I tried storing some of my dahlia tubers in shredded paper but it didn't work out very well. They all shrivelled. Though I did manage to revive most of them by soaking them in water before planting them. Don't know why newspaper works but shredded paper doesn't.
I'm good at poor labelling of dug up dahlias too. One I dug up at the end of 2020 and didn't label (I always tell myself I definitely won't forget what they are), so I planted it back out in 2021 and waited to see which it was - I knew it was one of three, the other two had rotted. Anyway it never flowered in 2021! So I dug it up again and labelled it as mystery dahlia and replanted this year. It flowered but I still felt a bit confused - I could tell which of the three it was, but the colour was quite different!
@Red maple- you're lovely, no offence taken. Mice are an occasionally recurring rather than a permanent problem here- but I have a "no food upstairs" rule to help make sure no nasties are attracted up there, so I did wonder if they would go for bulbs/tubers. I know they nibbled through loads of seed packets once...
We have an insane young collie now who flies at all moving things, so enter, mouse, at your peril.
I use a spare bedroom and wrap the tubers in newspaper and put them in banana boxes from the supermarket. That way they can be stacked, but in early spring I put the boxes on the window sills (conveniently wide and at floor level in our old house) so it is easy to check when they start sprouting and need to be potted up.
Some of my old tubers are really big, so I have to overwinter them in pots in the GH, but I always split them first and save one indoors just in case! I label them by wiring a label to one of the old stems and just transfer it to a new stem once they are big enough. With their correct name it is then easy to plant them out where you want them
I suspect it will be tricky space wise this year as I bought a lot
of new ones last year. The new ones have all flowered, but some have put on very
little growth as it was so hot and dry early in the season. The old ones were a little less lush and a touch smaller than usual, but they all really loved the heat when it came to flowering time. The colours were really enhanced. I have had one called Firepot for years and it is usually pale yellow, shading to amber and pinky red, but this year one was unrecognisable, with dark maroon buds that opened to a deep red with dark pink tones. This was in full sun, the one in a slightly more shaded spot was just the same as usual
Some people recommend storing tubers in a bit of old compost so the tubers don't dry out completely.
Yes I stored some in old compost and those were fine. Tubers left in pots were fine too. But the one I left in the ground didn't come up at all. I now just need to accumulate enough old compost....
But the one I left in the ground didn't come up at all.
Where they in your front garden?
Yes they are. Sunny site and improved clay soil. It wasn't water-logged in the winter either. But I didn't protect it apart from an usual mulch. I've been keeping an eye on it but don't think I saw any shoots. So shouldn't be slugs and snails.
I’m new to dahlias, but inherited 6 at my new place. I overwintered in brown paper in the attic. All fine. I potted them up and nothing happened for ages so I started watering. 5 rotted off so I only had 1 survive. I’ve since seen Monty’s advice NO water until there is new growth. Damn. It seems counter intuitive as they were so dry.
Anyway I bought some more to replace the ones I lost, so I hope for a better success rate next year.
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We have an insane young collie now who flies at all moving things, so enter, mouse, at your peril.