Continue to celebrate the Year of the Dahlia with these easy tips from National Garden Bureau member American Meadows on how to dig and store your dahlias tubers.
Native to Mexico, dahlias won’t survive freezing temperatures that many North American gardens experience. Digging and storing dahlias for the winter is extremely easy and simple if you follow these tips.
If you live in an area where your ground doesn’t freeze – such as parts of California and Florida – lucky you, your dahlias can be grown as perennials and you don’t need to worry about digging and storing them for the winter!
Cut foliage back to a couple of inches from the ground, before digging your tubers up.
Gently shake excess dirt off of your tubers after digging them up
After you’ve dug all of the tubers up, gently wash the dirt off in a tub of water, or with a garden hose. Make sure not to puncture the skin of your tubers, as this could cause them to rot over the winter months in storage.
After you’ve rinsed the tubers off, it’s time to examine each clump to make sure that there are no rotten parts. If there are, cut these bits off.
If the tubers have several eyes, you can divide them at this step in the process as well. Use a sharp knife to divide tubers, making sure each piece has at least one eye.
The eyes of dahlias are the set of cells that produce the next season’s plants and blooms. They almost look like pimples! If you can’t identify them in the fall, wait until the spring to divide your tubers as they may be more visible by then.
If possible, dry your dahlia tubers for several weeks before putting them away in storage for the winter. This helps to cure them and to prevent rot during storage.
Choose a location – either indoors or out – that won’t dip below freezing, has good air circulation, and indirect sunlight. After your tubers have dried, cut back the rest of the dahlia stem with pruners or a sharp knife.
The key to successfully storing dahlia tubers for the winter is making sure they stay dry, have good air circulation and are in a cool, dark spot.
You can store the tubers in a variety of containers – milk crates, plastic bins, paper bags, and cardboard boxes all do the trick. Just make sure there is space left between each tuber and there is some air circulation.
Place the tubers in a cool, dark space that won’t freeze. For many, this could be an unheated basement, attic, closet or utility room.
Once spring arrives, ground temperatures have warmed and there is no more chance of frost in your area, you can bring your beloved tubers out of storage and re-plant them in your garden to enjoy again!
