healthy plant. The bush practically stops grow- 
ing in the top and excessive branching follows. 
Presence of a corn borer will also stop the growth 
in the top of a plant. 
Aphids are the carrier for this virus. 
Ring Spot is a virus usually showing up on the 
lower leaves in the form of a somewhat circular 
light green pattern or design, the edges of which 
are zig zag. The area within this pattern will at 
times turn brown. 
The carrier for this virus is the thrips. 
It is the best practice—First, keep aphids and 
thrips under control. Second, destroy stock you 
are sure Carries a virus. Third, rid your garden of 
chick weed as it is a known host for ring spot. 
CUT FLOWERS 
Dahlia blooms should be cut in the late afternoon 
or early morning, removing the lower leaves and all 
of the buds of the large varieties, if not disbudded. 
Immediately put in water in a cool dark place to 
freshen for 4 hours or more or over night, before 
placing them in the house or in the show room. 
HOT WATER TREATMENT. Cut and freshen as above 
then put stems in 1 inch of water, almost boiling, for 
1 to 2 minutes, keeping bloom away from any steam. 
Then place in deep cold water to cool. They can, how- 
ever, be given the hot water treatment immediately 
after cutting, then placed in cool water to harden off. 
Flowers are then ready to ship by packing in a strong 
corrugated box lined with tissue or wax paper. Pack 
blooms in both ends of box, face up, with stems to- 
ward the center. Fasten stems down by nailing a 
wooden strip in the center of the box or by tying 
down through the bottom. Flowers packed snugly will 
carry better than when packed loose and allowed to 
batter. 
Flowers when wilted can be freshened by cutting 
end of stem and placing in hot water as above. If 
necessary to completely freshen flower, repeat this 
operation but cut off discolored end of stem before 
again placing in hot water. 
The hot water treatment will do wonders in making 
your exhibition blooms keep fresh after staging, but 
do not cut off the discolored end of stem unless you 
are again going to treat- it. 
The physical action of a cut flower is to take up 
water into the stem which evaporates through the 
flower and foliage. The slower this action of evapora- 
tion or transpiration takes place, the longer the life of 
the flower. From this you will see that buds and ex- 
cessive foliage will shorten the life of your flower. 
Also avoid placing cut flowers in a draft. 
DIGGING AND STORING 
DAHLIA CLUMPS 
Dahlia stalks should be cut at the ground level di- 
rectly after or within a week after frost has killed the 
leaves and discolored most of the stalk. Then allow 
about a week for stalks to bleed out before digging 
Care should be exercised so that the necks of the 
tuberous roots will not be broken. Loosen the roots 
by prying with a long tined garden fork thrust in the 
ground about a foot from the crown, preferably all 
the way around, before attempting to remove clump. 
Two digging, one on either side of the clump, is 
even better. 
After digging clumps, cut dahlia stalks about 2 inches 
above crown and allow clumps to sun or air dry for 
part of a day, according to amount of moisture in 
soil. Free most of the soil by tapping on the end of 
the cut stalk with a block of wood. 
Line flat bushel baskets, boxes or similar containers 
with paper, preferably waterproof. Pack the container 
about half full of dahlia clumps and then pour in 
Horticultural Vermiculite, covering roots. If necessary, 
split large clumps to facilitate packing, dipping cut 
portions in Dahliadel Dip (one part sulphur to three 
parts fibrous talc). After filling container with clumps 
cover all roots completely with vermiculite and store 
in cellar, the cooler the better, as long as it is above 
freezing. When necessary to store in a dry, warm cellar 
place bushels in the coolest corner and cover with 
any material available that will keep the warm air 
in the cellar from circulating around the containers. 
Should you have a root cellar with a temperature 
from 46° to 45°, properly ventilated, dahlia roots 
should not need any special covering. 
To remove clumps from container, make a screen of 
Y2-inch mesh wire that will fit over top of the con- 
tainer and by inverting container and shaking gently, 
practically all the vermiculite will shake out into an- 
other container. This leaves the clumps as packed. 
We have found vermiculite the cleanest, handiest 
and most satisfactory medium in which to pack dahlia 
clumps or roots for winter storage. 
ae aoe 
