There is no FAQ because it's all found on other websites- All you need to know, with some possible finetuning for your particular zone or circumstances.

Sorry you lost your tubers- it's a dahlia lover's nightmare. Perhaps you'd care to try this storage this time around with some of your tubers. It has produced pretty good results for folks here.
You'll have to google "no fuss storage" and see the link there.

Good info abounds here:
http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/CultureIndex/Culture.htm

or at the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Mid Island's Learning Center

Thank you Poochella! That's exactly what I needed.

Jackie....October...gosh I hope not...because that would mean we're in for a devil of a winter.

For dahlia, you are given a clue when to dig and store.
Allow a killing frost to visit which will turn the foliage black. That is your cue to remove them and carefully dig up your clump ...and use a garden fork...its safer. As the clump comes up, cut the stem but leave about 6" of stalk to grab hold of. Much easier to lift out.

Then, use either of two methods to store.

If you have a cold cellar or a place in your basement that is cool---35 to 50 degrees fahrenheit...possibly a crawl space that has a floor that is not just bare ground....that will do nicely.

Knock off any loose soil from around the roots. DONT wash them...that just delays their drying.
Then, into a cardboard box to which you have placed some drying material such as peat moss, vermiculite or sand.
Keep the clumps separate from one another. Bury them in the drying material.
Then just take them to the cool where you leave them alone until you are ready to put them back into the ground next spring.

OR...and I had to be convinced of this method but it is a tried and true way of doing it.

As the clumps come up, separate each and every tuber from the clump. Don't be concerned about whether the tuber has "eyes" or not....just take each tuber away from the juncture of the root.

Each tuber then is allowed to dry for a day or so in the garage or shed.

Then each tuber is wrapped in plastic Saran Wrap. Cocoon each tuber in this way. Hopefully, we avoid wrapping a tuber that is still damp which could lead to mildew or root rot.
Then store in your basement.

It may sound silly...but that's the new way of over-wintering dahlia.

Jackie, I lost all my tubers too,but it was my fault! I really didn't understand the instructions, however, sometime this year JRoot of Canada posted a thread
"splitting dahlia tubers - photos". It was posted on 4-03-05. I made a hard copy of this thread as this poster included pictures along with instructions, all about Dahlias. It's amazing what we can learn if we take time to research others who have already made the mistakes. JRoot, I thank you again for taking such a goodly amount of time to explain, photograph the procedure of digging, trimming, etc. of Dahlias! Cal Pat

Here's the link to that thread:

Here is a link that might be useful: Splitting tubers

Wow thank you all so much. I've printed it out and will have it next to me when I dig mine up. First killing frost is usually the end of November.

Diane your advice on digging clumps is okay, but if one has many, many clumps then storage in clumps in a medium becomes prohibitive space-wise. Thus the ingenius or genius origination of the Saran wrap method. I am such a fan of the Saran Wrap method after last year, that I've checked my pantry and I have at least 8 rolls of Saran waiting for November LOL- didn't want to be empty handed I guess!

I would take exception to your clause about "do not wash them" I have tons of rocks, worms, wet soil clinging to tubers (we're in Wet WA after all,) come digging time. I would no sooner store a tuber unwashed than I would go to work without a shower! In late Fall it takes 24-72 hours to dry out washed tubers here undercover. They are all clean, dried, and hopefully labelled correctly with my No Blot ink pencil at my side, then dusted in sulphur to further kill of any residual fungi before storing. I have been known to drop tubers or clumps in bleach water to clean them up as well. Squeaky clean.

I just think of "dark and damp" as a huge opportunity for fungus and bacteria to thrive and out here, at digging time it is horribly cold and wet- always.

Poochella, Costco and Sam's have those HUGE rolls of plastic wraps. I bought one last spring to get ready for this fall. :-D

Poochella, As a co-author with my wife (it was her idea) and Dr. Rick Peters on the Saran Wrap method of storing tubers I wholly agree with your post and the exception you take about washing the tubers. I also take exception to storing them in peat moss. If anyone prefers to store them in some medium, vermiculite is far superior.
I have been Saranwrapping over 1200 tubers every year since 1987 and have rarely lost any. They emerge in the spring as firm as they were when I packed them away in the fall. Googling "no fuss storage" is excellent advice. Regretably, there are many myths out there which are perpetuated by constant repetition. You will often hear from the self proclaimed experts that the tubers have to "breathe" or they will "sweat" or they must be "cured" or they must dry out for a week or you must look at them and spray them with water periodically over their winter storage. This is pure nonsense. We dig in the morning and by evening they are already plastic wrapped and packed in corrugated boxes.
Simply put, dig, wash, divide, dust with sulfur, wrap in Saran Wrap and store at 40 t0 50 degrees F. You will be pleasantly surprised with the results.
The only people I know that disapprove of this method are those who are in the business of selling tubers.

Good of you to give the missus her due Bernie! I can't believe you've been doing this for going on 20 years and the poor public only recently seemed to have jumped on the Saran Band Wagon. Or am I just out of touch? You can say so; I can take it! You'd think with the worldwide popularity of dahlias, the idea would have been more widespread much earlier. Perhaps, like all innovations, it ran into resistance from more traditional storage method users.

I've said it before and I say it again: give that woman a gigantic bouquet of flowers for her wonderful idea. And Dr. Peters and you get slaps on the back.

Poochella, the first 9 or 10 years were devoted to comparing the Saranwrapping with various storing media....sand, vermiculite, peat moss, sawdust, cedar chips etc. I would use the same clump and store half of the tubers in Saran and half in 1 gallon plastic bags with the storage medium. That way I was able to make a valid comparison on which method proved to be the most effective. It was only then that I told my dahlia growing friends to try the Saran method. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of Saran. Our local dahlia society was resistant for the same reason many dahlia vendors are. Our society raises thousands of dollars at 2 tuber auctions every year and any method that would make tuber storage easier and more reliable would cut into their annual intake.
There is still some local skepticism and I must admit that I too had my doubts when my wife first suggested that we give it a try. After the initial tries, I mentioned it to Dr. Peters and he was the one who was the motivating force behind writing an article and having it published in the American Dahlia Society Bulletin. The overall reaction worldwide however is positive and many societies request permission to distribute copies to the membership.
Three years ago we were still experimenting. Some large and bulbous tubers were difficult to wrap in Saran, so we tried wrapping in aluminum foil. The results are the same as Saran.
Lady Marian gets her daily hugs not only for her idea but for being the wonderful person she is.

Great information! Will try the Saran method.

Lost almost all my tubers...don't use potting soil.
They shriveled up.
All my non-dahlia bulbs in peat moss were fine.
Sigh, I'm not alone. We had such nice dinner plates.

Also, if the weather gets rainy and my stalks haven't gone brown yet,
I pull out with some of the garden soil
and let the plant die down in pot out of the rain.