Topic: Dahlia Storing....Dahlia novice!

[Kea]

My dahlia's are still growing and flowering no sign of being frosted and dying back yet. They're in pots so covering them up isn't going to help them as it gets cold. On GW Monty was putting his in storage after they'd been frosted and died back. Should i just cut off the tops and store? Or should I just wait until they are frosted?

[geof]

Hi Kea,

I would suggest cutting them down before the first frost hits them. That is what I have done this year.

I cut them down to within 5 inches of the ground, I then leave them in the ground for 7-10 days. This allows a little time for the "eyes" to show on the tubers, when you do lift them - (any longer and the eyes will start to develop into buds/shoots, which you do not want) I then lift them, give them a good shake to get the majority of the soil off, then wash them off in a water butt. I then dry them up-side-down in the greenhouse/shed for a week.

Once dry I split the tubers into smaller pieces each with at least one "eye" and one tuber on it. I then trim away all the "rat-tails" and thin hairs on the tuber along with any thin weak tubers. I then spray them with an "Antibacterial Spray" (available from you local Co-Op at £1.60 for two spray bottles  ) I then coat them in a liberal covering of "sulphur powder" (availble cheaply off ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400g-Sulphur-high-purity-finest-powder-top-grade-/140427172425?pt=UK_BOI_Medical_Lab_Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item20b21c9a49 )

I then store them in my garage in a chest of drawers I have which are filled with a mix of peat-free compost and vermiculite. I keep an eye on thenm over the winter to make sure non are going mouldy if they are I throw them away along with the surrounding compost. If they start to go too shrivelled up I give them another spray with the Anitbacterial spray and replace them.

Next spring you should find over 8 out of 10 survive - giving you a good supply of tubers to plant and/or take cuttings from.

Here is a link that should help you understand a little better as it shows in photos what yo do:

http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/TuberStor/TuberStor1.htm

Here is a video by Dave Gillam ( A well-known and respected Dahlia grower in the UK) which shows what he and Dave Spencer do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfRhty53LNU

I hope that helps. We all have our own ways of doing things - some have slight variations that we have found works for us.

[grawrc]

What a fabulous reply Geof and welcome to A4A!!

[Kea]

Wow! Thanks Geof very useful reply.
Welcome to A4 A 

[geof]

No problem, glad I could help.

[pumkinlover]

Welcome! and thanks for the reply

[laurieuk]

We used to grow about 200 dahlias to sell the flowers at boot fairs and when it came to storing I used to get most of the soil off ,cut the tops to about 6 inches and stand them upside down under the greenhouse bench. I laid fleece over the top in case frost got in. They stayed there until April when I would split them ready for replanting. By leaving some soil on I felt it helped stop the tubers from shriveling too much. All the soil fell off when we started to spilt the tubers, but that was just my way as with all these things we do our own thing.

[Kea]

Thanks Laurie always good to hear alternate ways of doing things.

[terrier]

My routine is similar to Geofs but I don't leave them in the ground/pots for 'eyes' to show, I leave a good bit of soil around the tubers and wrap them in old newspapers. I store them in a shed in cardboard boxes until they are pretty well dried  out, shake off most of the remaining soil and treat them with plenty of flowers of sulphur. I don't split the clumps but in spring, I get more than enough cuttings from the clumps for my requirements. Then I just plant out any clumps that are still producing green bits to grow as they will. Last year I tried leaving some dried clumps in the cold greenhouse with frost protection as Laurie does, but lost the lot, so I think location has a large bearing on it (North Wales gets pretty cold). Now..if I could just get them to flower earlier in the season.. 

[Kea]

Yes, mine didn't flower until September despite starting them off in April.

[green lily]

Mine carried over in the garage in a large [well insulated] box. I put the survivors in a tray of wet compost  in the poly about March/April and then potted out in June. They flowered from July to November. I just split the tubers and replant. Must try taking cuttings one year but it seems a lot of hassle and I don't have room for lots of plants. This years tubers are in the conservatory at the moment and get wrapped tomorrow for the big sleep..

[carolinej]

t and get wrapped tomorrow for the big sleep.

You make them sound like the Blue Peter tortoise,lol