Growing Bigger Blooms
“THE WINKIE WAY”
This is what I do to get those Giant Blooms on Winkie Colonel and other Giants.
Growing Giant sized blooms can be very rewarding especially when you get comments from friends & visitors such as:-
“Did you Grow That” – “How did you get it THAT BIG!” – “You must have special Fertilizer”
It all starts with good soil preparation beginning in August with digging the patch. The addition of plenty of animal manure provides the necessary organic matter in the soil that supports the microbe activity that converts the organic material into nutrients that feed the plant. Additional Microbes can be added into the soil using “Go Go Juice” that ensures the soil is in top working condition thus providing the plant with all the available food possible.
Approx. a week before planting I add a complete fertilizer, similar to a Rose or Citrus Food.
Planting is always early November into damp soil.
Several books say do not water plants until they come up, this does not apply to several Australian locations. At Winkie if they are not watered they will not come up.
When the plants reach approx. 30cm (12 Inches) it is time to take out the growing tip.
When the plants have established up to six or eight sets of well-developed leaves it is now time to start the Pruning & Training Program.
When Does One Start with the Pruning?
The pruning/training starts the first week in January with the aim of having blooms ready for the end of February, early March.
That is in approx. 55 Days from taking out the Growing Tip depending on the weather.
Start with taking out the Growing Tip
It is now the 6th of January
Then I start reducing the number of Laterals/Shoots giving the plant the best opportunity to produce those Bigger Blooms.
I start by eliminating some of the side shoots pushing all the nutrient into the selected laterals.
The aim is to leave about six Lateral/shoots, the ones that will develop into a lateral that will be supporting that BIG Bloom.
This plant has been left with four laterals/Shoots.
As you can see the Laterals/Shoots are all facing in different directions giving the plant balance. (North, South, East, West)
Four weeks later, 4th February
The plant is now set to produce those wanted blooms.
You may have noticed that we staggered the removal of the Laterals/Shoots from different levels. This will result in blooms coming at different times giving you a continuity of Blooms.
The plant has now been growing well and in four weeks this is what you can expect. This is the 4th February, you now notice how those Laterals have developed.
It is now the 22nd of February the buds are now starting to develop. Notice how the buds are of varying size, this is the result of the staggered pruning resulting in the blooms reaching maturity several days apart.
It is at this stage it is advisable to give your plants a side dressing of a complete fertilizer.
(Refer to Growing Page)
Regular Foliar sprays of seaweed based supplements are also very beneficial.
Weekly Weakly is my rule of thumb.
These are same buds on the 3rd March.
(Two Weeks Later)
Now you can see the benefit of staggering the growth with your pruning techniques.
When the blooms start showing colour it is time to protect the buds to ensure they are not affected by the sun resulting in burnt buds and faded blooms.
This is what I do to protect the Bud/Bloom from the elements.
Covers are put on when the first row of petals appear.
The aim was achieved producing good blooms of Size & Quality
This training/pruning principle can be applied to other sizes.
For smaller Cultivar’s leave up to 12 Shoots/Laterals resulting in a mass of flowers
(Refer to the Growing Page)
Enquiries and comments to
John Menzel-
john@winkiedahlias.com
08- 85837369 0408 837369
