storing dahlias over-winter
 

so i cut away the green, lifted the tubers, washed most of soil away, and have left them to dry.

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool cellar overwinter?

cheers

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool
cellar overwinter?

according to the TV gardening progs,
in a bucket of perlite...

Morgan

"Tiger303" wrote in message
...

so i cut away the green, lifted the tubers, washed most of soil away,
and have left them to dry.

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool
cellar overwinter?

Store them in a shallow box covered with dry sand (not the orange builder's
sand) or dry used compost. Keep checking the tubers through the winter for
any disease, spray the tubers with water if they start to shrivel.

Cheers

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

"Morgan Sarum" wrote in message
...

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool
cellar overwinter?

according to the TV gardening progs,
in a bucket of perlite...

I have kept them (the tubers) in brown paper bags in open vegetable baskets.
They did fine. I am not sure if mice like them but otheriwse if you keep
them cool and dark and dryish (you do not want to dessicate them but you do
not want them to rot either) they are fairly tough. If you do get
fatalities, they are easy to propagate from cuttings next spring once they
start sprouting if you have a greenhouse.


Morgan

"Tiger303" wrote in message
...

so i cut away the green, lifted the tubers, washed most of soil away,
and have left them to dry.

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool
cellar overwinter?

cheers


--
Tiger303

Most of mine have survived about 10 winters by leaving them under the soil in an
unheated greenhouse (St. Helens, Lancs.) - with a much better survival rate than
when I used to lift them and store them in a cool garage.

Bevan

Bevan Price wrote:
::: Tiger303
::
:: Most of mine have survived about 10 winters by leaving them under
:: the soil in an unheated greenhouse (St. Helens, Lancs.) - with a
:: much better survival rate than when I used to lift them and store
:: them in a cool garage.

Lancs!...you sound just like me!...I can't abide that M word which was
foisted upon us for political reasons, when people try to correct me by
saying "I thought it was in mersyside?" I always reply, "No, I was born in
Lancashire and I haven't moved, so that's where I still live"

Tiger303 wrote in message ...
so i cut away the green, lifted the tubers, washed most of soil away,
and have left them to dry.

whats the best storage method consindering they'll be in a dark cool
cellar overwinter?

cheers

As you have dug them up, they may as well stay out. But next year I
suggest that (depending on where you live) you
- improve the drainage before you replant them
- leave them in over-winter with a thick (3 - 6 inch deep) mulch

Now they are out you need to hang them upside down to allow moisture
to drain from the hollow stem. Then store them in a place with good
air circulation. I know someone that stores theirs slung from hooks
and held in netting bags. Orange nets or brussel sprout nets are OK.
If you can persuade a lady to remove her stockings for you I have
heard they store well in hoisery too.

I have mine in pots, will iget a better bloom if I lift and store them or just put the pots in a shed/garage.

Or....buy new blubs and plant them?

I'm in Southport and mine have never been lifted or protected in any way.
However our soil is is a sand y peaty loam and we have quite a mild climate.
Even so most years we get some hard frosts which don't allow me to put a
spade in the soil for a few days at a time. I just let the foliage die back
over the soil, though a couple of years I cleared this away and we still had
loads of them. They get bigger and bigger every yearand so i occassionally
hack out a bout half of the tubers to hold them back.....

PW
"Phil L" wrote in message
.uk...
Bevan Price wrote:
::: Tiger303
::
:: Most of mine have survived about 10 winters by leaving them under
:: the soil in an unheated greenhouse (St. Helens, Lancs.) - with a
:: much better survival rate than when I used to lift them and store
:: them in a cool garage.

Lancs!...you sound just like me!...I can't abide that M word which was
foisted upon us for political reasons, when people try to correct me by
saying "I thought it was in mersyside?" I always reply, "No, I was born in
Lancashire and I haven't moved, so that's where I still live"