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Possible stupid Dahlia question...

8 years ago

As the title suggests, I may have a stupid question here...one of those "Isn't that common sense?" sort of things, but I'm still relatively new at gardening - so bear with me! :)

I'm in Canada in Zone 3. Last year I had 3 dahlia plants (that I LOVED) which did fairly well. I purchased them at a nursery when they were still fairly small, and they grew to be about 2 feet in diameter over the summer. After reading a bit online, I read that I could gently dig them up and store them in the basement over the winter. So I waited until 1 or 2 frosts and then dug them up - stems, leaves, everything. I put them in a bag, put that bag in another bag, tied it all up and left it in the basement all winter. Then a few weeks ago I brought them out of their hibernation. Pulled all the dead leaves off of them, shook the dust off, and let them sit for a few days in the open (but misted them occasionally just so the tubers didn't dry out). I then planted them back in the garden. Now our weather was up and down for a bit - but it seems to have regulated out now.

So here's my question - when I put them back in the ground, it wasn't just the tubers - it was the old plant stems attached to them as well. I expected that those stems would come back (like a perennial would). Today when I was puttering in the garden and checking on them, I noticed new growth coming out of the soil. So here are my questions: Is *that* what comes back? Should I just cut off the old stems and let the new growth come in? Won't that mean the plant will always be small - and that growing into the 'old' stems will never allow it to expand in size? I'm suddenly confused!

Any help would be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

seranata
8 years ago
First - Not a dumb question, everyone starts somewhere. :)

Second - Yes, the growth will come from underground, new from the tubers. The old growth should be cut off. This is usually done before storing for the winter but you want to make sure to leave part of the stem so you don't cut off the part that will send out new shoots next year. Whatever type of Dahlia it is will determine it's size. So the plant is going to be close to the same size it was last year.

Third - Congratulations on storing your tubers over the winter! That's a feat some people seem to have a tough time doing. Sounds like you had the right temperature and humidity.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
think of it this way ... the old stem.. is there.. just long enough.. for you to not plant an annual on top of it all .. lol ...

when its rotted enough.. just pull it away.. i wouldnt bother cutting it ...

ken
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linaria_gw
8 years ago
I would always cut off the stems in fall.

Some growers do, some don't, BUT when I ordered from some growers, I only had trouble with tubers that had left overs of the stem.

The idea is that the old stems rotts anyway, question is whether it gets into the tuber or stops before.

The first pic is from a tuber I got this May. I trinmed the old stem off, found that it was completely soft, started worrying when I dicovered that it reached down,

so I cut it lengthwise to see it clearly.

Got an replacement by now, and one bit of the tuber started growing, not sure yet whether it makes it

The yellow label is at the end of the tuber.

Swan Island always ship completely trimmed fingers (neatly separated tubers)

And after a while the old clump gets overcrowded and flowers less

The next two are before/after pics

A clump grown from a finger

After dividing

And that was another clump grown from a finger

sadly some wrongly labeled NoID, not a pretty flower but a prolofic tuber maker,

I just pulled it into two parts

try to divide them this fall, bye, Lin
dancercr
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi Lin. Do you mean to not only cut the stems, but completely divide the tubers as well? And then plant them one by one in the spring???

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