Dan, you should wait for an eye to prove you have a tuber to put in the ground that may go on to produce a plant. It will be a little raised bump, tending to plump up and look a bit pinkish or cream colored. Some show their eyes or sprout earlier than others. I take mine out of the dark and "sun them" being careful not to let them dry out. I think exposure to light gets them started for Spring. Flowergirl, I have the same questions, though in unwrapping Saran tubers right this minute I see some are budding eyes out already. They too have been in a sunny garage window for a couple weeks, along with my vermiculite stored tubers. I just don't want to unwrap them too early and ruin my good storage luck! Can't plant for at least another 4 weeks here. Poochella

Water often starts rot. I never soak tubers in water, as their fine feeder roots are destroyed when originally dug from the ground... they can't drink water without them. Very little moisture will set the tuber's growth in motion, if there is any life in it. Sorry to say, but the dead tissue of the outer tuber is soaking up that water like a sponge, and that is not a good thing. I would throw them all in one pot with some dried soil above and below, and let it sit for several weeks. Excavate it carefully in mid-March, and see if there are any shoots. Repot those living tubers into single pots, and be very conservative in the amount of water you give it... just enough that the soil is cool to the touch, not wet, until there are leaves spreading out. By then, feeder roots are established, and the tuber can handle excess water. Good luck!

Storage can be tricky with dahlias, and the work involved in digging/storing is cited as the main reason why folks don't bother grow them. As is anything, it is important to find a way that is within your tolerance level of work-to-enjoyment ratio. One casual gardener I know had kept her washed dahlia clumps in paper grocery bags, tops folded, placed in a single row within a cardboard box. She misted the outside of the bags with water once a week during winter. Result? A bit wrinkled with dehydration, but tons of sprouts from each clump. Tough to divide clumps in the spring, so her husband chopped off sprouts with as much tuber as he could, which wasn't much. Not ideal results, but they were happy with the survival rate, and felt that multiple sprouts per clump going into the ground was good. One oldtimer casual gardener had always wrapped each unwashed clump in a single newspaper sheet, and popped it into an open plastic grocery bag. Stored them in his root cellar, and chopped them in half the following spring. He swore by it... I know a couple casual gardeners that covers their unwashed clumps in dirt-floor cellars/greenhouse with potting mix. The clumps don't really go dormant, but growth slows down substantially. The added protection keeps them from freezing or drowning with too much rain/snow water. Notice how many times I refer to the 'casual gardener.' This is someone that often doesn't care as much about variety name, or about getting as many tubers off each clump as possible, and is often thrilled to just have as many plants the following year with minimal work and money. Keeping the clumps intact and not getting as many new plants in the spring tends to work best for these folks. Or... not worrying about digging/storing at all is a possible solution, and simply purchasing new ones each year as one does annual flowers is a major de-stressor. Any plants that come up on their own is a bonus. The serious dahlia grower is typically obsessed with correctly labeling each variety, and tries to maximize the amount of viable tubers off each clump. The extras are planted for profit, sold or donated/gifted. These growers normally divide the clumps in the fall when the eyes are the most visible on the tubers, and takes great care in packing the tubers into some material (peat, vermiculite, perlite, wood chips, etc) or wrapping each individual tuber in saran wrap. Serious growers often derive almost as much enjoyment in the storage/prestarting process as in the blooms themselves, making dahlias a year-round hobby with skills learned through trial & error. In reality, there are folks that can identify with both casual and serious growers, and are somewhere in-between. But understanding the basic differences may help you choose some methods to start with, instead of feeling vaguely guilty for not doing dahlias 'right.' The only 'wrong' way to do dahlias is to stop trying because it all seems too hard. What's the fun in that?

there is a very active fruit forum ... in case you dont get the answer here ... the fruit nuts.. kinda play by their own rules... lol .. can you document that there has been no frost/freeze event between flowering and the problem??? ... something about the flowers not falling off... has me wondering ken