Dahlias have to be kept indoors over the winter because the beautiful summer flowers are not frost hardy. If you don't have a suitable cellar to overwinter the tubers, simply sow the flowers, also known as georgines. You can get dahlia seeds from plants in your own garden.
How to harvest dahlia seeds?
You harvest dahlia seeds by observing the protective cover of the dahlias when they have bloomed. When it bursts, it is the right time to collect the seeds. Allow these to dry for three to four weeks and store them in paper bags or matchboxes to sow in spring.
Sown dahlias are not always of the same variety
The biggest disadvantage of sowing georgines is that you never know exactly what colors and shapes the plants will bloom in. Through pollination by insects and wind, different varieties are mixed together, so that completely new varieties can be created.
Collecting seeds
Collecting dahlia seeds requires a bit of sensitivity. Only seeds collected at the right time are capable of germinating. Watch the dahlia flowers carefully when they have finished blooming.
Dahlia seeds are ready to harvest when the protective covering surrounding them bursts. Now you should immediately collect the seeds that you want to sow next spring.
Let the seeds dry in a warm place for three to four weeks and then put them in small bags made of paper or parchment. Matchboxes are also suitable.
How to sow dahlias
- Prepare seed trays from the beginning to the end of March
- Spread seeds
- Sprinkle a thin layer of soil
- Keep moist
- Set up brightly at 18 to 20 degrees
- Separate after emergence
- Plant out from the end of May
The first leaf tips appear after about ten days. After three weeks, the plants are separated and planted in the garden or pots from the end of May.
Where do the sown dahlias go in autumn?
Sown dahlias are usually kept as annuals. If you want to overwinter them because the georgines have developed particularly beautiful flowers, dig up the tubers and preferably overwinter them in the cellar or another place.
Georgines that you do not want to continue cultivating because the flowers are not so beautiful or you simply do not have a suitable place for overwintering, dispose of them in the compost.
Tips & Tricks
You can harvest particularly large quantities of germinable seeds from unfilled dahlias. It matures best and produces strong plants with very different flowers next year.
