3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Are those "little white warts" the eyes of the tuber? Are they near the stem? If so, they very well may be the eyes of the tuber which are next year's growth spots.
That being said, the tubers from last year will be old and withered, and beside that old tuber ( if it still exists at all) will be the young tubers which will give next year's plants.
Do your research before you pull off more "little white warts".
If you decide that they are diseased, do not store them with your healthy tubers, but discard them. Don't even compost them if your composter does not get hot.
Well, they're not eyes (that's for sure) The eyes I notice are more up at the top of the tuber. These little things are all over the body of the tuber. They're kind of fleshy feeling.
I wrapped these ones up separately just in case they are infected with something. Never know what I'm going to find in the spring. :)
Names, we need names...pleeeese, whine, whine. I want them all. I love the far left one in the top photo, no- the 2nd from the right, no- the big bright ones in the bottom photo, no-wait....
Lovely photos, thanks for sharing with us.
"Ruthann" is in the foreground and that is "Summer Night" behind her. Summer Night bloomed like crazy by the end of Summer. Its dark color makes the other dahlia colors in an arrangement pop right out. I started cutting stalks last week and began digging yesterday. In my experience, I've found that by cutting the stalks and then waiting several days before digging, it is easier to see the eyes. Sunday night was our first hard frost.
Good advice, Jroot. Over the years, my wife and I have tried just about every storage medium and every possible way to store our tubers with varying degrees of success. Now, we dig, wash, divide, apply a fungicide and store in plastic wrap all in one day. Since we plant over 400 dahlias, it takes us about 10 days. Our tubers emerge in the spring as firm as the were when we stored them and our success rate is near 100%.
Oooch....I'm thinking I may have screwed up. Good thing I gave a friend of mine some of my tubers this spring so I can at least get some back and replant in the spring. Now that I know THIS tid bit....I know to get them stored more quick like :(
Thank you for the tip!
Nikki~
There are many different types of dahlia, and many different sizes. Some of the smaller ones would be ideal for patio gardening. I have actually used some of the 4 foot dahlias in large pots as well for a spectacular show.
Here are some contacts for you to explore
Vancouver Dahlia Society:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vandahlia/
http://dir.gardenweb.com/directory/vds/
Canadian dahlia information
http://www.members.shaw.ca/hydahlia/
Yes, there are conflicting articles about how to save your tubers over the winter. Without going into all of the articles ( which would be too confusing to most, as well as too time consuming), we can only say what works for us.
Check out the link below. There are a lot of ideas about saving the tubers, and also separating the tubers, as well as getting them started in the spring.
Here is a link that might be useful: splitting and storing of tubers.
Hi Karen - I live in NJ and have quite a number of my dahlias with the same problem - I believe it is from lack of rain (ones that weren't getting sprinkled seem to have more dead leaves), although I have a few that are right in the path of the sprinklers and they have the leaves dying as well. It doesn't seem to necessarily affect the blooms though, and I have noticed new growth coming out after I have trimmed off the dead leaves.
Nothing like a good rain (not just water and sprinklers) to make the dahlias thrive - maybe the acid in the rain?? Not really sure - but we got totally drenched yesterday and today the flowers are blooming like crazy!
If the dahlias have not been dug and divided, the yield of blooms will decrease. I'll bet if you dig and divide them, you'll find a mass of tubers-separate and keep the best ones (make sure each one has an eye) and toss the rest-although I sometimes find my best dahlias in the compost pile.
Christine
Liza...I live in Vancouver, Wash and it is true we have had amuch cooler summer this year, nothing in the way as to shade them, I think my Dahlia's are just plain tired, I geuss I'll just dig them up and divide and replant, at my other place I never had good luck with Dahlia's, maybe I jinx them somehow, oh well we'll see what happens....
Gary,
I would love to make a trade with you. Haven't started digging them yet, as I'm putting off that huge job (1500 plants) as long as possible. If you are interested, e-mail me privately and I'll give you my website so you can see some of what I grow.
Teresa
I'd love some of your less common hydrangeas; here's the URL of my dahlia photos
http://groups.msn.com/ChristineTomRobertsonfamily/dahlias2004.msnw?albumlist=2
I won't know until early spring what I have to trade (I have some that I don't have photos of) and would like to wait until spring for a trade-if you don't mind waiting.
Christine
I find that tubers are more variety-based on how they will behave than soil-based. Some are just small globules gnarled together, some are long, lean perfectly behaved tubers with separate necks; some are monster tubers big enough to serve a family of four.
I never fear that I will add too much compost or organic material to my garden, however. It helps in so many ways. And it smells good! Makes the soil easier to work, easier to dig, and I think easier to water.