Most growers are sure that in the winter storage of perennial dahlias there is nothing complicated. But this is not always the case, because not all types of dahlias form tubers, well tolerated digging and storage. For example, the varieties "Arlesia" and "Cherio" refer to the hard to be stored, so for them it is necessary to organize special conditions. About how to properly dig and store dahlias - let's talk in the article.
When should you dug dahlias for the winter?
First of all, I want to immediately answer the frequently asked question - is it possible not to dig dahlias for the winter. This, of course, is possible, but only if living in a warm climate. In the middle zone, it is better to dig up and store the tubers under certain conditions.
So, following the advice of experienced florists, who probably know when to dig dahlias in autumn and how to store them, start digging dahlias in early October - in the first decade of the month. Until that time, they need to be carefully guarded against frost.
Before you start digging the tubers, you need to trim the stems, leaving no more than 10 cm from the ground. After that, to the remaining stems, you need to attach a label with the name of the variety, so as not to get confused. A bayonet is placed at a distance of 20 cm from the flower.
Directly the process of excavating tubers, some gardeners advised to postpone for a few days, so that the upper buds could get through. But according to others, such a delay is capable of leading to the rotting of sections, if water gets on them. In addition, there is a high probability that the infections brought by the cutting tool will have time to reach the root neck. So, it's better to immediately start digging and harvesting tubers. If there is no such possibility, it is necessary at least to cover the cut with foil to exclude their wetting.
How to dig a dahlia tuber?
Directly, the digging process should be performed with a shovel, in no case by forks or simple pulling by the stem, since there is a high probability of its breaking off.
After the tubers are excavated from the ground, they need to be washed under running water - they must be completely clean. Next, washed roots should be placed for several days in a room where there is high humidity and low air temperature. This room can be a basement, a greenhouse or a veranda . Take care that the roots do not freeze, for this watch the temperature.
All this is necessary in order to create a cork protective film on the tubers, which will allow them to store more successfully and for a long time, until the spring. The process of testing the tubers will not allow them to lose moisture and dry.
How to store dahlias in winter?
With that, when and how to dig dahlias, we figured out, and now it remains to learn how to properly store them.
When the process of testing is completed, and it happens on the 5-6th day, you need to prepare them for storage throughout the winter. There are two main ways for this. Let us briefly consider each of them:
- Storage of a non-deferred root in parchment or burlap. A cleanly washed and tested tuber should be placed in a bag or parchment paper, inside of which there is already vermiculite. Each tuber wrapped with a rope and placed in a dry and cool place - in the basement or caisson. Storage temperature should be at + 5-7 ° C. At a higher, the tubers will most likely dry up and mummify, becoming completely unsuitable for planting. Instead of vermiculite, you can use dry sphagnum peat, but note that this is worse for tubers.
- Storage in paraffin. To use this method, you need to purchase a lot of
paraffin. In a saucepan with a long handle and with double walls, melt it to a liquid state. This can only be done on an electric stove, because it is easily ignited on an open fire. In parallel, we are preparing the tubers: we bring them a warmer room (+ 15 ° C) for a day, divide them in such a way that each baby has one kidney. Dry the places of the cuts, lower them into the paraffin waxed up to + 70-80ºС and add them to the cardboard box, which we take away from the loan in a cool place. And to the question of whether it is possible to store tubers of dahlias in the refrigerator, it can be taken away that it is in a paraffined form that such storage is allowed. Otherwise, the tubers are likely to rot in the refrigerator.