I stored a lot of my dahlias in poting soil this year. I went from around a 100 dahlias to over 400 so I did not have enough saw dust to do them all. A large amount of my dahlias are waking up, so I have planted them. I intend on having a lot of blooms in May.

How are the tubers that you stored in potting soil in terms of shrivel, Viking?

Katy, I think the potting soil would be better than the plain paper bag or newspaper. Not so much surface area exposed to air pockets for moisture loss. You were smart to get them out of the condensation in Saran wrap.

I used wood shavings (cedar) this year extensively and am finding very good results. Ditto for vermiculite and plastic wrap.

If you are up to playing with them a little more, how about giving them a nice long (say a couple hours) bath in cool water to make sure they are nice and hydrated.

Then let them dry off (again, probably a couple hours) so they are no longer "wet" and you have a couple choices...

You could possibly put them into storage again. I am not sure how much you have, but if you get some fresh storing medium, like a bag of wood shavings (I used pine with good results) from a petstore, or vermiculite, you could basically box up the tubers with it (or even put them in large ziplock bags) and put into the fridge for a few weeks until you are ready to grow them on.

Or, you could start now. It is a little early yet, but you could start the growing process. I made the call mid January that my tubers because they where in such rough shape prior to being stored would not do well if kept in storage much longer. they are in a sunny south facing window. A little leggy, but very much alive. I keep pinching them back right now. within a month I hope to move them out to a cold frame...

It's March. I figure in zone 5 we have 3 more months before we can even considered putting them in the ground. What do you do it they start growing now? You musst all have green houses or something else? I don't have that many windows to keep the tubers or plants going until the end of May?

I don't have a greenhouse, but they are in a very large sunny south facing picture window. So far they have been doing well, although the next month will be the real test. I am hoping though to get them into a cold frame in about 3 weeks, at least during mild weather, I may have to bring them in if we get a real bad burst of cold.

Still, I think that it would be a good idea to bath any tubers that are loosing hydration, even i just to dry them off and pack them back up again for another month, especially if it is two.

pdshop,

Keep pinching them back, and try to keep them out of the light as much as possible.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks for all the advice. I checked on my tubers tonight to see how they were doing and found some uncovered and shriveled. I don't know if they were uncovered b/c the soil started to dry out and fell off of them. There were also a couple that had chunks out of them, so I think a mouse has been having a winter snack. I do have a dirt basement and I can't blame the little guy really. I put a tempting treat out there and there is still a lot of snow outside. I'm planning on giving them a bath for a few hours hopefully tomorrow to plump the shriveled ones back up and then maybe start potting some up. I have a great south facing window, but also have a 14 month old so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks,
Katy

I wish I had a good camera right now, I put mine back in a south facing window today. What I did was place them in large zip lock bags, and then tape with clear packing tape them to the window. Dispite a heavier 5" pot, they are held up rather effectively. Probably go through a can of lighter fluid in the spring getting the gunk off the window, but, it will be worth it!

I thought this might work to keep them out of reach of your little one.

Storing tubers in a refrigerator is probably not a good idea. I suppose that if it were devoted only to tuber storage and the temperature was adjusted higher, about 42 degrees, it may work. But refrigerators have uneven cooling and some areas can easily freeze. Also, they have dehumidifiers in them to remove moisture. Not a good thing.

I have had very good luck with the fridge, I do agree you take a small risk of freezing the tubers, as nearly happened when My 4 year old found the controls!! Luckally I caught it and no harm no foul!

I store them in a ziplock bag with fine wood shavings. Because they are sealed, they don't loose moisture too badly. The only reason why I could not long term do it this year was that the tubers where struggling in the first place, some where just not very big, others (my Mother in Laws) where rotting the day I got them. but, even still, they managed 3 months in the fridge crisper rather nicely. For those that don't have other options, like a cool room / attic or garage, it may be the only way they can even attempt to overwinter!