Dahlia Tuber Digging and Storage Checklist

22 items · Home · Medium difficulty · 3 hours

Dig dahlias a week or two after frost blackens the leaves, split each clump so every piece keeps some crown, and store them cool and dark.

• Tag each plant with its variety name before frost

  Tie the label to the stalk. Once the foliage dies, the clumps all look alike.

• Wait for the first frost to blacken the foliage

  Leaving the tubers in the ground for a week or two after that lets their skins toughen before you lift them.

• Dig before the ground freezes
• Cut the stalks down to about 6 inches

  The stub gives you a handle and keeps the label attached.

• Loosen the soil in a wide circle with a garden fork

  Start about a foot out from the stem. The tubers spread wider than you expect, and their necks snap easily.

• Lift the clump from underneath, never by the stalk
• Shake or gently rinse off the soil

  Clean tubers show you the eyes and any rot.

• Turn each clump upside down so the hollow stems drain

  Water trapped in the stem can rot the crown.

• Let the clumps dry for a day out of the sun and frost

  A garage or shed floor works. Bring them inside if a hard freeze is forecast.

• Decide whether to divide now or in spring

  Fresh tubers cut more easily. In spring the eyes have swollen and are easier to see.

• Cut each division so it keeps a piece of crown with at least one eye

  Use a clean, sharp knife or pruners.

• Throw away soft, hollow or rotten tubers
• Write the variety name on each tuber

  A permanent marker or pencil on the skin itself stays put. Loose tags go missing in storage.

• Find a storage spot that stays cool, dark and above freezing

  Somewhere around 40 to 50 °F (4 to 10 °C), such as an unheated basement or an attached garage that never freezes.

• Pack the tubers in boxes of wood shavings, vermiculite, peat moss or coarse sand

  Keep the tubers from touching, so one that rots does not spread to the rest.

• Keep one variety per box or bag and label the outside
• Write down what you stored and where

  Note the colors and heights too, so you can plan next year's bed in winter.

• Check the tubers once a month through winter
• Mist any that have shriveled

  A light spray of water can plump them back up. Soaking them invites rot.

• Remove any that have gone soft or moldy

  Cut out a small soft patch and let the cut dry before you repack it, or throw the whole tuber away if the rot has spread.

• Pot up a few tubers indoors in late winter for an early start

  About a month before your last frost date is enough to get them sprouting.

• Replant after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed

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