3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Wait! I was so smitten with Honka photos I forgot your questions LOL, sorry. Mine is ~3.5 ft tall and when did it begin blooming? Well, I would guess early August. This year, I was not able to plant many tubers until mid or even late May or June in some cases, so about 80 days.
And here is an early single version of Honka. I love it, except for that loathesome bug in the 10 o'clock petal!
Aaah!! That last closeup captures the orange centre nicely. Okay so mine made it to full height but didn't get enough time to develop more buds. The tubers were in a small pot until July when I finally put them in the ground.
Sharon
I feel the less air that gets to the tubers, the better. Some of those packing peanuts are rather large and would allow a lot of air in the box.
Guess I prefer the saran wrap method.
This am it was 38 degrees as I dug and washed tubers. Then it was into the garage to divide and lay out to dry. They probably would have dried outside but drying would be slow at those temps.
Dig whenever you want, the tubers don't seem to care. I'm halfway done now and the coldest it's been was a brief overnight dip to 32 degrees- no frost, otherwise generally in the 40's or 50's.
I would be more cautious or discourage pulling on the stems for anything but the final lifting of the clump out of the ground ESPECIALLY if it's wet. That heavy/moist soil and torque coming out of the ground can easily break your tubers. See the link for sound digging advice and photos and follow them.
Note the line where it says "Eyes begin to swell quickly, typically within 4 to 8 days after the plant is destroyed by frost or **being cut down**..." That's why I don't wait for a frost, I could be waiting a long time. To me, the whacking of the plant is what shocks it into survival mode; just like a killing frost would. By not waiting for a frost, I find tuber digging and dividing more palatable now than in 30 degrees and soaking wet, and I still get the benefit of visible eyes by tubers trying their best to survive.
Good luck. Be gentle!
Here is a link that might be useful: digging dahlias
Paul,
I visited a dahlia farm this year and the owner told me you have to keep and watch dahlias for something like 3-4 years to make sure EVERY FLOWER is always the same. Then they are called show dahlias and you can enter them in shows. I thought I was confused about some of mine because I would take a picture of a bloom and the next picture I would take was different. I thought I was getting the names confused.
Shirley
I have been lurking around here for several months and posted a question once or twice. I said all that to say this; I have seen several references to "saran wrap" and wondered if anyone had tried Glad Press and Seal. I never cared for Saran Wrap but I came into some Press and Seal and its performance for other uses is quite superior. Perhaps it would be better for dahlias too.
Vmarcos, the vermiculite is in a gallon ziploc with about 1/3 - 1/2 cup sulphur powder added so you have some substance to help spread out the sulphur so it isn't caked on. I'd guess 4 Cups vermiculite, add more if needed. Add more sulphur if after rolling, gently shaking or topsy-turvying a group of tubers a few times only a light coating of yellow dust is seen on tubers. You want it fairly evenly spread but not caked on- that would just be overkill. My rule of thumb is: if I can read the No Blot ink letters easily, I need to add more sulphur. Usually just a few turns and gentle shakes and they'll be dusted well.
There is a great photo montage of Bernie's Saran Wrap method here somewhere. You can wrap several tubers in one long sheet of wrap (I actually like different brands than Saran)just completely enclose one in a roll before adding in another tuber. Keep wrap between all tuber surfaces, in other words. Some big honkers you might have to wrap singly, or lengthwise due to their size. I have had to double wrap some to make sure the ends were covered: one sheet one way, another sheet the other way; Tape edges pretty well, label if you want and away they go.
Let us know how the eye pencil works. You'll have the prettiest tubers in town!
To see photos of the Saran wrap sequence google "No Fuss Method"
Are these seeds from Wayne Holland? I got clarion seeds mixed with others from him a couple of years ago including from scented plants. I have been growing them ever since. They are a lot of fun. You never know what you will get. You will find the character of the flower will change a little as the plant matures, the weather cools, water and fertilizer, etc. Also, they change year to year. If you save the tubers, you will get earlier flowers next year.
As requested, here is the link. Enjoy. I use it frequently and am quite satisfied.
Use the Join Now link at the top left of the home page
Here is a link that might be useful: link to photobucket
..... but some refrigerators actually dehydrate. I know my frost free fridge dehydrates most things. So one has to be careful there. Rule out the unattached shed as it is too cold. If you have an extra "beer fridge" which does not dehydrate, you could set it well above the freezing temperature. Is there a part of your garage that is colder than other parts, where they could be wrapped up and insulated with old blankets, and put into a box ( after the initial fungicide/saran wrap treatment)? ...just some thoughts.
Alexa, the area of your garage that is next to your inside wall can be anywhere from 3 to 5 degrees milder than the other parts of the garage simply by heat making it thru the wall.
If you can put the clumps into boxes, surrounded by peat moss/dry sand/vermiculite....or electronic bubble plastic...it might be protected there sufficiently.
It would depend a lot on just how severe your winter is.
You didn't mention it but are you aware of the "saran" wrap method of cocooning dahlia rubers for overwinter storage.
It takes quite a bit of courage to actually tear all the individual tubers off the clump and expect them to come to anything in the spring.
But that is how the American Dahlia Society now emphasizes growers to do.
Don't panic! You can't always wait someone's ideal time on digging. I am digging as soon as two days after cutting plants down and it isn't making one bit of difference as far as I can see, so far. As a matter of fact, I find the tubers are 'juicier' and rather easier to cut into than after waiting 4-8 days. They otherwise seem to be behaving just like any other year when I waited longer to dig after cutting them down.
So do you have clumps all together still sitting around, or did you try to divide into individual tubers? I can't tell. Pale and smooth is good! You must have cleaned them up very well. Soft might not be so good, you want them pretty firm like a carrot or potato. Mist them with a spritz of water and cover with newspaper for a day if they seem dry/soft.
See posts on dividing, and the websites available with good photos to give you direction. Whether you store as a clump, or 1/4 clumps, or individual tubers, you will want to protect them from freezing somewhere.
Pruning won't make your flowers any bigger than they are meant to be. You might get a better version of your intended flower, but you'll never get a 10 inch monster out of what was born meant to be a a 3 inch flower. Which means I will never be 6 feet tall and have trouble finding shoes!
This is one of those toughies!
Little red circles around possible visible eyes. Further washing would help you out here and don't forget the value of a squirt bottle for tight spaces while dividing.
Try to trace which tuber best belongs to those eyes- might be two at a 90 degree angle; cut them both as one entity and store awkwardly that way.
Far right circle might go with # 2
Middle circle might go with #3
Hope that the far left circle goes with # 4 because #1 looks like a real tough customer.
If you trim the obvious/good tubers first, you might have a better visual of where you can separate some of those big stems. Often, multi stemmed plants will just sort of separate themselves once you get a few tubers untangled. Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and get out a chisel and HACK. Try trimming the big stems off and chisel down the middle of those stem stubs. Haven't had to do that yet, but I have many clumps to go yet. Some are just monsters, even in only one season of growing.
Good luck!
I try to dig only as many dahlias as I can handle in one day. I dig, divide, add a fungicide, wrap and store within a few hours all in that day. You can let them dry overnight if you wish but I wouldn't advocate it and don't see any advantage to do so.
... and Bernie is one of our resident experts.
If I can do it in one day, I'll do so. If I have to wait until the next morning, after a night of drying, the next morning I will add the fungicide, wrap and store.
I had a friend who "did me a favour" and gave me a dahlia tuber ( like coals to Newcastle LOL), and let it dry for a week, cut off the neck ( and the eyes) and presented me with a nicely withered tuber not wrapped or anything. It is on the compost pile now. In return, I gave her a tuber with an eye, quickly dried, fungicided, and saran wrapped, along with a nice friendly smile. Of course, many questions persued. LOL That is how we learn.