PINCHING OUT AND DISBUDDING 
KEY LETTERS TO DRAWING 
Terminal Flower Bud 
Secondary Terminal Bud 
Lateral Bud 
Branch 
Side Prune, removing B and D 
Internode 
Lateral Branch 
Node 
Pinched out once 
Pinched out twice 
Stalk 
Stem 
Where shoot or bud has been removed 
Stem Stalk 
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. 
Zaps, su OTe YE OS 
NO 
(Se) SIA) Ze) ae) 9) 
We do not recommend disbudding the smaller type 
dahlias to the extent recommended below for B-MEDIUM 
or A-LARGE and BALL dahlias. However, partial disbud- 
ding of ORCHIDS, SINGLE, COLLARETTE, MINIATURE 
and POMPON dahlias will give you larger and more 
perfect blooms and longer stems. When the smaller 
type dahlias are planted early and you do not want 
early blooms it is best to cut back to about 6 inches 
above the ground about 6 to 7 weeks before you want 
blooms. Plug open nodes as recommended. Always 
leave the side shoots or branches to come into bloom. 
—. a Ar. f 
x DISBUDDED NOT DIsSauDDED 
DRAWING X is recommended for most large 
flowering varieties with normal bush heights and 
length of stem. 
DAHLIADEL NURSERIES 
PINCHING OUT is indicated on Drawing X and Y 
at P and P2, first and second pinching out, respectively. 
We recommend this system for B-medium and A-large 
dahlias. The smaller a plant is when pinched out, the 
quicker it will heal and branches develop. 
Allow only one main stalk to grow (never more than 
two). Pinch out the crown or center above the second 
pair of leaves. The principle of taking out the center is 
to develop the eyes, which are located at the base of 
the leaves. The top pair of eyes will make themselves 
evident in surprisingly short time, and these shoots or 
branches on most varieties should be pinched back 
again, P2 unless they are short stemmed varieties. In 
that case, they should be side pruned as indicated at F 
in Drawing Y, leaving not more than one pair of eyes 
on each branch. By the time these get a start, the 
second or lower set of eyes on the main stalk will have 
developed along with those above. These stems should 
bear the first four to six flowers. 
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 be- 
fore disbudding. 
When the terminal bud on each of the 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 previous set as 
soon as they have developed sufficiently. 
NOT DISB8UDDED 
Y DISBUDDED 
DRAWING Y is recommended for varieties with 
short stems, making the foliage too close to the 
blooms, often termed as crotch bloomers. Disbud 
as indicated at F, removing B and D, and then 
remove two small buds from C. 
OA 
