Well, it is that time of the year again, to dig and store my limited collection of Dahlias! I am relatively new to the game. 2 years ago I did not know they needed to be overwintered indoors (Just outside of Toronto) and lost all of them. Last year I managed to save a few in sawdust in the fridge that I started from seed... This year, I have two collections I am trying to save, with two unique problems and not sure how to handle it!

Batch #1.
My mother in law usually throws out her Dahlias, but decided to let me have them this year when we went to see her for Thanks Giving. They dug them out several days prior and left them on a table outside to "dry out". By the time I got to them, they where rather shriveled out, and she instructed me to "make sure they where good and dry before I stored them or they would rot". Well, I know not to do that, but by the time I could get them home to deal with them properly, they are all rather soft. They look like potatoes that perhaps if you where sort of desperate could eat that night, but would not dare leave another day with plans of consumption! They are soft and shriveled. What is my best game plan for keeping these overwinter? Or are they likely too far gone? Should I try to resprout? Should I soak in water for several hours? should I just box them up and hope for the best?

Batch #2
We Moved September 1st. I ordered tubers for dinner plate dahlias from Vesseys in the spring, got them on special so they where planted late. I put them in flower boxes right from the hop to make sure I could take them with me when we moved. I am just bringing them in now and preparing to save the tubers, but the plants never grew past 8 inches or flowered and it looks like the new tubers are really tiny. Again, what are my options, I worry they are not big enough to overwinter in dry cold storage, should I just grow them on in the house? I have a huge south facing picture window, would this be good enough for light, or do I need grow lights?

Any help would be appreciated! I don't want to loose all my Dahlias!!

Google "No Fuss Dahlias" and the saran wrap article will come up first. If you're not inclined to try that, I'd store in vermiculite and keep watch on the moisture level of the medium over the winter months. Mist periodically if needed.

Batch #2 If you ordered dinnerplate dahlias in spring that were 8 inches tall and didn't bloom, get a full refund or replacements from Vessey's. They sound like they didn't have a chance from the start and certainly didn't grow as they should have. Not your fault at all.

here's a cut and paste of a recent review of Vesey's dahlias
On October 9, 2008, mallika_1 toronto
(Canada) wrote:
Ordered for the first time, but will NOT order ever again because:
- tiger lilies were all white, not the multi colour indicated in the catalogue
- the 'dinner plate dahlia' flowers were no where close to a dinner plate - was a mere1.5 inches across
-the calla lilies - have never given me a single bloom, and the plant has stayed an 8 inch tall bunch of green leaves
- the tube rose bulb - did not sprout at all
- am thoroughly disappointed since I have a great garden and do take real good care of all my plants - but this order from Vesey's is very very disappointing
- on a positive note, the customer service is very friendly, and I got a refund on the a portion of my order
- I rather shop at a local nursery for great plants for a fraction of Vesey's price

The second bunch I am still not convinced it was not my fault, they where planted late, and in very small containers and probably not in very high quality soil or suffered a fair amount of drought... I seem to have harvested a few good tubers so perhaps I will be able to overwinter... I also cut the tops off and have planted them with rooting hormone, so maybe I can grow them on in a window with extra light over winter...

I am not overly thrilled with my vessys experiance, it seems they charge about as much as a nursery would for a plant that is established, not just the root or bulb... oh well, live and learn I suppose!

Make a note to yourself so you can know whether a non-blooming variety is worth it next year.

Cheers,
Russ

The ones from my mother in law that where dehydrated are looking better. I think about 80% look like they are going to make it. I took the clumps, broke them up a bit, discarded the worst, then soaked the remainder in a sink with a cup of bleach for about 20 min. Then I rinsed them off and soaked them for a couple more hours with some No Damp. After, I patted them dry and packed them in a cardboard box filled with pine shavings. (Same type used for small animal cages). I just checked on them, and some have really rehydrated very nicely, there are no signs of mold or fungus, so I decided to just soak them for a few hours again today and repack them away back into the fridge. Seems that being able to breath but being moist is helping most of them to recover.

The others from Vesseys with really small tubers, I took 2 plants and planted them in two 2 gal pots filled with peat and put them in a south facing window. They seem to be doing really well with some new growth. The rest of the bulbs I prepared for storage similar to what I did with my mother in laws dyhydrated bulbs, only I put them into large ziplocks with wood shavings and up into the unheated attic. I just checked on them and they are doing really well. So... I'll leave them for now.

I think it is going to be a long winter!! Probably check on them every 2 weeks and then pot them up and grow under lights in January... Perhaps blue light?

Cheers,
Russ