3,226 Garden Web Discussions | Dahlias
Why? Why dig them up every year? Why dig in the fall/winter? Or why dig them at all?
In some climates, you don't have to dig every year. I used to not dig every year and dug in the spring instead, chose a tuber that looked good to put back in the hole and gave the rest away, or planted the extras someplace else. More often than not, when I dug in the spring, there was something I could put in the ground. But about 3 springs ago, I went out to my garden of about 150 plants and all except for maybe 8 of my plants were 100% rotted. There had been an early hard frost followed by rain, rain and more rain. It was spendy to try to replace just my favorite varieties. Further, I was trying to replace favorite varieties long after most of the tuber inventories had been well picked over. That's why I dig every fall now. Come spring, I know what I have, and what I really will feel the need to replace because I've been through my storage boxes and I know what I have and don't have.
Why dig at all? Because the tubers multiply and deplete the soil. Because your flowers will get smaller. Because if you ever do decide to dig, and it's been more than 2 years, digging will be a mess.
I bought 7 dahlia tubers from Dan's Dahlias, a supposedly reputable grower/dealer, and 1/2 of the ones he sent me were not the ones I ordered!
Turns out, they were out of stock on some of their selection, even though it was early in the season, but instead of removing the out of stock choices from the list, he allowed people to order them anyway, then he just sent out less desirable replacement tubers without even an email beforehand.
Then, turns out that half were dead on arrival anyway!
"even though it was early in the season"
What does that mean? Most of the dahlia vendors are very small operations and sell out on some varieties before January 1st. In some years, a particular variety may make very few tubers or worse, rot in storage before it can be shipped. I would email the people at Dan's and give them an opportunity to make things right. Many of the dahlia nurseries have been in business for a very long time and they would not be successful if they did not make things right with the customers.
I wrapped all of mine in newspaper print end rolls. I think the layer of paper helped. My boxes were so stuffed I didn't have any room for bubble wrap, but something to keep them slamming side to side during transit would be a good idea. remember to look at the forecast so the tubers don't freeze in transit.
Keri~
I already have quite a few planted and theres lots of space between them so I was hoping to maybe squeeze some in the open spaces and see how they do. I tried using stakes and then tying the plants loosely to the stake but didn't work to well for me. I tried a couple tomato cages this year that worked pretty good so gonna try that again next yr. I have them mingled in with roses and lilies so I don't plant them in rows but if the cages don't work out I will def use the post and try it that way. Thanks, Judy
When some one says to dry the the tubers, they mean to dry them to the point where they are not wet on the outside and the cut portions have healed and dried too. If you dig them when it is dry outside and the tubers are already dry it may only take one day. If you dig them after very wet weather it may take five or more days. The idea is to get them to the perfect combination of dry and cured but not dried out or too wet. And then you want to preserve that ideal moisture content throughout storage. If you put them into very dry vermiculite or wood shavings they will dry out too much. Many people are wrapping the tubers in plastic wrap when they are at the proper moisture level and the plastic keeps them at that proper moisture level. If you use vermiculite, wood shavings or peat moss it must be slightly moistened(very slightly!) and the mixture of vermiculite or whatever placed into a plastic bag of some sorts to preserve the correct moisture level. Tubers left out of a storage medium will shrivel. In some parts of the USA there is very little humidity, the tubers will dry quickly in exposed storage mediums. In more humid areas like the Northwest, that happens much less. So in one sentence: Dry the tubers to the point that they are dry to the touch and the cut portions have healed, then preserve that level of moisture throughout storage.
1. It is very difficult to find eyes on them right now. - True. I ask the question - Where would I be if I were an eye? Usually if you get enough of what you call a 'hump' - you will end up with an eye.
2. "...in many cases, 2 or 3 tubers are connected to the same hump." - I will often just keep those two tubers together. It's better than keeping everything together.
3. "There are some tubers that dont seem to be connected to a hump at all..." Yes. the most frustrating part of a healthy tuber clump is that it is a big mess. The best thing is to start with the ones that are obvious. Then, it may reveal the ones that are less obvious. There are some tubers that are not on a 'hump' and they just might not get an eye.
Last year, I left some clumps all together, and other clumps I divided and wrapped tubers individually in saran wrap. The saran wrapped tubers were much healthier in the spring.
I agree that it is usefull to watch the videos; but I'll be honest - the videos sometimes annoy me because they make it look SO EASY. It's not. :)
Yes Honnat . . that's true. They do make it look easier than it is. But for them, it really is easy!!!!
This year, I got some new sharp pruners, and they make dividing so much easier! People recommend ones that you have to send away for, and I didn't have time to wait. So I found some that looked similar to what was advised and could walk out of a store with. They work a lot better than what I've used in the past!
I'm glad that someone else doesn't look for eyes. Last year I tried, but it took me forever to put up my tubers for the year. This year, I'm going for the (as you call them) humps where the eyes should be, then I'll wait to see what they look like in the spring. Or maybe do a closer review when I look through my stash during the winter, once my stash is amassed. I expect that most of what I've cut will have an eye.
I would agree with keriann. I had to laugh as I was picturing myself having the same issue. I try not to get too close; but then start digging so far away that I can't get anything. I'd like to take a trip and observe a big dahlia grower dig them up. There's got to be some tricks that I haven't figured out yet.
Some varieties they're really long, sone varieties are short, some are slender and petite. I can chart/memorize what a bloom looks like, but never had the desire to keep a database on the visual specifics of the tuber . . . wouldn't be a bad idea .. . . just not something most of us are motivated toward. Were there such a list, would anyone refer to it before putting their shovel into the earth? I probably would not.
Hollyhill Spiderwoman is blessed with lots of eyes that you may not see. The tubers are bit small and a bit ugly but save them all and I bet you will find sprouts on many of them in the Spring. Even a small tuber of it will grow well.
Aiming for places where there should be an eye is easy to say to the experienced dahlia grower but is difficult to explain to the beginner. Eyes occur where the tuber attaches to the stalk and if you cut them off of the tuber, the tuber will not sprout no matter how big it is. The eyes are actually in sets of three: a large one in the middle and a small one on each side. Any of the three can sprout but the middle one does so first. If it is lost one of the others takes over.
On tree dahlias the tubers can be three feet long and are difficult to divide. Also,on a tree dahlia there are inter nodes on the stem that can be used in place of tubers. They can be planted and will grow into a full sized plant. This can be done with our dahlias once in a while. For example if you grow a dahlia in a very small pot to make a "pot tuber" the plants will make very small tubers. If you happen to cut off the stem a few inches above the pot, you sometimes leave a leaf node on the stem and it may sprout in the Spring before the eyes on the tubers below it sprout.
Thanks for the insight Ted. You're the expert on that variety.