I've found that the peat moss sucks the moisture out of the tuber. Then the tubers are resting in moist peat moss. Hence the mold.

Did you dust them with the bulb dust / fungicide? I really have stressed this as I believe this is the saving agent for me.

If they are that dry that they break away, that could be a problem for you.

Usually, one tuber will put out many eyes and therefore many potential plants. I often break it up even more in the spring, once I can see where the sprouts are. Use a CLEAN ( sterile ) cutting utinsel; dust the wound with fungicide again; let it scar over, and then plant in a clean pot. Your dahlia plants will do the new math - multiply like crazy. :)

Thanks jroot. I did dust them all with fungicide in the fall. I smell like it for days! I will take the shriveled ones out of the bag, get the peat moss off, give them a spray and put them in a store plastic bag and put them in a box that is lined with newspaper. About the clumps. When I dug up the dahlias the clumps were huge. Some of the tubers snapped off the main clump but I have saved them. Would dthey eye up after leaving the main clump? Do expose them to light in March to get them to do this? When do they come out of the boxes and bags anyway?

The ones that broke off won't eye up- the eyes come from the area where the tuber joins the stem. Also, anything that has a broken neck you might as well toss, too because they won't grow. If you look back at some of the older posts, poochella has some wonderful up-close picts. of the area where the eyes are & instructions on how to recognize what they look like.

It was very hard to keep the tubers from snapping away from the main clump when I dug them up. They were so crisp that any movement caused a snap. I guess this will be a wait and see thing. When should I start looking for eyes?

Check right now. It depends on a lot of things. Last year I had to force most of my tubers into life. This year they are breaking out of the bags I stored them in. Go figure. They are in the same room as last year. I will admit that the room was warmer in November than last year. But now it is colder and I have Plants coming out of the bags. I used bulb buster this year so all my tubers are much larger than last year.

viking, when you say you had to force them to eye up, what did you do?

How I forced my tubers. I first rad very hot water over the tubers where the eyes would form. Then I planted the tubers up in smahe containers with the tips just out of the soil. I sprayed them every day till eyes formed. This took quite a while to get results. I am way a head of time this year. My tubers are better and I have growth on many. I only need about 25 tubers started now to have a good display out front. Then as I plant more up I will have a great garden by July 1st.

pdshop, what tool are you using to dig up your clumps? It helps to brush away some topsoil and/or mulch to relieve some of the weight over the clump before you even start unearthing it.
Some people swear by spades that will sever long roots which will put additional pressure on the tuber necks (breaking them as you lift the heavy clump,) Some people swear by tined garden forks to loosen the soil, which is particularly heavy if it is wet.

I use both and just exercise care breaking away heavy soil clumps to spare the tuber necks. Dig on at least 3 sides of the plant stalk to best lift it without damage.

I've got eyes sprouting right and left on quite a few tubers I've checked. Those little babies are rarin' to grow!

I also oused the pitchfork method. I would put it in and wiggleit arouond and than move to another side and do the same thing. I will have to be more careful about taking hold of the stalk and than pulling??? Also in cleaning and brushing they would snap. Really fragile things. I am hoping some of the tuber that are still hanging will do something. I am between a rock and a hard place because I haven't ordered. I see on some sites that some dahlias are already gone.

Viking, that's interesting about pouring hot water over the eyes. Never heard that one before. What were your results?

PDshop maybe try a shovel, especially to make the final clump lift out of the ground rather than pulling on the stalk. Once above ground, you can carefully take off lots of soil, or gently shake it off if it's dry soil. You'll have much less weight bearing down on your tuber necks.

After removing that excess weight, the stalk makes a good handle. Our soil is almost always well-saturated by digging time, so your practice may vary. There are often a couple that will break, but a little extra caution should save the majority.

I use water to wash extra soil off clumps, no brushing as the skin is pretty delicate, just a moderate shower from the hose shower head while the clump is on the ground or up on a screened platform.

Poocella I can not clame that idea was mine. I got it from some one on this list. Now for how well it works , it worked but I have no idea if I had just left my tubers alone they would have sprouted. I suspect they would not have. The tubers looked dry last year. This year it is a different situation. I added bulb buster or blood meal in the bottom of the holes I dug last year. My tubers were way bigger and more of them. Every bag that I have checked so far this year has tubers that have sprouted. It is going to be a good year here.

I have to write everything down now. I had the screen so why didn't I think of putting the tubers on the screen to wash them. I will next year. I am afraid that if some of the broken tubers don'e eye up than I will not have Peaches and Dreams. The only one who carries it is Swan. Magnificant plant.

I had a friend give me 2 tubers of dinner plate dahlias. I have read the posts and they have been very helpful since I am a novice gardener. Is there anyway to tell how many eyes I may get from each tuber? Basically it is one big clump attached to a really big stem part.

Ok never mind I read some other threads in the Dahlia forum and I think I have an understanding of eyes and dividing.

Anyone who has been following my thread knows that I had some really impossible tubers given to me, they where so shrunken and in rought shape back in the spring. I spent hours trying to prepare them for storage and checking on them over the last few months. 2 1/2 weeks ago, I knew I had to get them out and planted, they would not store any longer! Well, 13 mini trays, 2 1/2 weeks, and I go to check again on them, first 9 trays, NOTHING! I was so depressed, then... SPROUTS!! 1 have 3 sprouting trays, wow, I was amazed! So, all hope is not lost, even for the most desperate looking tuber (ok, well, if it is completely dry or rotten there may really be no help!)

From my own experiance, I recommend taking a dried out tuber, soaking it in a mild bleach solution for around 15 minutes, (9 parts water to 1 part bleach) then soaking it in water for several hours, even up to 1/2 a day, and perhaps treating it with a fungicide. (I added No damp to my water soak). Then, you may wish to plant early. I kept mine as clumps because I could not tell where the eyes would form, now I see the sprouts, I know where to cut off the tubers from the clumps!!

You get the resuscitator award for 08-09 homemommy. I just came across a few clumplets of tubers in the basement that have sat in a sunny window sill for lord knows how long. They are complete mummies with some kind of blue writing on them: 1/4 their original girth, I'm sure.

Now you've given me hope to try to rejuvenate them, or at least try to figure out who they were in their former lives.
I'm happy for you that you've got sprouts! These tubers have an amazing will to live and you've proved it. happy growing!

thanks Poochella ;-)

Still only have the 3 trays sprouting, but I have about 9 good sprouts, so I think I may be able to get some sprout cuttings off the ground and may end up with the same number of plants in the end! My only misgivings is that my MIL who nearly distroyed the tubers in the first place told me in a round about way that she expects me to give half to my SIL (her daughter) if they survive! I am like, "But I did all the work!!!" Normally I would not mind, but these babies I am feeling rather posessive of this year!! lol.

I just bought some seed for some lovely little single flowered dahlias, so looking forward to a total rework of the garden this year! (It is our first spring / summer in this house!)

Now... total mummies, I don't know, I suppose there is no harm in trying, but the ones I had did have moisture content to them, but they where on the verge of rotting, looked like forgotten potatoes that had spent the better part of 2 months kicking around in a cupboard!

This year I am going to try my best to Tell MIL to wait to let me dig them out!! lol. She plants them every year just as annuals. No interest in storing them. I can't stand seeing her throw them out, Plant Murderer!

I always had trouble with shriveled tubers by spring. There was one variety that just barely made it a few years. This fall I tried storing the tubers in plastic bags. And it's working great. I just checked and the tubers look exactly the same as the day I put then in there. There is some moisture and small earthworms in there, but everything looks OK.

I started another link but didn't get an answer so I will try this old one. I found a growth starting on the bottom of a dahlia stem. It is not connected to a tuber. It is coming out of the stem? What should I do in that case?

I had two planters of Dahlias that were brought in and out until the back porch froze. Then they were stuck in the laundry room which is well above freezing and have barely watered. One sent out two sprouts (I let them die) and the other nothing. Yesterday I decided to dig them out and they look just like the tubers I dug out of the ground in the fall, plump and huge with lots of eyes. I have since stuck them in a bit of moist soil under the plant lights. If they come back to life, I'm never going to the effort to store again, as most of the ones I divided and put away are looking a little dry.

Pd, I'd plant that stem with the growth under soil. Someone in years past had a stalk break off which they replanted without benefit of roots and that dahlia went on to grow and bloom. It may have been the saga of "Otto's Thrill!" It sounds like you've got a stem node/leaf node sprouting at that junction, so why not give it a chance to grow?

Here's a photo of stem tubers that grew out of the stalk underground, but well away from the main tuber clump. If they have eyes, they are just as usable as other tubers.
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Poochella, if I plant that sprout and it is only Feb., will I get a big plant to try to keep alive until June? I have just a few windows with good sun. Your tubers in the picture look just like what I dug up and they would snap right at the top like I said before. When I get my orders, I only get one of those tubers so they must get eyes not connected to the main plant? You don't plant that whole thing do you?
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Yes, if the tubers are done right, the single tubers you purchase should have at least one growth eye. If they don't, they're worthless and you should seek a replacement. Sometimes they take days to a couple weeks to emerge, but don't settle for eyeless tubers.

How is it that you have a stem anyway? Did you save a complete clump with part of a stalk that is now showing this little growth? How big is the little growth? I don't know what to tell you, PD. But I bet if you planted it in a pot, it would either grow into a tuber, or a plant, or both, or die. How's that for an answer? Can't hurt to try and might make a fun experiment. Something wants to grow at that junction, why not give it a chance?

When you ask "you don't plant the whole thing?" Do you mean the whole clump? No, I plant single tubers or perhaps 2-3 in a little clump if they were tough to divide as they formed.

Yes, I saved a complete clump with the stem cut off to about 1 inch as I had seen on the site. The little growth is coming from under the stem. It is about 1 inch in length. I also just plant the single tuber. You can tell that I have bought everry year and this is my first year of saving. I hover over them like an old lady! I will plant the growth, but what do I do with it if it grows to a big plant? We have months before we can go outside?

I hover over my flowers too, it drives my husband to distraction!! Every 5 hours or so I have to go do a full "inspection". Probably going to kill them with love. lol. Although it has gotten worse since I got the two flats of seedlings!!

It sounds to me like this is not really out of the stem, but is related to the tuber... I would try a sharp knife and seeing if you can sever it with perhaps a couple of tubers if just one would be too difficult from the rest of the clump and burrying it... My stem buds are much higher up the stem, about 2"-4", i left a large piece of stem on one clump, just stored it the way it was given to me. These buds are definately from where the meristems would be...