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Popped down the plot this evening to dig some more spuds, and found last night's frost was enough to finish off me dahlias :(

Do I cut em down now, or leave till foliage collapsed  ? :-\

We all do things in different ways but for many years I grew about 200 dahlias for cut flower at boot fairs and my way was, once the frost had blackened the foliage I would cut them down to about 6 inches (15 cm I think). I would then lift the tubers I am going to keep and get what soil off that came away easily. I didnot bother to wash them, they were then laid with the stems down under the bench in the greenhouse, which is just frost free. This allows anysap to drain out. They stayed there until the following April by which time the soil had dried the tubers had shrunk and the soil fell off. I could then just split the tubers and replant or start the tubers to get cuttings.

Wow! That's so helpful! Thanks Laurie! :)

Thanks Laurie, it's my first time with dahlias this year too, and I was wondering what to do.

I cut them down as Laurie does, but I don't dig them up.  We used to have a chap on our site who grew the most fantastic dahlias for shows and he always left them in the ground.  I mark where they are with canes then put a really good pile of straw on top and leave it there till growth starts again next year.

Cheers for the replies folks - cut them down to about 6" today
I will  leave them in the ground and cover with a foot or so of straw over winter
Have left them uncovered for a few days first though to let our robin have a scratch around ;)

I always take mine up and do the same as Laurie. I have too many of the same variety this year so am not going to take any cuttins but will buy some different ones and give the spare away

The one thing you will  have to keep an eye on is slugs in the spring as the dahlias start to grow. You will have an ideal place for slugs to live and EAT.

Quote from: Dadnlad on October 20, 2009, 16:08:39
Cheers for the replies folks - cut them down to about 6" today
I will  leave them in the ground and cover with a foot or so of straw over winter
Have left them uncovered for a few days first though to let our robin have a scratch around ;)