This mess is 5 varietals hastily dug up. Most of these started as single tubers planted in the summers of 2023 and 2024, but they were planted in a full-sun compost bed, so they (like everything else we’ve put in there) went bonkers. Im in Portland Oregon.
Well we pulled everything up to add new compost to that bed, but between having 3 kids (one of them is a baby) and a full time job, I wasn’t able to clean or separate them before dumping them in the garage before the first frost, and they’ve been there for about 2 weeks. I guess I’m wondering, have I killed them? Are they salvageable?
I have a basic idea of how to store them but i feel extremely overwhelmed by the idea of a thorough cleaning or any exacting methodology to divide them, if I’m honest. I’m here for any corner-cutting tips on offer.
by any-noodle
6 Comments
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Make bread if you don’t want to save them. They were originally cultivated for their edible tubers, but they have really pretty flowers so largely we went the other way with them.
I would gently brush off as much of the soil as possible, cut the stems closer to the base, wrap them in brown paper or put them in paper bags and put them in boxes and store them in an unheated basement or garage between 40-50deg until early spring or late winter.
Looks good, don’t overdo it. Get some kind of an airy box so air can circulate and condensatuon is no problem.
Something like this:
https://preview.redd.it/7i81wyafao4g1.jpeg?width=447&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2e485b8711c867bc9da8d07cc1c69cc11cca552
Throw in a few pages of newspaper to slow down evaporation. Cut the stems a little shorter for more convenient handling.
Put the tubers in. Put a few childrens shovels of sand on the tubers. Cover up with a few pages of newspaper. Store dark and without frost. Put a piece of 2×4 under each side of the box, so it can breathe. This avoids rot and mold. The dirt on the tubers won’t hurt, it regulates moisture. Good you left it there. Does the same job as the sand.
You can divide them next year, before planting. Dark is more important than cold. Check once every few weeks how things are. If they start to push a stem in the beginning of March, pregrow them inhouse in a gallon container, then you have a headstart in May, slugs do not chew on them if too big.
Just remember, for the last few thousand years, noone dug them out, washed them, saran wrapped them and then stored them in a fridge…
I imagine that I’m going to get downvoted here, and possibly rightly so. I’m an amateur dahlia grower – although, thinking about it, I grow them at work so technically get paid for it lol.
When I come across a jumble of tubers like this and want to divide them, I rip them in half – knowing that I will certainly lose a few. This gives me a sort of “entryway” into dividing the rest safely. I did six of these sort of messes that you have here this past
Fall and have over 100 tubers in storage from them. I’ll let you know (via this sub) how many make it through to growing next Spring. These six were gifted to me from a church. I’m planning to pot up all the tubers that make it through the winter and give them back so the congregation can have them. This is my way into heaven (joke – I really didn’t like these particular ones and will be happy to be rid of them).
I store my tubers differently to most people on this sub due to the fact that I have a spare refrigerator and not much other spaces or places where I can guarantee a suitable temperature. I wrap my tubers individually in Saran wrap (for humidity purposes due to cold, dry storage) and store them 10 to a bag (which is left open) in freezer bags in the dedicated fridge. I think I have close to 650 individual tubers currently in storage. I generally keep and plant around 70 and give the rest away. I buy around $500 of new tubers each year to keep things interesting at work. Visitors LOVE them! (I work at an Arts Institute and put them in vases).
Good luck OP!
It is good that they have some dirt on them. Learn from my beginner mistakes last year…I washed, divided and saran wrapped my first batch and it did not go well for me. This year I am leaving dirt on and not dividing anything until spring.
You need to check on the humidity of the container or where you are keeping them and may need to spritz a piece of newspaper occassionally so they dont shrivel up to nothing. Check out this video : https://youtu.be/Ahcu4lXo86k?si=5GU-5VWX83BFyQcd
Good luck !