So it is December 27 2014 and I am starting 96 dahlia tubers in black trays. I am trying something new for The Painted Tulip.. Rooting Dahlia cuttings. This was inspired by a talk from Bob Wollam At the ASCFG national conference. He did a wonderful talk on the subject and as I need more of certain expensive harder to find verities: So why not try?
Tubers freshly dug in fall that get stored and divided
But to start I need material to cut so I had to divide the tubers and put in trays of soil about 12 tubers per tray. 
Dahlias are finicky to divide but I have just learn to stop second guessing my self and make sure I get a nice piece of crown with each tuber.
All I need is 2 leaves on the cutting so I will let the sprout get to 5 sets of leaves. Pinch and then I can divide that into 4 cuttings. Then with” magic” rooting hormone, moist soil, proper temperature and wet paper towel on top. I should get more dahlias. For May planting. So here I go.
So these are the few verities I am having trouble find and want hundreds more of :
Lilian Hamilton Love this one and so dose everyone else!
Kenior Lisa.. Love the coral Guava color and its big! 8″ +
Apple Blossom .. delicate and unique didn’t have enough to sell last season
And the infamous.. Cafe Au Lait.. which brides and customers and Florist love. I could grow an acre of these and sell every single one.
I have roughly 2 months before we open the green house. Hopefully my house will not turn into a jungle by then but its highly likely, if this works. With trays in every window.
I am also building a germination box for this too keep the cuttings warm & moist. This is my first one so and I am not the best builder in the world but I am learning . Stay tuned see see more of our dahlia adventure
What will you do with the tubers after you’ve gotten a sprout from them? Will you let them keep sprouting and take more cuttings, or put the tubers back in storage for planting in the spring? I went to Bob’s talk too, but didn’t get all these details! I tried taking some cuttings from the plants before I cut them back at frost, but they didn’t take at all. I’m interested to see how yours turn out! I may try pre-sprouting some tubers in the spring to take more cuttings.
Michelle, I will pot up tubers and march move to gh to plant in Spring. I will take as many cuttings as I can. Cutting can be finicky. The need to be dipped in rooting hormone and put in already watered soil in a porous soil mix (lots of vermiculite or perilite). The cuttings need to be sprayed and covered with wet paper towel. You need to put the tray in a plastic bag and seal it. Your trying to keep it moist with out molding. Needs to be at 60 degrees.I spray my cuttings and keep paper towel moist. I leave my cuttings covered for at least 2 weeks before checking for root growth. In the gh I put them under my benches to limit sunlight. Google more on “rooting dahlia cutting”. Just keep at it, I never get 100% in my cuttings. keep researching and tweaking, you will get it!