"TheCouchCruncher" wrote in message
m...
How much of the old stem should you leave on the tuber?

Hardly any stem. Maybe 1/2". Make a nice clean cut with a sharp kitchen
knife. Make sure a little of the sulfur powder clings to the open cut after
you shake off the excess powder. The stem is soft tissue, unlike the outside
of the tubers, which are sorta kinda "sealed" by a skin. So, the open cut is
more likely to rot.


My experience so far. I planted this plant for the first time last
year. The lady that gave them to me said just dig them up shake off
most of the dirt and put them in plastic shopping bags and hang in the
garage. I did and a good amount of my tubers turned to mush. I think I
put too many in each bag and I should have dried them out a day or two
out side in the sun to get rid of the extra moisture. I guess it is a
fine line. They are a live plant that can't dry out but you can't have
too much moisture either.

They're better off in the basement, unless your basement is quite warm. I
used to have a root cellar that stayed between 35 and 45 degrees all winter,
and that worked fine. If your garage gets below freezing, the roots won't be
happy - they're sometimes better off in the ground under a lot of mulch, as
opposed to hanging in the garage. It all depends on your weather. One of my
dahlias was accidentally left in the ground one winter and it survived. It
was up against the East wall of the house, which got lots of sun. I put a
foot of straw on top of it after I realized my mistake, and the plant came
back healthy.

Indoors, the goal isn't much different than storing potatoes. You don't want
to let them get dry & shriveled, but you don't want them too wet. Too warm
and they'll start growing. Too cold and they'll freeze and become soup. So,
you have to keep a thermometer nearby, and fondle the tubers from time to
time. The best way to add water is with a misting bottle.