dahlias dug up

after hearing a lot of methods on keeping dahlias here is where i am up to . i have dug them up washed them and now they are drying out in the conserve ive got a box full of paper shreddings for them to go into and going to store them in the loft in the dark ...but how long do i leave them to dry out before i store them

 

Inter, when they are dry put them upside down in the box, this will ensure there is no moisture in the stems. David.

 

As you can see I don't live too far from you intermiplants, and I grow Bishop of llandaff dalias, but have never dug them up as the winters have been mild for yrs and mine come up bigger and better every yr, if anything is going to get them it would be the slugs.

 

donttttttt mention slllllllllllllllugggggsss :D

 

I personaly prefer now to dig them up once they have been frosted dry them off in the greenhouse and pack them into deep trays of dry potting compost. I then stick them under the staging in the greenhouse and leave them to it, checking periodicaly for decay.

I prefer this even though i am in a mild area, and they will survive in the ground over winter. I find however that as soon as they start to grow again in spring the slugs get at them, even before the shoots break the soil surface.

In the greenhouse I can protect them from frost and slugs and get them growing much sooner, before planting out when the frosts are over. I even find I dont have to pot them up as they can start to grow into the compost i have overwintered them in. I just need to water and feed when they need it.

 

I usually cut off the top growth once the frost has singed it and mulch the area with compost. Have not lifted tubers for the last two years

 

Hi intermiplants. Try this link http://www.aylettnurseries.co.uk/plants/dahliarecipe.htm Cheers...freddy.

 

cheers freddy for the link it seems ive done all i can do a bloke told me at work all you can do is your best and you still lose a few. oh well it out of my hands now, fingers crossed

 

I've left most of mine in the ground and only lifted the ones I want to put somewhere else. I'll see how they all do in due course....

 

I think after the wet year we have had it would be a good idea to dig your dahlias up, even if you live in a mild area.

I recently lifted mine and found quite a few suffering from rot due to the wet weather. Lifting them enabled me to cut out the rotten sections and dry them off properly in the hope that they will recover and grow away again next year. If I had left them, chances are they would have rotted stil further and been lost. I have already lost a few tubers this year due to a combination of wet and slug/snail damage.

 

I do agree, Garden Apprentice. I always used to think that the dangers of winter were due to the cold, but the more I see and learn I appreciate that it is the winter wet that does as much or more damage.

I grew some Liatris spicata from seed and they grew over a couple of years into lovely fat tubers, much bigger than the ones you can buy. I had dug them up over winter, but last winter I left them in the ground, and nearly all of them rotted.