Dahlia

When is the best time, to take them out the ground, to replant for next year?



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After the first frost which blackens or damages the foliage. No point in taking them out if they are still looking good.

 

Amazingly mine are still looking quite good even up here in the frozen North! See we are in for frosts this coming week tho. Not sure if it's an old wives tale or not but I was told that it is far better to let the frost deaden the growth rather than lift prior to frost and cut the stems off.

 

I leave mine until the frost blackens the lot,(a very sad looking site after all that colour) then cut back the dead growth,dig out your tuber's and wash as much of the soil of as possible.I then dip them in fungicide,when dry.I then get a screwdriver and make a hole through the stem top down right through the tuber so no water etc can cause rot.then I place them in boxes of dry peat and keep them frost free.This was the way I was shown when I use to show Dahlia's.

 

I suspect that the first frost tells the Dahlia to shut down for the winter. I have lifted them too early only to find that they started sprouting again from the tuber - using up stored energy that they should be saving for next year.

 

So first frost it is ! Mine are still looking good , so it may be the end of November when I lift . I ma still cutting one or two flowers a week

 

Thanks guys.


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I don't rush after first frost, bit depends how wet it is. The wetter the season the soon I want to get them up (heavy soil here) as Cold + Wet = Rot in my book ...

 

I didn't dig mine up last year at all and still got a result this summer. Bit dodgy, though.

Mind you, I've had them rot off in storage, so I'm inclined to take the lazy way now.

 

I completely forgot about cutting back three last year nad they bloomed beautifully this year, out of the blue!

I'm definitely taking them out this year as soon as the frosts his S Wales