Glad to know my dahlias aren't the only ones which were bitten. Well I went out for about an hour today and dug up about 6 of them before it got too dark to see - still another 15 or so to go.
This is first time I've ever done it. To be honest I'm not considering them precious Verdun but I need to remove them because I need to put other things in those spaces namely peonies and roses.
When I removed them I was very shocked to see how massive the tubers are are how much the tubers have muliplied. When I planted them I'm sure there were only about 4-5 tuber things hanging off, and now there are around 20-30 on each one. Is this normal? I have turned them upside down with a bit of stalks remaining and drying them on newspaper in the car port. This a semi-covered area but frost free I think. Haven't had time to make space in the shed yet. Regarding the massive size of them, what should I do? I wouldn't know how to split them - do you just pull all the extra tubers off? I can't even tell which is the mother tuber anymore. Will each one give a new plant next year? I can never start these off in pots next year - they're too big!
I'm planning to get some big cardboard boxes, line with newspaper, wrap tubers up in newspaper and keep in shed when they've dried.
Hmm. Thanks really helpful, thanks. So I need to see which group of tubers is connected to which stem? That's going to take ages and also be very difficult lol!! Some of the groups of tubers have 4-5 quite thick stems. I can't tell what's what, it's a big mess. In fact many fell off already and I couldn't tell which was the bottom and top. They have no root or neck because they broke. I have just laid them flat on the newspaper. They look like muddy parsnips or sweet potatos lol. If I have time I'll have a go though. Yes I'll try not to panic when separating them lol. I will try and take photos tomorrow as you then may be able to tell me whether it's worth doing or not.
Sometimes if you have multiple stems, you hold each stem and wiggle it and they come apart. Some of mine split as I took them up. If they don't I just use bigger pots to start them off in next year.
I been digging mine up this evening after last night frost, I soldiered on in the dark for the last few. Unfortunately digging up in the dark risks damaging the tubers . They are now in Gh upside down drying off.
I store mine in a box covering the tuber up to its neck with old compost, I leave in the cold gh for winter.
Glad I've got them out of the ground snow forecast tonight. It went below -3C last night but hasn't knocked everything back. still got cosmos - asters - rudbeckias - petunias other summer bedding still flowering away, it didnt even get all the dahlias. it not the first hard frost either.
Mine have blackened, over the next few days I will remove the stems and cover liberally with compost to keep them nice and warm over the winter. Don't dig them up, they either survive or they don't, mostly they do.
Okay thanks V. I haven't done anything yet anyway as been at work plus it's raining all day. Once I've got some time and better weather (hopefully!) I'll see about splitting them. Sounds like everyone else has been busy with their dahlias though....
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Glad to know my dahlias aren't the only ones which were bitten. Well I went out for about an hour today and dug up about 6 of them before it got too dark to see - still another 15 or so to go.
This is first time I've ever done it. To be honest I'm not considering them precious Verdun but I need to remove them because I need to put other things in those spaces namely peonies and roses.
When I removed them I was very shocked to see how massive the tubers are are how much the tubers have muliplied. When I planted them I'm sure there were only about 4-5 tuber things hanging off, and now there are around 20-30 on each one. Is this normal? I have turned them upside down with a bit of stalks remaining and drying them on newspaper in the car port. This a semi-covered area but frost free I think. Haven't had time to make space in the shed yet. Regarding the massive size of them, what should I do? I wouldn't know how to split them - do you just pull all the extra tubers off? I can't even tell which is the mother tuber anymore. Will each one give a new plant next year? I can never start these off in pots next year - they're too big!
I'm planning to get some big cardboard boxes, line with newspaper, wrap tubers up in newspaper and keep in shed when they've dried.
Hmm. Thanks really helpful, thanks. So I need to see which group of tubers is connected to which stem? That's going to take ages and also be very difficult lol!! Some of the groups of tubers have 4-5 quite thick stems. I can't tell what's what, it's a big mess. In fact many fell off already and I couldn't tell which was the bottom and top. They have no root or neck because they broke. I have just laid them flat on the newspaper. They look like muddy parsnips or sweet potatos lol. If I have time I'll have a go though. Yes I'll try not to panic when separating them lol. I will try and take photos tomorrow as you then may be able to tell me whether it's worth doing or not.
Sometimes if you have multiple stems, you hold each stem and wiggle it and they come apart. Some of mine split as I took them up. If they don't I just use bigger pots to start them off in next year.
I been digging mine up this evening after last night frost, I soldiered on in the dark for the last few. Unfortunately digging up in the dark risks damaging the tubers
. They are now in Gh upside down drying off.
I store mine in a box covering the tuber up to its neck with old compost, I leave in the cold gh for winter.
Glad I've got them out of the ground snow forecast tonight. It went below -3C last night but hasn't knocked everything back. still got cosmos - asters - rudbeckias - petunias other summer bedding still flowering away, it didnt even get all the dahlias. it not the first hard frost either.
I dig mine up , but I don't shake thehelp keep the frost out. Mine just sit on the surface of a raised bed in the polytunnel.
Mine have blackened, over the next few days I will remove the stems and cover liberally with compost to keep them nice and warm over the winter. Don't dig them up, they either survive or they don't, mostly they do.
Okay thanks V. I haven't done anything yet anyway as been at work plus it's raining all day. Once I've got some time and better weather (hopefully!) I'll see about splitting them. Sounds like everyone else has been busy with their dahlias though....