How long you dry them after digging completely depends on how/where you are drying them. If it is inside in a space heated with forced air, then they are going to dry out really fast. My work space is an attached garage, that has been insulated etc, but still has a concrete floor, and is heated with space heaters. It is cold and dampish unless I crank the heat. Last year it was taking me to long to get all of the tubers processed, so I threw sheets of plastic over the trays to keep them from drying out to much. You definitely do not need to dry them for two weeks before storing. You just want them not to be still wet from the ground.

And Karen - yep its a lot of work - last year it was only 100 and still a lot of time, this year I am wondering how I am going to get it all done - so far it has taken me about 6 1/2 hours to do 27 clumps. I hope I figure out how to do it faster! I am hoping to get most of them done this weekend.

Thanks Geoff for the further instructions. I suspect that much of what I put in the crawl space will get pitched but hopefully I can still get at least a tuber or two of each kind.

This year I dried my tubers in the greenhouse with both doors open creating a good breeze. Outside temps were 60-70 degrees. Also, I do not dry them in direct sun, not good. Smaller tubers can start to get mushy and will not save well.

I dug, washed and cut in the morning and wrapped ~6 pm.

A couple of years ago, the weather was cold & damp, so after cutting, I brought the tubers inside and used a fan to dry them off. I still wrapped ~6pm

I always use an industrial permanent marker to ID each tuber. A good rule of thumb is "if the marking process tears the tuber skin, it is probably not dry enough for wrapping"

Thanks for the great tip on marking them, Frank.

I just finished dividing all of mine - still have to wrap them, but they are divided and marked, and sorted in little paper bags. After culling some obviously virused plants, and a few that were major disappointments . I have almost 600 tubers from 90 different types of dahlias.

Last year I saved everything that I thought could possibly sprout, this year I was a little pickier about what I am storing.(so hopefully less disappointments when I unwrap them in the spring)

Feels good to have that done!

Thank you Frank. I was able to write on all of mine so maybe I will have something to plant next year!

I have never been able to write on mine. Even if they are not shrively the skin tears. I have about 80 or so bags with either clumps or (now) cut up tubers. Did find rot on many. They are still sitting in their bags in the kitchen hopefully with the new cuts drying. Then bak into the basement. I also am not messing with any borderline tubers. If even half the tubers are okay next spring I have no place to plant them. I am going to donate a bunch to the ABG to pot up for the entry gate area. Should still have some to trade (or give away for postage). I am thinking I might need to sprinkle some peat in some of the bags. Will have to take it a bag at a time.

We will have subzero weather over the weekend. It was 4F this morning and going down rapidly. Yuk. Headed off to ABG hopefully to work indoors on the database.

From the southern hemisphere, my first dahlia blooms are out! As years go by hybridizers, both private or commercial, will introduce new crosses that perhaps achieve the unexpected: i.e the true blue dahlia or a fragrant series ( there is at least one perennial dahlia that is fragrant). Dahlia pinnata (originally variabilis) is so variable: I have a large decorative mainly Red dahlia NOID that has some totally white blooms growing from the same clump !. Researching I discovered that dahlias have many transposon genes that account for the incredible variability/diversity. So one could really design a full border in perfect harmony with almost no other species; starting with early flowering types that were started in pots in winter in a greenhouse and later placed in the border for enjoyment during a very long flowering season. A nice challenge! Hopefully as the season progresses I'll be able to post pics...they ought to be like the reminder of what will be coming up next for you in the northern hemisphere... It's nice to be aware that there are dahlia lovers enjoying them in some part of this world in any given moment.

Thank you so much. It does give rather a shock when it was -5 here last night to wake up to someone whose dahlias are starting to bloom. lol I guess I never realized that we could do hybridizing of dahlias as the breeders do. I recognize that lilies and peonies are classic targets, but never though about trying it myself with dahlias. What a great idea. Of course, it will have to wait an entire year to have blooms to cross pollinate. Rebecca's World has red, red and white, rarely purely pure white blooms all on the same bush. And LaLuna, a huge yellow, has variances in color more subtly. Yellowish stripes, solid yellow, half and half. How about a bush that would be half yellow and half red. lol. Wouldn't that be a site.

Will love to see your pictures as we freeze way up here.

Regards,
Mary Stella

Greetings Mary Stella, I'm amazed with how much actually grows in your place in Alaska! In those stereotypes one builds in the back of one's mind I always imagined Alaska a very beautiful, evergreen forest on the coast, solid ice the rest almost the 12 months in a row. Then you come with your dahlias that actually have originated in the tropics and I go into shock. What a brave gardener! ...and yet there are so many more of you so far north, planting, growing and enjoying a garden almost as if it were quite further south! Yes, I do think that hybridizing dahlias may be very stimulating. Because of its intrinsic variability and numerous sports( natural mutants) , even on an amateur basis one can "find" new cultivars that may be very appealing! Although named varieties each provide so much joy, one can cross with Noid's and collect seeds and find out what comes next! I did this with my red and white dahlia last fall and now I have a box full of seedlings 5 inches tall. This summer we'll see!. I'll keep posted as they develop. Warmly, Arturo

How wonderful. You have seedlings that you developed. And yes, many people have strange ideas about Alaska. Especially further north. We live much as people 'outside' (lower 48 states) do, just in shorter time blocks like gardening. More winter, less summer. In the interior where I grew up, Fairbanks, it is far more extreme. Much colder in the winter (-55F at times) and much warmer in summer (can get to upper 90's).

I look forward to seeing your flowers during our dark cold winter.

Regards,
Mary

I've always had a good imagination but even at my best I simply can't grasp minus 55 degrees!

We've hit -30 here in CO and routinely have at least one or two weeks of -15 or colder. I don't want to even try to imagine anything colder than that!

pirl said:I've always had a good imagination but even at my best I simply can't grasp minus 55 degrees!

Can't grasp and don't want to ever know first hand...Sorry but I'm a sissy!

It doesn't get that cold here either, but it can get to -40. When the snow squeaks as you walk on it, you know its cold. I still prefer it to 110 and humid, you can only take off so many clothes.

Arturo - welcome to the Dahlia threads here. I think we will all look forward to pictures of your blooms in January. If I had more sunny space in my yard I would try my hand at hybridizing dahlias. I have a few friends that do it, and because of the complexity of the genetic makeup, there are wonderful possibilities. However they seem to cull about 95% of them as the complexity also means lots of duds.

I'd also prefer -40 to 110! I think my brain stops functioning at 95!

Yep, right there with you! At least you don't feel like a lazy bum for not weeding because it's too hot when your garden is all white!

I read that you only saved the bigger tubers. I saved as many as I could, so what is considered too small to save?

It isn't a matter of size to me, except for the little tiny pencil sized ones that look like glorified roots. I look for a decent piece of neck that can potentially have eyes. No neck, no eyes. It has to have at least enough mass to make it through the winter. If they aren't properly 'aged' I guess the word would be, as in dug and prepared, then they seems to shrivel more easily which I take is from descicating. darn word. Wrapping in saran obviates the worry about shriveling for the most part. Then it is just concern about fungus if they aren't properly dried. Not sure if any of this rambling helps or hurts. lol

PS. it is -7 now. Anchorage is pretty easy going on temps. Rarely does it see -20 and then not for long. Amazing how cold I feel at -7 when I have walked to catch a bus in Faribanks (suitably dressed of course - picture the Michelen Man) in -55 when I was going to college in 1991 (I was a late bloomer - graduated when I was 45).