I stored some of my dahlias over the winter. I chose the ones I wanted to ensure survived the winter, and it’s now time to wake them up from their rest.
This is a pretty straightforward process.
I first checked the tubers for any rot, there was none, they seem to have appreciated being left in vermiculite. Last year I lost a few smallish chunks of tuber to rot, they were in damp compost over the winter.
In theory, I could just plant them straight out into the garden, in which case I might have left the tubers in storage till late April. Aside from wanting to take cuttings, another reason to avoid planting straight out is that Mr Slug is very partial to a fresh dahlia stem. It’s easier to manage Mr Slug in a greenhouse or similarly sheltered environment, so into pots they go.
Where possible I used 3L pots, although some of the older tubers are pretty huge, I used buckets for those.
Step 1 – add a layer of compost, an inch or two deep, enough to support the tuber.
Step 2 – pop tuber in pot
Step 3 – backfill the pot, gradually tucking the compost in around the dangly bits of tuber.
Do not cover the whole tuber, leave the tops showing. One reason for doing this is to make the new stems more accessible for taking cuttings. I found to my cost last year that burying them makes it harder to take a clean cutting.
Step 4 – water the pot, dampening the compost
Step 5 – stash somewhere sheltered, mine are on the bottom shelf of staging in my unheated greenhouse.
The compost should be kept moist but not sodden – the tubers don’t want to be sitting in a big puddle. If I remember rightly from last year, it was two or three weeks before new growth began to emerge.
I may have missed a trick in following this process, I think I could have divided some of the larger tubers to get more plants. If I have a chance at the weekend, I might dis-inter one and give it a bash.
I will plant them out in the garden once the risk of frost has passed, after a suitable period of hardening off.
I’ll be back soon with more gardening gubbins.
Other than bottom heat, does anyone have any tips for encouraging sprouting on a Rubbermaid full of overwintered tubers? Iāve just dampened the peat they are buried in all winter and checked for healthiness etc. Surprisingly not one has started to sprout yet this year. Am transferring to a warm rm. w sunlight out of cool basement…wondering what else I can do to encourage the eyes to start ripening/budding…THNK u!
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great explanation and diagram, suits new growers like me
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I think I will keep me and the Dahlias tucked up in the warm for a bit longer.āļø
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Another clearly written and helpful post. I was just starting to wonder what to do with those tubers and when.
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I think that is dahlias were that much work here, I would not grow them. I dig them up to only to divide them, or to get rid of them. They sometimes rot, but do not freeze.
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love the clear explanation you provide in pictures!
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Rookie error by me – I forgot to label the tubers when I took them up last year, so I’ve no idea of colours etc….. Duh!
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I got away with that last year as I only had one type, but i added a few new ones so was pleased to remember to label them!
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Excellent to see in action. I’m growing Dahlias for the first time. I will be putting mine up in the next week or so. With frost quite often in early May, do you wait until the latter part of the month to plant out? Also, when planting out in the garden, is it simply diggiging a big hole for the potted Dahlias to be dropped into?
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Yeah wait till past last frost date to plant out, any new growth would be frost nipped. I think I just planted them out as they came out of the pot. A bit of organic matter in the hole won’t go amiss.
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Lovely š
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Definitely after ALL signs of frost are gone!
. They will sprout quicker if you donāt put them in cold soil and allow the soil to warm up first.
(Where I am in zone 4-5 itās middle of June)…they are native to Mexico and S.America so like a similar climate- a wet cold Spring can actually delay early growth and I find itās more worth it to pre-sprout them indoors in a warm room on the window sill and just wait, as hard as it is,til the ground is consistently warm.
I planted too early one year and the tubers that stayed inside for an extra three weeks actually were way ahead in growth by July than the ones that went into a cold garden.
Also you might get 4 to 6 inches of stem to use as a cutting if you do pot them up and keep them warm inside-before being tempted to add to the garden for the season. I always pinch back first bit of growth to encourage side branching and to take cuttings off of every overwintered tuber before planting. Everyoneās climate works differently, good luck!
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My six on Saturday might be a little white on Saturday…
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Splendid. My diabolical scheme is working!
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