3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
thanks for your response (cantstopgardening) i dont mind useing a chemical fungicide sence im not a Organic Garden yet. i hope that dosent offend anyone, but i will try my best to stay chemical FREE..
from what i been reading most fungicides are made of sulfur and are very toxic.. thats not good!!!
as im typeing this i just found on google, that your not the only one that uses cinnamon. quote Ground cinnamon is recommended as a natural fungicide for use on tubers and roots that have been cut or dug up for winter storage.
i have lots of tubers, so i will try a hand full with cinnamon too and see what happens..
also still looking for more advice i dont want to lose what was given to me..
There are better experts out there than me. I have grown dahlias for 40 years. Most of the time I leave them in the ground, (because of my illness, not lazy). Some people split them up in the fall. Wash with a hose. Then let dry. Then you decided whether to store them as a whole clump or individual tubers. Cut off all of the small root pieces that are under the size of a pencil. Label them if you know what they are. I bought a good knife at the Goodwill just for plant work like this. On some tubers, you will see little nubs or eyes on them, that will be next year's plant growth. I have stored mine in brown lunch sacks, then put each lunch sack in a big grocery paper sack. Some wrap them in saran wrap, and some in plastic baggie. Store in cool basement, or someplace with no frost. I usually put mine in our window well that is covered with wood. In spring, it is easier to see the eyes, where to divide them. I know on this site, someone posted on dividing them with pictures, but at this time, have not looked for the address. Looks like you will have some to trade there in spring.
Darlene
No- it isn't normal- if you keep them cleaned up & dead-headed they'll bloom until frost no matter when they start. It might help to give a boost of garden fertilizer in July to give them more energy to keep on going. We use 10-20-20 at planting and again in July to spruce them up for shows in August.
Dahlias grown from cuttings produce tubers but they typically are smaller and harder to divide. That is because the rudimentary tubers are a bit pot bound as they develop and are crowded by the pot. Cuttings grow quicker and bloom earlier than dahlias grown from tubers. Rooting hormones are not needed to root dahlias.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. Some people say you can leave dahlias in the ground but to cover them with oil cloth to keep them from getting wet. It's not the cold that kills them; it's the soggy weather. I usually start with one tuber and in one season, it multiplies into a monstrous clump of tubers. I do dig mine up and use a method described on this line of wrapping them in Saran Wrap and storing them at temperatures of 40-55 degrees.
If you can get away with leaving your regular dahlia tubers in-ground, let it stay outside, highly protected from the elements; but do not let it freeze.
This advice is coming from someone who let their beautiful D.I. freeze two years running, so proceed with caution. I didn't really have a choice year 2, hit by a sudden, very prolonged cold spell. Nothing wrong with a nice winter sleep for the tubers, cut off and stored in a box of either shavings or sawdust. I believe they say to leave 12" stalk on the D. Imperialis, so a taller container may be in order.
I don't know that I would even bother to divide it next year. They are an awesome plant to watch grow by leaps and bounds, and the more stalks the merrier. I hope whatever you do, it survives.
Thanks Poochella, It's a double white so I sure don't want to lose it. Most of my dahlias have to be dug except the ones in raised or bermed beds because I've got lousy drainage. It's very bushy but only about 8 inches tall and in a pot slightly larger than a 4" so I'm afraid if I leave it outside it will freeze since there's little soil around the roots/tuber. I think I better go ahead and let it die back and store it until spring.
Linda, I've read to cut away as much of the green moist stem as possible before storage, then let that cut surface dry. you don't want the tubers to dry excessively, just so their skins are dry to touch and toughened up a bit.
PD, I use styrofoam coolers every year, with tight-fitting lids. I don't know why a camping Coleman type cooler wouldn't work as long as you check the tubers periodically, as usual.
Still waiting for a frost here, but the digging has begun.
thanks all, I ended up unbagging the ones that I had wrapped up and the inside of the bags were damp...ish. so I'll let them dry another day or two and then bag them...again.
I didn't cut the tubers up last year before I put them away, just wrapped them loosly in plastic grocery bags and store them in plastic plant trays (looks like a lower rectangular milk crate) in a cool closet. I lost only 2 last year out of 80 so am going that route this year.
Our soil is soaked every year at this time. I use a transplant shovel to chop off any tough rat tail roots on 3/4 sides of the clump and then scoop up deeply underneath so the weight of the soil doesn't pull on the tuber necks. It's work to rinse the soil off, but doesn't hurt the tubers any.
Thanks for the great photos.
Wow, thanks for the eye candy!
-B