Digging and dividing 2023

Juliarugula · 2023-10-08T17:22:54+00:00

We haven’t had a frost yet, but could be any day in the next few weeks. We have some nights with lows predicted as 39 coming up in a few days. Additionally...

Krista

AndreaB Oh dear! 😭

Juliarugula

AndreaB I just came to post a similar photo.

Isn’t there someone on this forum that likes to say something like “Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing”? He needs to have a talk with whoever hybridized this dahlia.

AndreaB

Yes! I’ve heard that quote before 😁
Your clump looks equally as awful. Are you going to attempt to split it?
I’m storing mine whole and will hope for the best. I have at least 6 more of them to dig, so maybe I’ll find a couple that didn’t think they were grapes!

Juliarugula

AndreaB Are you going to attempt to split it?

I split it - it was … well, it was a bit frustrating. But I think I got about eight divisions from it which is more than I need.

Teddahlia The tubers keep well too.

They do look like good keeping tubers.

This was the second of two clumps. The first wasn’t quite so tight, but still quite generous. What made them particularly difficult was that they both had so many root hairs that held all that dirt tight in the clump. A lot of work to get them clean…

Teddahlia

I dig and divide our HH Sweet 16 clumps and they were not hard to divide. The tubers keep well too.

Teddahlia

We are 70% done digging the first year seedlings. They look pretty good as far as tubers and of course the ones grown in buried pots were really easy to dig. Most are not in pots , however. Dogs are not much help and I am sure they are wondering what the heck we are doing.

Juliarugula

Teddahlia Dogs are not much help and I am sure they are wondering what the heck we are doing.

They look like they’re enjoying themselves though!

NCDahlia

AndreaB oh no i dislike those types lol. usually i just cut it into 4 and store as mini clumps 🤣

Bessie

AndreaB thank you for the photos! I really enjoy seeing the variety of tubers.

Emilyp

Has anyone experienced tubers with cracks in the skin? Is it a water issue? I feel like I remember somebody mentioning it in the last few seasons. Are they worth trying to store?
S

AndreaB

Emilyp I’ve never seen cracks. Curious what causes them.

Juliarugula

Emilyp I’ve had a few, and in my experience, they can be a little dicier to store. Yours looks a lot worse than the ones I’ve had though. If it was a precious one, I’d probably try to store it but make sure it’s well isolated. I probably would toss if I had plenty of other tubers though.

Krista

Emilyp My recollection tells me I’ve stored tubers with cracks. I’ve never figured out the cause, but I toss my tubers in a mix of cinnamon & sulfur (maybe going to try just cinnamon this year like Teddahlia does) and haven’t noticed loss of the cracked tubers in particular. I’ll take better note of these for this year though, I encourage you to try storing as Juliarugula recommends and report back in the spring. I’ll do the same if I have some this year!

Emilyp

AndreaB The only info I can find is about cracks in potato tubers, apparently the cause is quick growth due to an increase in water. But, I can't find anything about the cause in dahlias.

Emilyp

Juliarugula Thank you! I think I will try a little experiment and keep them stored separately.

Teddahlia

Cinnamon is the universal cure all for dahlia tubers. I bet this one forms tissue in the cracked areas and stores fine.

Emilyp

Krista Thank you, I will try and see what happens.

KitCMC

I’m sure this has been discussed before, and I may have even asked, but how long do you wait after cutting/frost to dig? Right away, or do you leave your clumps in the ground for a period of time?

Emilyp

@"Teddahlia"#p6734Thanks! I remember you mentioning a certain kind of cinnamon was the most antifungal, can you please remind me which one?

Teddahlia

All of the "wait for frost" or a good frost helps make the tubers "go dormant" or that 120 days is needed to ripen tubers is all "cat poop". Dahlia myths have been perpetuated for decades or more and are nearly impossible to eradicate with actual truth.
(1) Frost does not occur at all in the native habitat for dahlias in the low mountains of Central America. Why wait for something that means nothing to the dahlia? We harvest the clumps in October and November and it seldom frosts before we are done. Margaret hates working outside in cold weather. She says her hands hurt from the cold. No problem and we dig during the nicer days.
(2) The 120 day rule is an approximation of an approximation and was never meant to be a rule but only an estimate of the time to have big enough tubers to sell. Where did this farmer live that concocted this estimate? Was it northern Canada or in Los Angeles or perhaps Michigan? At Swan Island they plant in mid May and begin harvest about now in late October. Why do they use those dates? Because the tubers get bigger when they use the entire growing season. Do you personally require bigger tubers? One of the first lessons I learned at the dahlia club was to avoid the larger tubers as they did not grow well.
(3) There is no required waiting time from the cutting off the stalks and digging. Actually, it is better to cut them off just before you dig. There is a "how to see the eyes on dahlia tubers for beginners" method that involves cutting off the stalks and waiting a week to dig them, What happens? The tuber clumps thinks(they must have pretty high IQs) that they have lost their stalks and need to grow new ones. So, the eyes swell and start to grow and like magic anybody can see the eyes. I believe this is a waste of time as I can see eyes from 100 feet away. I do not want oversized eyes that can be damaged on the tubers.
We had our professional model stand near the waterlily plant that grew 7 feet tall and was still blooming when we dug it a few minutes later.

KitCMC

Teddahlia thanks, Ted 😊

Kaylo

Teddahlia This is great information. I have heard that waiting until 2 weeks after a hard frost allows the tubers to develop a "tougher skin." Is this a myth as well?

« Previous Page Next Page »