this fall I decided to lift and repot right away my dahlias, and store them dryish until late winter in a cool shed ( frost free). I always start my dahlias indoors , otherwise I don't have a long enough season of bloom. My summers are cool and dahlias seem to need an initial good growth start for then put out their neverending show. So I figured that since I've got enough shed space why not advance spring work and get it done in fall. Thus I avoid two causes of stored dahlia loss: shriveling and moldy rot. Since they are stored already potted then they are not endangered, by either cause because they are kept inside sandy compost already prepared for spring growth; simply unwatered. The only drawback is the space needed for storage. Last fall I tried with about 30 bags and I didn't loose a single tuber. They were a group of waterlily type ( Orange Wealth) that had just spent the summer in those bags because I was unable to find them a suitable place in the garden. The rest of my tubers that were stored conventionally had some losses both to shrivelling and to mold. The other advantage is that I can regulate later their adjusting to outdoor conditions in my work yard before actually transferring them to their final setting in the borders. In some ways I'm trying to simulate their original Mexican dry winter conditions in the ground.
