Dahlias are very beautiful flowers, but also delicate: they do not hibernate in the open field. Their pineal rhizomes quickly freeze in the cooled ground. In addition, in order to germinate in May, their vegetative buds, located on the root collar, must begin to swell in February, which is simply unrealistic in the frozen soil.
I, like all experienced gardeners, just dig up their rhizomes, cleanse them from the earth, dry them, divide them for future reproduction (if necessary) and send it for storage to the cellar or to the apartment, if it turns out to create suitable for them there conditions.
At the same time, I use different methods of storing tubers, depending on the chosen place. Mostly in a box of damp sand, but I can also use lime, clay, paraffin, mineral chips (vermiculite) and even plain cling film.
Extracting dahlia tubers from the ground
With this procedure, I try not to delay. As soon as the bushes have faded, long before the first frost, I extract them from the ground along with the stems. I do it carefully - I insert a shovel or a pitchfork into the ground not under the bush itself, but slightly stepping back from it.
The main thing is that on this day there should be good dry weather. Dahlia tubers, taken from the ground, I usually leave in a flower bed for several hours, allowing them to warm up in the sun. Therefore, in order to catch the sunny time of the day, I start work in the morning.
When the tubers are a little dry, I shake off the soil from them, rinse them under running water, and then examine and process them. Too thin processes, as well as parts of nodules, on which I notice signs of disease, I immediately cut off with a knife. I discard tubers damaged during the digging process or diseased ones.
Next, I process the roots with fungicides and lay them out on the terrace floor for subsequent drying. The terrace is well ventilated. It takes no more than a week to dry the rhizomes. After that, I cut off the stems from the tubers, leaving stumps of 8-10 cm, and send them for storage.
How do I store dahlias in winter
1. In the cellar
I usually store dahlia tubers in the summer ventilated cellar in the winter, placing them in a box of sand or simply spreading them in one layer on wooden shelves. The conditions for them are the most suitable there: the temperature is steadily kept within the range of 6-8 degrees, and the humidity does not go beyond 60-80%.
In winter, I periodically check the condition of the tubers. If I notice that long before the planting time long, more than 10 cm sprouts have appeared on them, then I remove them. I throw away the spoiled tubers, after which I change the entire substrate in the boxes. On the rhizomes, only partially damaged, I cut off the rotten area with a knife, and I treat the cut site with fungicides, a pink solution of potassium permanganate or ordinary brilliant green. If the tubers have wilted a little, I spray them with water from a spray bottle.
2. In the apartment
Sometimes it happens to store tubers of these flowers in a city apartment, on an insulated loggia. Before that, I treat them with clay or paraffin and place them in cardboard boxes filled with dry sawdust. If weather forecasters predict severe frosts, I cover these boxes with a thick blanket.
I also use other storage options for dahlias:
- In the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment, wrapping each nodule in plastic wrap. In this case, it is important to take into account the factor of condensation formation under it. It can provoke rotting tubers. From time to time they need to be taken out of the refrigerator, unpacked, ventilated and wrapped in fresh film.
- In coarse-grained vermiculite (mineral chips). I put it in plastic bags or boxes, make ventilation holes in them, and bury the dahlia tubers in this substance. You can store these bags or boxes anywhere in the winter: both in the cellar and in the apartment near the open balcony door. Vermiculite will provide optimal moisture content inside the container, and absorb excess moisture.
- In appropriately sized pots. This is very convenient: at the beginning of the season, you dig into the ground in a flower bed, and at the end of the season, cutting off the stems, remove them from it and send them for storage. Before that, the soil in the pots must be moistened, wrapped in newspaper, placed in dark bags and tied loosely.
Before planting, I remove the tubers from the pots, clean them from the ground, examine and evaluate how well they are preserved. I throw away the spoiled, rotten ones. After that, I plant part of the remaining tubers in pots again, and send the other to the garden flower bed.
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