Dahlias: Fall Dividing:You Find the Eyes, 1 by Poochella

Poochella wrote:
These are mostly blurry and I apologize, because it's a time when you want to see exactly what you're doing with your dahlias! You will be able to see your tubers much better in person and hopefully learn to spot where those eyes are emerging. Those eyes will bring next year's plants and glorious flowers. Practice; practice, and learn. But ask questions from any one of the numerous wonderfolks here at DG, if in doubt.

The best thing to remember when looking for eyes is to think "PIMPLE ABOVE THE NECK" It's every teenager's nightmare. So look above the thinner neck of a tuber on the thickened collar just below the main stalk/s of your cut off dahlia plant. Once frozen or cut off, the plant will try to regenerate itself by sending out the eyes. Just a few millimeters and that's enough for us to spy it, sever its tuber and save it!

NOT ALL TUBERS HAVE EYES: Some tubers will have multiple eyes. Some eyes are obvious, some will be sly and hide until Spring. If in doubt, and you really want to grow your dahlia again: save the dubious ones and you may have a pleasant surprise in Spring. Generally, thin tubers store less well and are at risk of rotting faster when planted than a well-developed one, but they can and do survive.

You will get no plant from a blind, or eyeless tuber. Ever. So if you divide in Fall: eyes are your target and a going concern. If you have room to overwinter whole or partial clumps, then you have more flexibility to see where the eyes sprout in lighter warmer weather. Lucky dogs.

So, look at the following and see if you can find the Pimples Above the Neck. I will add (hopefully less blurry) photos as I go through clumps. Some clumps are really tightknit, so ask about how to handle those if encountered.

Starting with clump anatomy: the stalk, the collar, the neck, the tuber. Here is a pretty average clump with good tuber development and spectactualr eyes/shoots already starting.