Dahlia tubers in potting soil.

13 years ago

Hi,

This fall I got many dahlia tubers from a friend of mine for free!! She buys the tubers new every season--does not store the tubers for next season--reason --she says it is better to buy each season than struggle with them whole winter!!

This is my first year with these tubers. I have just buried them in a MG potting soil with very little moister in a container. Container is indoor with rest of the plants.

Question is--is this alright? Will the tubers survive without any fungus, drying out etc.

I have always admired these flowers but never grown them in my garden.

Any advice/suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Anna

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Comments (10)

oscarthecat
13 years ago
Anna I am afraid if you store them in Miracle Grow potting soil the tubers will sprout and begin to grow. Vermiculite would be a much better medium for storage. Steve S.
monet_g
13 years ago
Anna, Steve may be right, but I have heard of people doing this. However, very little moisture in a very cool (not freezing) place. Basically in conditions where they won't grow.
Gail
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Given where you live - try some in the shady garden and see how they do there. And you don't have to lift them, either. Most of them will come back again next season. I'd say the peat in the mix would be the problem. It can be very hard to rewet once it's reached a certain level of dryness. You could try adding a soil saturation mix; or some sterile worm castings which act like a fine water-holding soil; or those water crystal thingies; or add some coarse horticultural pumice about 3mm-5mm sizing, not too many fines, to your mix. Personally, I'd go for the worm casts and the pumice for the aeration, drainage, and water-holding properties. You might also want to review your basket lining construction to see if another system would give you better results. I used a thin layer of foam rubber last season, inside a well-holed plastic cover, and it seemed to work. I've also seen a posting by someone who used those 'overnight baby diapers' - with the capacity to hold moisture and slowly release it - as a discreet option in a hanging basket. Carefully smothered by coir or sphagnum - it could work. I don't know anyone who uses them at the moment so I couldn't try it.
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Midnightgirl - are you sure May 15 is your last frost date? I'm zone 5 but usually we don't count on frost being out of the picture till the end of May, when we plant non-hardy annuals. http://www.avant-gardening.com/zone.htm PS on the lilacs, mine are in full bloom the first week of May now and we are getting night time temps in the low 40's. I think they are early - they also aren't as heavy as previous years. Lots of things look a little odd this year - all those warm weeks during the winter and then the hard freezes and snow in April.
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Hey Alyrics! Nice to see you. I use the baggie thing mostly to verify there's a viable eye, assuring a chance at a plant in your future. You can leave the tuber in the baggie- they will root up and grow nicely if they have an eye, but it can be a little tricky getting them out. If you get growth, you can transplant to a milk carton, a flat, a pot or whatever or cut the baggie open when ready to plant and set it in its nice dahlia nest in the garden or pot. Keep the bag tops open and monitor the moisture. I've lost some to too much and too little moisture in the baggies (which sounds like poor rocky Otto's Thrill there) What is it with you and poor Otto's!??? You could change your name to Otto Slayer, Otto Resuscitator, Otto Dehydrator. LOL I really miss that flower all of a sudden! Deer have never ever taken so much as a leaf off my dahlias and they are unprotected by fences or Scarecrows etc. Moles dig holes, voles and mice follow, as Plantlady taught me, and they turn your tubers into nibbling fastfood, but they have never killed any plant for me. Coyotes are creepy aren't they? They don't hurt dahlias but are creepy. Gophers I don't know about. Stakes: wood, green metal flanged fence posts, rebar, inverted tomato cages or other. I guess for longevity, I'd go with metal. Wood stakes are cheap and have lasted in our wet climate many years, but they do rot and break, sometimes at inconvenient times. Rebar is sturdy but dangerous unless tall and I'm remembering that helpful hint about kids'play balls to put atop them. Thanks poster who said that :) Fence posts are extra sturdy and work really well. I put them a bit further away from the tubers to allow for new tubers to grow close to the flanges that hold the post in the ground. Just a few inches will do. I have since learned: dig first, pull flanged fencepost later. Worked like a charm. Here is an eyeless tuber. It will never produce a plant. There is no eye, I could wait until December for one to form: it's simply not there. Wait til you see the roots. Here are the roots, straight out of the baggie: no eye, no plant. But plenty of wonderful roots going nowhere. I can't help you with planting out in Ohio but the link might lead you to something. Don't be a stranger Alyrics. We'll need a status report on Otto's Thrill as time goes by! Annie Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio Dahlia info
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v1rtu0s1ty, You said, "I don't mind bringing them outside in morning and bringing them in at night". That is exactly what I would do, if the temperature is warm enough. If you get a few cold days, leave them in the garage. A few days there won't hurt them. Just don't forget and leave them out, if there is the slightest danger of frost. They will not survive a frost. nhdalialover, 50's - 60's is good during the day. Personally I DON'T want them to make too much progress until I can leave them out, but I DO want them started. You see, I don't want them to get too tall and lanky, otherwise when I put them outside into the elements, they will be blown over and break. ... my two cents worth ...
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Original Author
13 years ago
Steve--thanks for your response.
I did get some Vermiculite. What do I do next? Remove the tubers from the potting soil and plant them in the Vermiculite? Or do I have to mix something else with this?
Do I have to water it just so to keep it moist OR just leave it without water till next spring?
Sorry, this is the first time with these tubers and I am little nervous.

Would appreciate your response.

Thanks
Anna
oscarthecat
13 years ago
Just use by itself. Do not add water. Store in cool dry place.
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Original Author
13 years ago
Now I buried tubers in Vermiculite in a container which has no drain holes and left it in the cool dry basement.
Question is -- do I need to separate these tubers before placing them in vermiculite? They are in bunch as is pulled from the soil (of course soil cleaned up).
Is it better to fill zip lock bags with Vermiculite and place these tubers in them and zip it up?

Please advice.
oscarthecat
13 years ago
OK to place tubers in plastic bags but please do not zip them closed. They need some air circulation. Steve in Baltimore County.
marty_h
13 years ago
As far as whether to separate them ... now that you already have them in vermiculite, it's probably best to wait until spring. Then you can separate them if you want. But when you separate, you have to make sure there's a piece of the crown (the bottom of the stem) with at least one eye on it, attached to each tuber.

"They" say that it's easier to see the eyes in the spring.

If you do a google search on dahlia tubers, you'll find tons of different ways of dividing and storing. The one from your local Dahlia society might be best for you. I felt more confident after watching a bunch of videos on youtube of people dividing them. That is to say, more confident ... but still not terribly confident!

I divided mine in the fall (today!) because I don't have a cool place to store them other than my fridge. I'm hoping I got them divided right!
redmond_phyllis
13 years ago
Mine are dug, and put away as of last weekend. I didn't use plastic bags, but do have them in wood shavings inside styrofoam picnic cooler tubs. The lids are on them, and they are probably pretty close to air tight. Being air tight sounds like it's a bad thing, from the discussion above. So . . . how much air should be allowed? Pinholes? Shoud I put a thin piece of wood between the lid and the box? They are made more airtight in that I had to stack the boxes two high to get them into the available storage space. Thoughts appreciated!
homeseller2010
13 years ago
My tuber storage plastic bucket is completely open. Not covered at all.
teddahlia
13 years ago
"They" say that it's easier to see the eyes in the spring."
It is easier to see the eyes in the Spring. But the clump will dry out and toughen up making it much more difficult to divide. You will also lose tubers trying to get it divided. Also, if the stem has rot in it, the rot will continue down to the tubers and kill the eyes on the tubers. Best to divide in the Fall if you can.

Dahlia tubers in potting soil.

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Dahlia tubers in potting soil.

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