Dahlias Summer 2015

I plan to start digging if it ever stops raining long enough.

Annette how and where do you store yours for the winter? Kathy

These temps are getting pretty crazy. It's going to be in the 70s this week. What's left of the dahlias are still blooming. The plants look very mediocre though. They are wind blown and half frost killed.

Hey Kathy! I have been storing my Dahlias in a unheated/heated garage that we only heat when the temps fall below 20*(it maintains a temp of about 42-48 without heat, unless it gets very cold.) After I dig them I clean/wash the dirt off, turn them upside down to dry for a few days. When they are completely dry I mark each clump with it's name and store in a shallow cardboard box, on a bottom shelf of my cabinet in the garage.
This year I may not be able to do that, because we are moving our business office into that garage and if it stays heated, it will most likely be too warm. So this year I will probably try storing some in a few different places to ensure I don't lose them all. It will be an experiment. It needs to be cool enough to keep them dormant, but warm enough to keep from freezing. Dry enough that they won't rot, but not so dry that they shrivel up. Like I said it is an experiment, this is uncharted territory this year.

Thanks Annette

Kathy, You may note that other members on this Forum have different methods of storage than I do. Mine has worked for me so far, but it is not the recommended procedure for storing Dahlias by those who have a lot of experience growing Dahlias. I would at least do research into the various methods, so you have a better idea of what might work for you.

I am going to dig mine this comming weekend. Supposed to be unseasonably warm thru wednesday and then back to normal Nov temps. 70 in November is unusual for us. It has rained for about 3 days.

Our week long temps of high 60's-low 70's continue and a few of the dahlias refuse to accept that the blooming season is over. They'll find out sometime this weekend. Anyway, here are a few of the survivors. These guys are tough! lol

1) Vancouver
2) Ferncliff Illusion
3) Elsie Huston
4) Alfred C.
5) ??

A few more.

1) Vassio Meggos From the front yard in the shade.
2) Vassio Meggos. From the backyard and the color is washed out by the sun.
3) Zorro. At 4", this has to be the smallest Z ever. lol

Nice blooms Dan. About the only one of mine that still has decent blooms is Iceberg. most everything else has given up. But I really can't complain, they put on a magnificent show all Summer. And I would have a hard time digging them up if they were still blooming, lol.

Thanks, Nanny! With the change in the weather, starting this afternoon, I'm sure this will be the last blooms of the year. lol Of course, I've said that before. It wasn't a good year compared to previous years but I want to be optimistic looking forward. Nothing in the forecast is showing any temps close to a frost. I'll wait another week or two and hope to dig the tubers before it snows.

It didn't get as cold as expected. Only down to 38.I have plans for the day but will dig on Monday. Anyone else digging yet? Had brief showers both Fri and Sat.

No digging here yet. Just lots of leaf raking. Some of the dahlias are still blooming. Hard to believe, but I had one plant bloom Friday for the first time this year. I don't think it will be a keeper at digging time. We're forecast to have at least a couple days of 60's this coming week. I guess the blooms will be safe for a while yet. I got caught out in a thunderstorm with ice pellets mixed in late yesterday afternoon. Really weird weather!

I may do some digging today. It is sunny, but windy and cold. May wait a day or two, the ground is still pretty wet. Gonna check the forecast and see what it says.

We still haven't had a solid freeze to KO the dahlias. We'll be close to freezing next weekend but still nothing definite like a temp in the 20s. Glad to see you are still getting blooms Dan. Mine have stopped blooming and just look pathetic.

It's over! The blooming is officially finished. I cut off most of the remaining blooms this morning. The rain and wind would have ruined them anyway. We had a light frost early yesterday morning that you could mostly only see on the car windows. It's been raining all day and I'm getting anxious to dig the tubers before we get some torrential downpours.

I'm getting ready for storing. I bought a bottle of copper fungicide and another of Captan fungicide this morning. Also got a big bag of rubbers bands and a box of sandwich bags to cover the dahlia stalks after cutting. I haven't found the coarse vermiculite yet. I usually get it at Lowes. I bought a bag of cedar pet bedding to try out. I will try to stay out of the way of those razor knives this year. lol

Yes Dan, definitely stay away from the razor knives! I thought about digging yesterday until I actually got outside, in the wind and cold...I chickened out. It is going to rain again through tomorrow night, so it will have to be later in the week.

Done with most of the digging. One sdmall bed left. It is interesting to see the different forms of tubers and so on. Some are huge and some are tight groups of smaller tubers.

I've been wondering if I should dig but we still haven't gotten a good freeze yet. The lowest it's gotten so far has been 31 degrees on 10/19. Since then we haven't gotten another freezing day and that 31 degrees wasn't enough to outright kill all of the dahlias. Part of me thinks I should just say screw it and pull them all out. What do you guys think?

On a side note, my FIL said I could keep the dahlias in his crawl space where he keeps his canna roots. He said it never gets to freezing down there but should be around 40-50 and it's always dark. Much better than our garage now with our new door.

If his Cannas do well under there, I would think the Dahlias would too. You could store some in both places for insurance. I think that is what I am going to do. When dealing with the unknown, it's best to err on the side of caution. Just my opinion.

Yeah well my other option isn't very good I don't think. I've been storing them in the garage the past couple winters but since we got that new garage door, I just think it will be too warm.

Judging by our current weather and the forecast for the coming week, I'm almost convinced that we'll have snow again this year before we get a killing frost. I'd better go ahead and dig sometime next week or the nut job you see out digging in a blizzard with snow up to his knees will be me. lol Digging in the snow is one thing. Washing the clumps with cold hands is entirely a different matter. I don't like wearing gloves.

You and I may end up in the same boat Dan. I don't like the thought of that Icy water either. Let's hope we can get can get it done before the snow flies. :)

Alright, you've convinced me. I'll dig either this weekend or next.

Mission accomplished! I do not need to wash mine the soil simply comes off with a good shake. It rained cats and dogs the evening after I finished digging. It was a very cold morning. Had to scrape frost off windshield before heading home from work. It felt like winter but supposed to be back in 50's over the weekend.

Moving to a new thread here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1408989/