Comparing seasons-- affects, results, challenges -- I have questions!

PegMc

Intro: I'm one who technically fried plants at the start of last year, having read that it was preferable to plant tubers deeper in southern states -- yeah, that didn't work out well as I had new plants cresting the soil literally towards the end of the season (Oct-Nov...), and the majority had gone out as pre-sprouted tubers. They also went into new rows, new '50/50" soil. I had mixed results past the above situation - many didn't show up at all. Keep this in mind for my actual questions.

So, I left them in the ground as long as possible, having fallen to the "must be in the ground 120 days", lol, so I gave them even more time (planted first week of May). Also, because I'd fallen to Covid that turned into Long Covid, which meant I could barely get out of bed, though I did manage a regular watering schedule, nothing was ever fertilized. Plus, no staking occurred, either. 🙄 Best laid plans. And all of that...

Digging began December 06. I had many tiny tubers that I knew wouldn't make it through storage, so those came into the house immediately, potted up, put under lights.

Roughly Jan 06 (so only a month or 3-3.5 weeks later) we had temps that dipped into the low 20's and stayed there for several days. My only storage option is an unheated shed. I dreaded checking on them, discovered many totally frozen tubers, saved what I could,,, brought them inside. The majority weren't potted up right away. After checking & rechecking them, having laid them out flat in trays for maybe a week-to-two weeks, I bagged the majority of them up. Gradually I started putting them in individual pots and under lights. Let's say Feb. I figured if I could start early(ier), I might be able to salvage obvious $-losses by starting the cutting process. Not sure I will do this again next season! Not to digress --

I am noticing what seems to me to be a major difference between last year and this year. Last year they eyed up seemingly much faster than this year. I buy into larger tubers are slower to eye up and also that the selections that are considered late season bloomers also factor in to slower to eye up -- it just makes sense.

HOWEVER, with all of that aside I still have quite a large selection of tubers that I am sure there are eyes - they aren't developing. AT ALL. Keep in mind, though they really didn't have much of a chance to 'go to sleep' so that they could 'wake up', they've been kept in grow conditions now for 2-to-2.5 months. So, ha, I'm now wondering how much moon phases have anything to do with any of this. I'm grasping at straws. Or maybe not?

What would you say, from all of the above, is the major contributor to this scenario? Should I be expecting that I just have weak tubers because of last year's challenges?

I've noticed several growers on Insta saying that their tubers are eyeing up very slowly. But undoubtedly theirs were in storage, and got that typical rest phase.

Sorry to be so long winded with this but the devil is somewhere in the details.
Thanks....

Teddahlia

There are eyes that are dormant and eyes that are swelling or starting to grow. If yours are swelling they should do fine if placed into some pots with potting soil and placed in an area at about 72 degrees. If the eyes are totally dormant, the tuber may be dead. People who import tubers from Australia where they have just been dug have reported that they are very slow to grow due to the opposite seasons. It hard fo us to give you advice as we have never done what you did: kept them growing all winter.

SteveM

A few anecdotal observations:

dahlias do not have to go dormant, I often dig my Fall tubers in Nov,-Dec. while they are still growing and, after dividing clumps and placing them in moist potting mix, I eye them out immediately for early Spring planting.
I ordered tubers from Tall Grass this Fall and they eyed out immediately with heat/moisture. I don't know how long they were dormant but it couldn't have been too long.
if you keep tubers at 70-75F for 24/7 in a moist potting soil they will have the best chance of breaking dormancy. (as Ted mentioned).

Dahlia53

SteveM I know this is a very old post, but what do you mean by 'eyeing them out?" Do you mean that you get the eyes to swell but not break dormancy til you're ready for them to in early spring? I'm just curious, since I live up near Canada and must do the dormant/winter storage thing. Thanks!

calico20hill

I have a major space crunch in my greenhouse. Normally I would be putting my seedlings outside in the day time then into a cool but never freezing garage at night. This year is just so cold! Although we have not had frost here for a week or two the weather predictions list it as a possiblity every night. It is 42 degrees outside this morning. I am thinking I will repot my veggies starts giving them more grow room and put them outside on the shelves with plastic sheets to cover them at night. ...or scoot the shelves on wheels into the garage at night.I'd rather loose a vegetable then a dahlia.

Another option is the beds we covered with temporary hoophouses for the winter to protect my (few) chrysanthemums from freezing. There is a good amount of space under them. Maybe If I put down slug bait first? The ducks have not been able to clean these beds up from insects while they were covered over the winter.

JUst had another thought about space saving! I plan to grow the veggies mostly in grow bags. I could fill the grow bags now and transplant the veggies into them (These would be cool weather crops like lettuces, greens, etc), then stick them in the temporary greenhouses, leaving the mums to grow along side. and cover them back up. I could even do that between cold rain showers today!)

calico20hill

And that will give me the space I need for the dahlias iIhave pre-potted to get a head start. They can then stay in the greenhouse and have more room. Sorry veggies...you get the boot! (Except for the tomatoes and peppers)

calico20hill

I didn't get far with that plan today as I am out of my preferred size of pots and waiting for a new order to arrive. Its amazing how many pots I can go through between starting lots of seeds and prestarting my tubers. Temp is supposed to be right above freezing tonight outside so that is a bit cold even for the lettuces and Asian veggies.

NCDahlia

You are in the same growing zone as me probably 30 mins from. I have found that planting 5 inch deep is just fine. 7 inch was too deep and because we usually get spring rains (always always happens i plant and then we get 3 inches of rain lol) so they would rot if they are too deep bc of the natural clay soils. When I plant them like I do my potatoes, you can keep adding soil around and "hill" them. I believe swan Island does this since they do not stake. Paula at gardenbee farm is an extremely helpful as she has many many more dahlias and is in NC as well so same climate.

I have 7 250 foot long rows and use 6.5 foot t post every 8 feet and trellis netting. Usually only 2 different rows of netting. For seeding rows they are 8 rows at 50 foot rows.

As for tubers orders I also have a few others where I can see the dormant eyes but they have not eyed up. Very rare to be send a blind tuber but it does happen. Best to put in a bag of potting soil or damp peat moss and leave usually regular temp in the home 70F they will eye up.

For potting up u can use 1 gallon pots or I have found that the 8 tray insert in a standard 10X20 tray works well for the long and skinny tubers. I do not like planting tubers on a diagonal so any that would not fit in a 3.5 go in these -- > https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/collections/trays-flats/products/traditional-inserts?variant=42731884052679

In terms of good soil to use I have used a place called Brooks Contractor (Goldston, NC) they make magical soil but require 25 cubic yards to haul out a truck. Over the 9 years I have grown dahlias I have had 75 cubic yards of their soil lol. But can maybe find the smaller bags elsewhere.
https://www.brookscontractor.com/products

Teddahlia

"When I plant them like I do my potatoes, you can keep adding soil around and "hill" them. " Swan Island does do this. One of their employees planted our trial garden one year and dug foot deep holes and placed the tuber at the bottom and then filled the hole only halfway. The tubers sprouted well enough and more soil was added to bring them up to ground level. At digging time, I went to dig my entries and spent the most time I have ever spent digging the proverbial "Hole to China" to get at the clumps. That was the last year they were planted that way at the trial garden and now the sprouted tubers(now 6 inch tall plants) are just planted about 6 inches deep with their alfalfa pellets.

SteveM

Dahlia53 'eyeing them out?"

Just another term for "sprouting"... my point was that a tuber doesn't have to go dormant and will continue to grow if not allowed to go dormant. This is good to know if you are going to take cuttings all winter of a particularly difficult to store variety. I often cut my strongest/best stock (of a variety) back to about 3-4 nodes and pot it up in the greenhouse to make cuttings for next year's crop. I don't plant many tubers in the Spring, most of my field plants are from cuttings.