Saving the Dahlia Tubers

Your soil is warm enough for dahlias? We're due for 32 degrees tonight!

I hope so, this is about the time I plant them every year. Fear of frost over for us on 5/15 and evening temps in the 40's.

Good for you Candee! So how many dahlias are you planting this year?

I guess I have 50+ tubers that I separated last year Diann and I generally put a couple together, just in case!!!

Hi all I am new to the forums on dahlias, seems like you all have so much knowledge. Can I ask a few questions?
I have some that I stored in my basement ( not heated per se, but it does have the washer & furnace in it) so I store them far away from the furnace.oposite side of the room , near a wall right near my garage.
I am in RI zone 5b...
Every year I usually do OK...This year I lost about 50% , they were all dried out...the other 50% did fine...but some had sprouts..some not.
They were stored in paper bags in boxes.

Is it necessary to plant with sprouts and what is best way to encourage this? before planting in dirt for the season.
Do I split the large clump of tubers into many tubers? Can I cut them up? Is this where they will sprout...
My clumps are quite large as I am afraid of splitting them up into separate small ones..
I hope this isn't too confusing...thank you in advance..
Martha

This message was edited May 2, 2012 11:06 PM

Martha


They have to have an 'eye' in order to sprout and flower. There are ways to try to force the tuber to sprout - check out the 'sticky' at the top of the dahlia forum. There is a lot of really good information there.

Have you tried to moisten up any of the dried tubers? I would definitely start there.

I cut mine up each fall, leaving a bit of the stem on each to assure I have at least one eye. I lost a fair amount this year also, some small and some really large. I suspect too much moisture was left on them and I wrap in plastic wrap. what is the name of the gorgeous yellow dahlia. I had one a year or so ago and then lost it.

Mary - did you sprout experiment work? When you removed the sprout and planted it, did it form roots? Or was your main purpose to see if you accidentally (on purpose in your experiment) knock off a sprout, if a new one would form?

I also have a sprout rooting experiment going on - using a sand media and in vermiculite, using different sizes of sprouts, and I even am trying to root the pinches when I am topping some of my larger ones off. Since I can leave my dahlias in the ground, the early ones are over a foot tall, and Pooh is about 2 ft tall. My camera lens is stuck on the inbetween position so I can't take any pictures. Will have to figure out how to unstick it.

the tuber sent up new sprouts. I already had some sprouts that I dipped in rooting gel and have maybe ten that are growing nicely. Have no clue where I am going to put all these dahlias. they will be in pots until mid to late June as that is when the new flower beds are going in.

I know what you mean about where to put them. I had soooooooo many this year after splitting them last fall that I seemed to plant all day and then some. I am sure I have planted dahlias on top of dahlias and other things, oh well, I love them!

Maybe we should consider a dahlia tuber exchange next year. I am sure we all have different varieties, and it would be fun to try new ones. I hate to throw anything away, bit when I split the tubers, I really don't need 6 plants of the same variety.

I agree. I have more Kaiser Wilhelm than I need. I guess we would have to wait a bit in the spring to assure that the tubers we send had viable eyes.

I have about a dozen varieties and I just split them up and put them in the box and am always surprised at what comes up where. I swear that next year I am going to mark them at least by color. I don't know how, but I seem to have always managed to have the yellows, whites come up together and the reds or burgundy together and so forth, but not sure that will happen this year as I really had a lot and put a few together? We shall see.
So an exchange is a great idea, but not sure what you would be getting from me.

This message was edited May 9, 2012 5:53 AM

my pretty flowers are all being eaten by earwigs ....urgh ! I have set out plastic used coffee containers with beer , and am catching some, hopefully i can have a few blooms to cut and bring inside,as this is my reasoning for growing dahlias in the 1st place....anyone else having this issue and if so what did you do?

I've used this product with great success:

Thanks doodles, but I am now full up on dahlias. Went a little nuts. Plus I have shipments of lilies and peonies coming this fall to try to sqeeze in. But thanks anyway. Do earwigs make the leaves get all crunched up looking. I thought Bug-geta was for snals -- will it work for other pests also.

Earwigs eat holes in leaves. Ortho Bug Geta PLUS gets slugs, snails and earwigs.

I just spread some corry's around my dahlias - didn't have enough so will try your stuff next. I thought I would have the new bed free of slugs, but guess not.

THANKS PIRL , my dahlias thank you too

You are quite welcome. If you have any dahlias, like Duet, with white tips, the earwigs are drawn to them more than any other dahlia.

If any flower is suspect just cut the stem, bring the flower to a cement walk (or brick but not dark like asphalt) and shake the flower. If earwigs are there they will fall out but be aware that they will also gross you out by crawling up your arm faster than you think could be possible - so shake and drop the flower at the same time. You'll spot the earwigs scurrying away - stomp and squish them.

Oberon and Pril, I have dahlias that the leaves are all scrunched up also. I don't know what causes it. My problem with insects are the grasshoppers, They eat the whole top of the flower. I don't even mind smashing them anymore. I just clap my hands and smash them dead. I have some beautiful dahlias but my biggest, prettiest one is the Lady Darlene. Oh it just about takes my breath away.

I've had Lady Darlene and absolutely adored it.

I don't know what causes the scrunched up leaves so let's hope someone comes along who can help. I would remove those leaves and not put them in compost. Grasshoppers seem to be more of a pest than ever before.

Speeking of earwigs on Dahlias. I run into a article about Earwig trap. You need a stick, clay flowerpot and napking, I guess paper napkin. You turn the pot upside down, with the stick hold in the napkin and stick the whole thing in ground. early morning the earwig will croll up to the napkin to hide. This is when you take the whole pot and imers it in soapy water. Put new napkin and start again. It make sense. Here is the picture. Etelka

The remains of half a grapefruit will also attract them but the problem comes in when you lift it and they scatter or run up your arm. For some of us we'd need 20 to 100 pots or grapefruit shells.

I just pulled up some Dahlias that are from the Biltmore Collection. I bought them two summers ago, well past their plant date, on sale for half price. Figured, what could I lose?

Those doggone things almost threw my back out this past Saturday! They must have grown easily four times larger than what they were this Spring (I dug them last fall as well), and look like potatoes!

My church enjoyed them for a couple of months, too! Absolutely incredible purchase.

Great. Good to see that they grew well for you. I have seen some of them online. They are real beauties.

That's what I love about digging! Seeing how well they grew below ground! Too bad they don't give ribbons for those. I just read that the original tuber should be tossed. Really?

Jeese, try to FIND the original tuber! LOL! I heard that tubers are also referred to as "taters." Cool, huh - I LIKE this name for 'em!

I heard that too, about pitching the original. I don't do that if it looks good. Sometimes the older ones are pretty played out though.

I heard that "tater" term, too! I thinks it's a Southern thing.

I think the "tater" thing originated in Mexico where they may have used them as a food source.

Sometimes that mother tuber shrinks up to nearly nothing and other times I just don't have the heart to ditch it since it still looks good.

On Lobaugh's Dahlias on-line catalog, there is a recipe for dahlia bread. Thanks, but I'm planting mine in the ground. Pretty expensive bread,too, although they do say they use the tubers that don't sprout eyes.

Mac and cheese sounds more appetizing to me, Dan!

I'm at home and actually using the laptop but the keyboard will take awhile to feel normal.

pirl, my new laptop is VERY sensitive, much more than the last computer I have- just brush the scroll pad and you've purchased $250 worth of clothes- whoops, maybe that's not entirely the computer's fault, but it doesn't help matters.

If you put cheese on dahlia tubers, I'm sure they're delish!!! Too expensive, for sure, though!!!

Arlene, I had the opposite problem when using my husband's laptop, when mine had a virus. It was driving me crazy that I was typing fast and it was recognizing half of the strokes. I was able to adjust the keystrokes to speed it up and you can do the same to slow yours down.

Go to Control Panel
Go to Access Option (may be called Ease of Access)
Go to Change How Your Keyboard Works (may be called something else on your laptop)
Go to Make It Easier to Type
Go to Set-up Filter Keys
Go to Filter Options Keystrokes
Change the amount of seconds to suit your needs. I was able to go below and sample the rate of speed so I was able to set the best speed for me.

Hope it works for you!

Carol

Thanks, Melissa. I'll be very careful when I'm on dahlia sites!

Carol - it's the feel, not the speed, of the keyboard and the very flat keys (as well as keys in different places than on the former keyboard) that gets me a bit nuts but thanks for your help.