Dahlias: Dahlias: Fall Dig, Winter Storage, Spring Anticipation, 2 by psudan

psudan wrote:
Lol, yeah that's my deer sled. And since it's not getting much action for it's intended purpose so far, I thought I'd put it to use hauling the tubers.

I just finished bagging and wrapping the last of the divided tubers. The tubers didn't look as good as normal this year. A lot of long skinny ones that are not good keepers. I like the ones that grow off the stem like spokes on a wheel, really easy to divide. But I had very few of those this year. Some of the clumps were so congested with small tubers that I couldn't see any way to get in to divide. On those, I either kept the entire clump or tossed the whole thing.

The tubers are unique. Some follow the same pattern of growth every year. Hollyhill 6-in-1 almost always has many round, golfball-like tubers which are a nightmare to divide. Ferncliff Illusion has tons of long, skinny tubers and I'm willing to bet that 90% don't survive storage.

I saran wrapped a lot of the skinny-necked tubers. I've read that's the best way to store those. Still, it's a low percentage deal.

The second photo shows a sprouting tuber I found in a zip-loc bag yesterday. The bag had fallen off a shelf in the tool shed and was hidden behind some other bags since back early June. There were a few rotten tubers in the bag. I had given up on them and meant to through the bag away. No idea how it survived the heat of summer and very little light. Don't ever think dahlias aren't tough! lol

I put a thermometer in the corner of my attic close to some vents. It shows about 58 degrees. I don't know if the thermometer is any good because it doesn't feel quite that cool. It's probably like the ones our weather people use. It should be a lot cooler this winter. I'm worried more about the low humidity.

I dug about 25 more clumps this afternoon that I had intended to leave in the ground. I decided to bag them dirt and all and see how they turn out. They'll probably be better than the ones I've put so much effort into dividing.