This is my first year growing dahlias. I found this video to be super helpful! I don't need hours and hours of information, just the basics and this was perfect. And my favorite thing is that you aren't worked up about there being one right way to do everything. Thanks for your no-nonsense, realistic approach to gardening!
Enjoyed. Terrific advice. When my dahlias were in flower last summer I thought of you and your love for these beautiful flowers. They gave me great joy to see in my small garden this glorious show… not for long, however, sadly a heat wave was too much for them and in spite of all the care I gave them, painfully I had to see them wither. So sad!!! I saved them, hope they will put a show for me next summer. Thank you for sharing so much knowledge and love for dahlias.
I have been growing dahlia in Toronto Canada (zone 5A) for few years, close to 20 varieties… I usually keep some soil on the tubers, air dry in shade for couple days, wrap them loosely in newspapers after labeling them, then they go into large cardboard boxes in the cold room until late April. May need to just spray onto the newspaper a bit every month to keep some humidity in the boxes. This is the quickest and cheapest way to deal with so many tubers that I have. I only lost 1 clump last year (green rot). I divide in spring as you can see clearly the eyes on the necks and plant them shallow in large plastic cups until they root. Then transfer in ground in late May.
Agree with Erin, do your own thing and storing dahlias is easy. They are very resilient if you don’t let them rot. There were years when I just threw clumps in cardboard boxes with soil on them and left them uncovered in my basement. They shrivelled a little but still grew just fine the next spring. Dahlias are the easiest plants to grow.
Thanks for the video. I appreciate the basic overview because I can sometimes get lost in the details. Since this is my first time growing them, I only bought one so if it doesn't make it, I'm not out much money. 😁
Even though I've been growing and storing dahlias for at least 10 years: THANK YOU for taking away my stress!! I thought it was just me losing some every year. I'm encouraged doing this as I started digging the 103 of them today!
I've raised dahlias in the past, but I haven't for quite a number of years, so this was a very helpful reminder. Maybe, I'll have to grow them again next season. Thanks, Erin.
Here in Texas, it's ok to leave them in ground. BUT... it gets so hot in the summer that they don't grow very well. This year I noticed that if I cut back the dried shriveled leaves and stems in August/September they end up putting on new growth at the bottom and flowers by end of October. I have two in containers that I will store in the garage. I may even try to put a heat pad under them in Jan/February to get them going early enough so they can produce something in the Spring. We'll see.
This reminds me of me! Lol! Had 3 in pots this summer. Bloomed until August. Died during the hurricane because we were gone for 3 weeks. Live in New Orleans suburb. They were gorgeous for months. I was so excited to think of saving and sharing tubers. Watched lots of videos and gardeners trying to decide if I should just leave them in the pots in the garage or take them out to store. Decided to take them out because I was just excited to see them! Guess what! No tubers! ☹️😥WHAT! So sad!
Oh I'm so jealous of your fluffy black soil! I have Georgia red clay. I guess it kind of evens out though since I can leave my dahlias in the ground all winter.
Thanks for an abbreviated review. Every fall I review how to overwinter my plants. Thanks for the assurance not to overstress and that there are many methods of storing! Lily's
This year was my first year growing Dahlias on my little cutflower farm. I just started to dig them & if I wasn't hooked because of the gorgeous blooms- I am HOOKED NOW! 😆 It's crazy how they form so many tubers in just one season!
I needed the info about forcing the dahlias into dormancy. I pulled two too early:( Will do this for the others. Love your channel and all I learn from it. Thank you for all your education, I love watching you and everything you do with your garden.
Thanks to you Erin..I am getting better at dahlia growing. Planted them for the first time last year. We had a great season! Stored them in shredded paper. Lost some but most were ok (needed more humidity). Bought more colors this year and the repeated the whole process again! I am going to try a new medium this year for storage. It is a fun experiment and the joy they provide in summer is priceless!
My first year growing dahlias was an experience. 😁😳 The 2 online sellers I used sent mushy tubers and later found out was gall (?) Penhill Watermelon ended up being a Cafe Au lait pink variety near as I can figure, so not a total loss. The actual cafe au lait had a tonne of buds and only 1 sort of opened before this first frost hit the other day. All 13 of my other dahlias completely bloomed so don't know what happened there. Im fully prepared for all that could go wrong during the storing process. Good thing I'm up for the challenge 😁🤣 It's been an adventure.
Well it seems like I did everything wrong with pulling out my dahlias here in Connecticut, zone 6. I didn’t know you should cut them and wait a week or wait for a frost. Also, I washed them and let them dry so now they’re all shriveled up. I also cut them into individual tubers. Can you tell I’m a NEWBIE with all of this? I have one huge dinnerplate dahlia plant left in the ground so I’ll use all of your great instructions on that one. Thank you for your concise and simplified instructions. It really is overwhelming hearing so many different ways to store your dahlias. This was by far the BEST video out there. Thank you Erin for all of your time and effort in educating all of us.
Thanks for making the point that there is a range of ways to store dahlias. It was the first time that I saw the reason to cut them down - so helpful this year when there is no chill in the evening (zone 7) on the Atlantic coast.
Great video! This year I really stepped out with various colors and varieties thanks to your inspiration it was a fun dahlia year. Can't wait to place my 2022 Longfield Garden order.
Thanks Erin! I stored some for the first time last year. Most shriveled up on me but I confess, I didn’t check as often as I should have. I also used the pet bedding in bulb crates but I didn’t use any plastic covering. Maybe that’s the missing key for me to save more than a few tubers for next year! My basement tends to be pretty dry over the winter.
Thanks! First time Dahlia grower so I'm still not sure which method I'll use Zone 6B buts we have had a mild fall. Just in case I fail, I'll be ordering more tubers, plus I'm kind of addicted now. It will be fun regardless of the outcome!
Thank you! I. Having surgery and was afraid I would destroy my tubers by having to dig them up before frost killed the leaves. I can now move forward with the method you outline here with confidence before my surgery.
Hi Erin! I haven't grown dahlias because I really don't have a place for them, and I don't have a proper place to store them, but this was very interesting. I always enjoy just listening to you. Thank you so much for sharing!
You (and all the amazing information you provide) are the sole reason I finally grew dahlias this year & I was certainly not disappointed! The only issue is that we’ve had such a mild fall we’re already a month past our average first frost date and zero cold in the forecast - figured it’d be Xmas by the time I was digging tubers with completely frozen hands. I didn’t realize I could force their dormancy by cutting down their stems - always learning more and more from you Erin. Thank you so much for sharing your invaluable experience & expertise!!
One more suggestion. If you run out of time and/or energy to label each tuber group, divide them into TALL, MEDIUM and SHORT groups/boxes so that at the least, when planted next spring, they will all be visible in the garden. Perhaps it will be a pleasant surprise to find out which color and style ends up where. (Thanks for the dormancy tip. I exhumed my tubers right after cutting down the plants, so we'll see how things grow next year.)
Thanks for the quick and easy although I have your longer videos saved and have watched multiple times. With no basement, my only option is our attached, semi-heated garage for storage as I head unto my first season of storing. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Erin! I was off on Dahlias for a while, but gave them a try last year... I used your wood shaving suggestion last year and it worked very well. It can be overwhelming for newbies with all the myriad ways to store the tubers. Great info, great video!!! (I fell into the lure of the Cafe au lait dahlia, and can see the obsession.. it is glorious!)
Great video! A little late for me this year (it's fine though since I've watched your earlier videos, and Laura's etc), but i shared it with my local gardening fb group for others to enjoy! 😊 I'm storing dahlias for the first time so I hope they make it!
Good morning, Erin ☕️ Thanks for this video. Up here in Boston, we have to dig them up so I’m just going to leave them in their pots for the winter ❄️ and fingers crossed 🤞🏻 they survive! No stress 😎. Have a Blessed Day 😊
My aunt has a dahlia in the same place for years. We are a zone 6 but she has a brick house and has the original tuber planted on the south side of the house, on the opposite side of where the oven is in the kitchen. It has continued to thrive
Wow! You can still wear sandals this time of year?!! LOVE the suggestion to cut the dahlias, cover with tinfoil, and leave them in the ground a week. Our usual frost is overdue so if I wait for a hard frost to turn the leaves black before I dig them up we'll also have awful weather to garden in like snow and heavy rain. Although this is my first year growing dahlias I totally believed you about the importance of labeling. Very similar to bringing in canna lilies. Thanks for the concise encouragement.
Great video Erin, and very much appreciated at this time of the year.. I find that even if one has stored away tubers for years you can always learn something new. And I think I might try your choice of animal bed shavings this year or Claus Dalby's suggested newspapers for covering my tubers.. Gardening can sometimes feel like a lab experiment!
Thank you for this video, Erin. I watched the video from spring when you took your dahlias out of storage and divided and planted them. However, I hadn’t grown them in years at that point because never had any success with them. I decided to try again, and the few dahlias I bought -as plants, grew beautifully. It will soon be time to dig them up. I am going to let the frost kill off the foliage and then dig up the tubers. I assume there will be tubers even if the plants were grown from seed. Is that correct? This video is informative, and I feel confident moving forward. Thanks again.
Terrific video. Perfectly timed! We’ve had a very wet warmish fall with no freeze in the forecast. I’m so ready to dig out my dahlias. Good to know I can do it b4 a freeze. Thank you!
I did this once before without good results but I am trying again just to expand my selection. I know I’ll buy more. Fingers crossed and thanks for the reassurance that there is a way. I just need to find mine.
Good Evening Erin, last year my dahlias were shrivelled worse than raisins and ever single one of them grew and performed great, some actually better than the new tubers I bought. I’m gonna try newspaper this year and a plastic storage tub like you mentioned. I had never heard of sealing them up like that before and I’m intrigued. Think I’ll do half that way and half like last years wood shaving method and see what happens. Thanks for all the great information and a fantastic channel.
Great video!! I found a couple rotted last year wrapped in newspaper in my garage in damp old England, so am going to try pet bedding shavings in one box, and vermiculite in the other this Winter.
I am neither a gardener nor a hiker. But you and a hiker in Finland, whatever the subject, always put a smile on my face. Another great video. Can you grow mini-dahlias in a pot?
@@TheImpatientGardener Erin, my Finnish hiker's RU-vid channel is under his name: Ali Leinio. Although you have very different personalities, for me, you share some common traits. You are both authentic, unassuming, interesting, and, most importantly, somehow calming. You may be a little bit more fun. The Finns are a serious people.
Wood shavings have worked the best for me too. I would add to protect them from rodents, only because I lost a lot last year from mice and rats getting into them and eating them. The first time that happened and we are trying to mitigate any rodents getting into the basement but I will also make sure to make it tough for any to get at my tubers.
There’s a gardener here in the Seattle area who covers in-ground tubers with sword fern fronds (we’ve got plenty!) over winter to act as an umbrella to divert water. We’re zone 8, but winters are very wet so rotting is an issue. I’ll try that once I have more than one plant!
Omg Erin… thank you! First year growing in zone 7. I did everything I was suppose to do…hey my dahlias tuber got moldy!! 😢. This winter had been erratic in his area, wonder if humidity was the issue..
Thank you so much for this info, especially referring to us in zone 10. One question, can I transplant them at this time? I want to move it to another area in my garden.
Thank you, Erin! Very concise and practical advice. Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that we do not have a suitable storage place with the required temperature zone. Guess I will have to buy new tubers every spring. 😥
The plastic wrap method works very well. The year I did it I didn't lose a single tuber. But I found it to be a lot of work and the amount of single-use plastic involved just didn't sit too well with me. I think it's very popular with dahlia breeders that can't afford to take any chances with losing tubers.
Thank you very much for sharing this information with us. This was my second year growing dahlias and I wish that I had paid more attention when my grandmother was gardening. Last year I had 4 plants and only 2 made it through the winter in the cold room. This year I have 14 dahlias to care for and do not want to loose any. My question for you is: I had 2 dahlias that grew stems and leaves, but no flowers, are they worth storing and trying again next season, or should I just toss them in the compost? I would really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!
I left mine in the ground here in GA 7b and they all came back. It was my first year leaving them so I was unsure. However, I think I need to prune them all back a bit harder next year. They started early, got super tall and weren’t very attractive at the end of summer. They still produced blooms and still are but they don’t look great. Some need to be relocated and I’m wondering if I can just move them now, move in the spring or if I should dig up and store.