Since dahlias are aboriginal to Mexico , it ’s not surprising that they ca n’t survive our winters here . What makes them so democratic with northern gardeners , however , is the fact that they develop from tubers , which we can dig up and stack away in spite of appearance during the winter . This makes them “ recurrent ” in some respects , because we can maturate the same tubers year after year . But they ’re annuals in that we have to replant the Tuber outside every spring .
At the destruction of autumn , we thrifty and labor - loving gardener will rescue Dahlia pinnata Tuber from the ground before it freezes . The timing for this job does n’t have to be exact , but it ’s good to survey a few rules . First , look until the first “ killing frost . ” This means that the formerly lavish - and - green summit of the plant will turn brown and appear dead . The flowers will die , too . Once this happens , cut the dead plant material back almost to the ground , leaving a few column inch of stem to cue you where the tuber is situate underground . Then , expect a calendar week or so before delve .
Use a potato fork to poke , inserting the tongs straight into the ground about eight to twelve inches away from the base of the rest dahlia stems . reverse gently ; you want to unearth the intact thumping of tubers without breaking them aside from the central plug in tissue paper , known as the crown . If you find yourself breaking the tubers , try loosening the soil on all four side before lifting upward . Pierced or broken Tuber are more susceptible to disease and rot during storage .
Storage
Once I ’ve unearthed the weird , dangly tuber clumps , I usually spray them off with the hosiery or dunk them repeatedly in buckets of water until the tubers are fully clean . This help do away with pests or fungus kingdom that might be living in the filth . Then , the tubers need to dry off in a dark and humid place that also has right air flow , like a basement or service department . I dry my Dahlia pinnata tubers in fictile crateful , but cardboard box will also work . When they ’re ready for memory board , the genus Tuber should be juiceless to the tactile sensation ; this should n’t take long than a day or so . You desire to entirely dry out the outside of the genus Tuber without also drying out the insides as well — hence the humidness . Do n’t use a fan or dehumidifier to dry your dahlias !
Since dormant dahlia tubers need to stay in this avowedly perplexing province of ironic - but - not - too - ironic , you should lay in them in peat moss , vermiculite , or Ellen Price Wood shavings . These media aid conserve moisture within the Tuber while also fending off fungus and putrefaction . I ordinarily fill up congius Ziploc bags with peat moss , Dahlia pinnata Tuber , and credit card label for keeping track of the cultivar . I attempt to keep the individual tubers from touch on to protect them from each other in case one starts to decay . I overlay the genus Tuber entirely but leave the bag partly unsealed to give up a little air into the mixture .
The ideal quiescence store temperature for dahlia is between 40 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit , but that can be tricky to find within a fully heated home . My advice is to feel a space that is as close to this temperature compass as potential : a source cellar , basement , or attic will probably be your best bet for storing Dahlia pinnata tuber . For the preceding few years , I have been storing my Dahlia pinnata in the uninsulated part of our upstairs water closet , which seems to work just fine .
Laura Schwarzgardens and writes in Minneapolis .
Learn more inNorthern Gardener®magazine…
Four seasonal issues full of growing tips and featured garden — written and edited by local northerly gardening pros just for you .
