Two Habits That Give You Bigger Blooms and Longer Stems
If you’re new to growing dahlias, there are two simple habits that make an outsized difference in bloom size and stem length — and neither requires special equipment or advanced experience. We cover both in our free Beginner Dahlia Growing Course: disbudding and how you harvest.
1. Disbud for Bigger Blooms
Every dahlia leaf axil grows a cluster of three buds — one center bud and two side buds. Leave all three, and the plant splits its energy three ways, giving you smaller blooms on shorter, weaker stems.
Disbudding means removing the two side buds so all the plant’s energy goes into the center one. The result: a bigger bloom on a longer, straighter stem — better for a vase, better for a show table.
How to do it: as soon as you can see the cluster forming, gently pinch or snip off the two side buds, leaving just the center one. The earlier you catch it, the cleaner the cut and the less stress on the plant. You’ll repeat this up and down the plant all season as new buds form.
2. Sanitize Your Tools Between Cuts
Dahlias are highly susceptible to viruses, and one of the easiest ways they spread is through cutting tools moving from plant to plant. A pair of snips that just cut an infected plant can pass that virus straight to the next healthy one it touches — often with no obvious symptoms for weeks or longer.
The fix is simple: sanitize your snips between plants, not just at the end of the day. We use a caddy fitted with mason jars filled with a 10% bleach-to-water solution — dip and swish the blades between cuts, then keep harvesting. It takes seconds and it’s one of the most effective things you can do to protect the health of your whole collection.
Our dahlia and virus control strategy blog to learn more. How to do it: mix a 10% bleach solution (roughly 1 part bleach to 9 parts water) in a jar or small container. Dip your snips in between every plant, especially if you’re moving between different varieties. Refresh the solution regularly since bleach loses potency over time, especially in sunlight and heat.
Here is a link to the caddy we use.
3. Cut Deep When You Harvest
Where you cut a bloom matters as much as how you grew it. A shallow cut right above the flower regrows from a node right there, so you get another short stem next time. Cut deep, past two or three sets of leaves, and you force the plant to push new growth from lower down. Over the course of a season, that means your stems get progressively longer with each harvest instead of staying short.
How to do it: follow the stem down from the bloom, count down two to three leaf nodes, and make a clean, angled cut with sharp snips. Get it into water immediately. Dahlias drink fast, and a quick drink right after cutting keeps the bloom from wilting before it even reaches a vase.
Putting It Together
Disbud early to put all the plant’s energy into fewer, better blooms. Harvest deep to keep training your plant toward longer stems as the season goes on. Two small adjustments, compounding all summer.
Want the full picture? Join our free Beginner Dahlia Email Growing Course
Happy growing,
Pedaling Petals