Last year I had my best success ever by storing the tubers in closed, large ziploc bags totally surrounded by course vermiculite. The bags were stored in a pantry that stays around 45-50 degrees. For the first time I had no losses, as opposed to earlier years where I tried other methods and lost a lot to mold. So I am doing the ziploc and vermiculite method again this year.
This Spring, I bought a big box store dahlia plant with beautiful blooms, transferred to a fancy pot I had here at home and left her in the garden and almost forgot about it, when got colder (zone 6a) I brought her to the living room and today, she has a bloom!! Not big as the ones in Spring time but a cute little one :)
I live in Florida zone 9A and I grew dahlias from seed and left the tubers in the pots. We don’t really get a lot of cold temperatures so I’m going to see if the tubers survive. And to be honest, I didn’t even know that Dahlia grew tubers. I can’t wait to see what’s next in your garden and your seed starting videos.
You could start growing some early indoors, just to take cuttings. That way they wouldn’t have to make it all the way til you’re ready for them, and you can get more free plants! I think Erin did that this past year.
I too used newspaper. When I checked on them this past weekend, they were quite shriveled. This process is very stressful, but I am sure I will learn as I go! Can you share how you start your tubers indoors? I have plenty of heat mats and grow lights, just not sure how or when to start. Thank you kindly for sharing your journey with us💚
Me too! They are shriveling a lot in my paper bags. Last year I forgot 40 of them in my unheated room and they all froze and all went soggy. Overwintering is hard!
I’m in 6b with no ideal location. Mine are in plastic boxes with vermiculite. I put them in my unheated back porch inside black garbage bags. Once it got really cold out there, I threw a blanket over them. They were ok a couple weeks ago but time will tell. Good luck!
Most of those look great! The only place I have to store my dahlias is my heated basement. I keep them as close to the floor as possible without being straight on the concrete, in a small area thatdoesn't have a heat vent . The air temp is usually around 70 but I'm assuming the floor is colder. For the few years I have been storing tubers, I have had pretty good success. I'd say about 60 to 80% make it. I'm totally happy with that. I use cardboard box with vermiculite.
I share your frustration, I live in zone 6a/ 5b. I found storing them in animal bedding did dried them out and I had to sprinkle them with water every month. This year I’m storing them in peat moss/ coir lightly moistened. I recently listened to a podcast of two dahlia growers who stated that most successful storage was in a cold/root cellar. I wish you good luck.
I’ve had mixed results leaving mine mulched heavily in the ground, zone 8 Atlanta. Winter wetness is the big issue. Someone in my zone covered theirs with garbage bags first then did heavy mulch on top. I need to try that.
I store mine in my garage in a box with peat moss that I reuse every year. My garage is attached to my house but is unheated. I'm in Zone 7b Cape Cod so generally we don't get as cold at mainland Massachusetts. I keep a plastic up of water right next to the box and check it on really cold nights, if the water freezes or starts to freeze then I know to move them maybe to the basement just for the really really cold night. So far I haven't had to move them. I had a chipmunk or something eat about 1/2 my tubers right after I planted them last season which was so disappointing,
I have some clusters stored in the laundry room on trays. They’re already shriveling a little.😢 I was thinking of planting them early since I don’t think they’ll make it until spring (I’m in 5B, NY). When I started them last year they took a while to get going so I figured it can’t hurt, I’ll pot them up in January.
you are so brave. A lot of mine came back last year, and I rolled the dice again. I just don't have a cold space that is warmer than my garage. Unless maybe a super far corner of the basement that I would COMPLETELY forget. I will figure it out, especially if I keep moving them a bit. Not now! But I did just pot up some specialty ranunculous that I started early to try under the lights. They seem to be presprouting well.
This is a wonderful experiment. Here's my amateur analysis: the shaved wood probably explains the results in both locations because shaved wood is an excellent insulator, making the tubers warmer than they would be without the shaved wood. Maybe the shaved wood kept the tubers too warm in the warmer location and perhaps the shaved wood reduced the tubers' breathability, and if the tubers released moisture, it might not have evaporated.
Thanks you for this video! I will have to re-watch videos on how to overwinter dahlias next fall! What are your favorites? My first tubers are arriving in April, I'm starting with just 3 varieties: Labyrinth, Jowey Winnie & Sweet Suzanne.
Rats, I thought I would try leaving some inground over winter as I don’t have any place to store either. I’m Z5a and we’ve already had below zero and now back to 40 and then more normal 30s. We created an above ground root cellar and hope it works like last year. There are 2 problems: the remote temp won’t work constantly because I have metal insulation panels and we had too much humidity. This year we added a second vent lower to eliminate that, but I think more cold air will enter. Plus I should have added more woodchips this year to cover. I leave the dirt on mine in hopes it will protect them a bit more. We always did cannas that way as a kid. They all look good and that bronze looks like a huge producer. You’re going to be digging like crazy😂. I still have the ones from seed and would like to get a few that catch my eye. Problem I’m having is where to plant them because I tend to shove perennials in with them or plant more in fall where I just dug tubers. I’m a bit cautious about putting them back in with roses because gall can spread if that happens. Dahlias are much more enjoyable, cheaper and more reliable than mums for me. It’s a real joy to see blooms summer to fall. Thx! I will check mine tomorrow 😉
Your tubers look great! What has your coldest temp been outside? I live in Michigan and started out with them in the detached garage, but temp in there already showed below 30, so I moved them to a room similar to your inside room. Your outside ones look really good so I am reconsidering.
Last year I had my best success ever by storing the tubers in closed, large ziploc bags totally surrounded by course vermiculite. The bags were stored in a pantry that stays around 45-50 degrees. For the first time I had no losses, as opposed to earlier years where I tried other methods and lost a lot to mold. So I am doing the ziploc and vermiculite method again this year.
This Spring, I bought a big box store dahlia plant with beautiful blooms, transferred to a fancy pot I had here at home and left her in the garden and almost forgot about it, when got colder (zone 6a) I brought her to the living room and today, she has a bloom!! Not big as the ones in Spring time but a cute little one :)
I live in Florida zone 9A and I grew dahlias from seed and left the tubers in the pots. We don’t really get a lot of cold temperatures so I’m going to see if the tubers survive. And to be honest, I didn’t even know that Dahlia grew tubers. I can’t wait to see what’s next in your garden and your seed starting videos.
You could start growing some early indoors, just to take cuttings. That way they wouldn’t have to make it all the way til you’re ready for them, and you can get more free plants! I think Erin did that this past year.
That sounds like an excellent idea
That sounds like an excellent idea.
I too used newspaper. When I checked on them this past weekend, they were quite shriveled. This process is very stressful, but I am sure I will learn as I go! Can you share how you start your tubers indoors? I have plenty of heat mats and grow lights, just not sure how or when to start. Thank you kindly for sharing your journey with us💚
Me too! They are shriveling a lot in my paper bags. Last year I forgot 40 of them in my unheated room and they all froze and all went soggy. Overwintering is hard!
Awesomeness!!
I’m praying with you!
I’m in 6b with no ideal location. Mine are in plastic boxes with vermiculite. I put them in my unheated back porch inside black garbage bags. Once it got really cold out there, I threw a blanket over them. They were ok a couple weeks ago but time will tell. Good luck!
Most of those look great! The only place I have to store my dahlias is my heated basement. I keep them as close to the floor as possible without being straight on the concrete, in a small area thatdoesn't have a heat vent . The air temp is usually around 70 but I'm assuming the floor is colder. For the few years I have been storing tubers, I have had pretty good success. I'd say about 60 to 80% make it. I'm totally happy with that. I use cardboard box with vermiculite.
I share your frustration, I live in zone 6a/ 5b. I found storing them in animal bedding did dried them out and I had to sprinkle them with water every month. This year I’m storing them in peat moss/ coir lightly moistened. I recently listened to a podcast of two dahlia growers who stated that most successful storage was in a cold/root cellar. I wish you good luck.
I’ve had mixed results leaving mine mulched heavily in the ground, zone 8 Atlanta. Winter wetness is the big issue. Someone in my zone covered theirs with garbage bags first then did heavy mulch on top. I need to try that.
I store mine in my garage in a box with peat moss that I reuse every year. My garage is attached to my house but is unheated. I'm in Zone 7b Cape Cod so generally we don't get as cold at mainland Massachusetts. I keep a plastic up of water right next to the box and check it on really cold nights, if the water freezes or starts to freeze then I know to move them maybe to the basement just for the really really cold night. So far I haven't had to move them. I had a chipmunk or something eat about 1/2 my tubers right after I planted them last season which was so disappointing,
I have some clusters stored in the laundry room on trays. They’re already shriveling a little.😢 I was thinking of planting them early since I don’t think they’ll make it until spring (I’m in 5B, NY). When I started them last year they took a while to get going so I figured it can’t hurt, I’ll pot them up in January.
you are so brave. A lot of mine came back last year, and I rolled the dice again. I just don't have a cold space that is warmer than my garage. Unless maybe a super far corner of the basement that I would COMPLETELY forget. I will figure it out, especially if I keep moving them a bit. Not now! But I did just pot up some specialty ranunculous that I started early to try under the lights. They seem to be presprouting well.
This is a wonderful experiment. Here's my amateur analysis: the shaved wood probably explains the results in both locations because shaved wood is an excellent insulator, making the tubers warmer than they would be without the shaved wood.
Maybe the shaved wood kept the tubers too warm in the warmer location and perhaps the shaved wood reduced the tubers' breathability, and if the tubers released moisture, it might not have evaporated.
Thanks you for this video! I will have to re-watch videos on how to overwinter dahlias next fall! What are your favorites? My first tubers are arriving in April, I'm starting with just 3 varieties: Labyrinth, Jowey Winnie & Sweet Suzanne.
Rats, I thought I would try leaving some inground over winter as I don’t have any place to store either. I’m Z5a and we’ve already had below zero and now back to 40 and then more normal 30s.
We created an above ground root cellar and hope it works like last year. There are 2 problems: the remote temp won’t work constantly because I have metal insulation panels and we had too much humidity. This year we added a second vent lower to eliminate that, but I think more cold air will enter. Plus I should have added more woodchips this year to cover.
I leave the dirt on mine in hopes it will protect them a bit more. We always did cannas that way as a kid.
They all look good and that bronze looks like a huge producer.
You’re going to be digging like crazy😂. I still have the ones from seed and would like to get a few that catch my eye. Problem I’m having is where to plant them because I tend to shove perennials in with them or plant more in fall where I just dug tubers.
I’m a bit cautious about putting them back in with roses because gall can spread if that happens.
Dahlias are much more enjoyable, cheaper and more reliable than mums for me. It’s a real joy to see blooms summer to fall.
Thx! I will check mine tomorrow 😉
Your tubers look great! What has your coldest temp been outside? I live in Michigan and started out with them in the detached garage, but temp in there already showed below 30, so I moved them to a room similar to your inside room. Your outside ones look really good so I am reconsidering.
Do you set your tubers on a rack to dry before storing in wood chips?
🌺🤞🏾🌸