How to Save Your Cutting Garden Dahlia Tubers
The crisp days of fall have arrived and our cutting garden dahlias have come to an end for the season. Here’s what we are doing to ensure they survive our wet PNW winters and are ready to bloom all season long next summer. For gardeners, there is much debate over whether dahlia tubers should be dug up and stored or left in the ground to wait out the winter. Let’s dive into why we choose to dig our tubers. What that process looks like and how we store them until we divide and plant in the spring. And yes, we sell our dahlia tubers - be sure to hop on our email list to be the first to find out when the shop opens. Click here to peruse the dahlia tubers we will have available. **They will continue to say ‘sold out’ until we open the shop March 2025.
Why We Dig:
Click here for the video if you you want to hear us explain this : There are 2 things that will kill a dahlia tuber over the winter - too much moisture and the temperatures being too cold for too long. What we’ve found here in our dahlia patch, is that the soil stays mushy soggy all winter long. If we were to leave our dahlia tubers in the ground they would completely rot over the winter. Other dahlia growers we know that live here in our same area have great success leaving their tubers in the ground - this means their soil must have better drainage than ours and they’re planted in a spot that is protected from harsh winter freezing conditions. And this is why the great dig question comes up between gardeners - every garden is unique. If you are concerned that your tubers will either rot or freeze thru the winter we suggest digging them up and storing them in a dry cool space over the winter (like a garage). See below for how we store ours.
How We Dig:
Click here for the full video on how we dig our tubers. Once the cold weather comes the dahlias will die back naturally. Some years we begin cutting them back and digging them up before they die back. As long as your dahlia has been in the ground for over 120 days it will be fine getting dug up and stored even if it’s still blooming. We typically cut ours back and dig them up the final week of October, this is when we block time out on our calendar for the big dig. Here are the steps we do.
First - Label Your Dahlias : Click here to see our simple labeling system. We do this the beginning of October to make sure we have each color/variety marked. We use painters tape or garden tape and garden pens to tag each dahlia. Click here for the items we like to use.
Cut the dahlia down just above the label
Dig the Tuber Clump - using a shovel or pitch fork gently loosen and lift the dahlia tuber clump out of the dirt. 1 dahlia tuber will multiply itself quite a bit over one season so be sure to dig wider than you’d think so that you don’t slice into your dahlia tubers. Our soil has quite a bit of clay in it so we have to dig carefully and gently, otherwise the tubers will get stuck and snap off.
Rinse the Tuber Clump - Click here for the video on this! Do your best to get all the excess dirt clods and mud off of the tubers. We spray them with the garden hose to get all the dirt clods out from in between the tuber clumps. If you soil is dry and sandy you may not need to do this, Turn your tuber clump over and look to see if there are big clods of wet dirt stuck between the tubers. This will cause them to rot in storage, spray those clumps out of there!
Allow the Tuber Clump to dry - we move our tubers into our garage to dry over night. Our garage is not heated so they dry pretty slow, but they are kept a warmer temperature than if they sat outside. Once you dig your tubers out of the ground you don’t want to leave them out in the elements to either get too wet or too cold. Treat them like a baby ;)
How We Store :
Click here to watch the full video. Once you dig your dahlia tuber clump up, you want to give it your attention and care until it’s safely tucked away. After our tubers have been cleaned of any dirt clumps and dried over night in our garage
we use the garden marker to write the name of the dahlia on several of the tubers.
then we cut the main stalk down just above the crown to eliminate any excess moisture. We also trim off all the root hairs to make it easier to store. These root hairs are not essential for growth and we like having the tuber clump as clean as possible. Here are the snips we like to use.
Store the tubers in totes fully covered / surrounded in wood shavings.
We store the bins in our unheated garage through the winter. Here in the PNW we have mild winters so our garage stays close to 40 degrees. Don’t store the tubers in a shed or building where they could freeze or overheat and dry out.
set a reminder on your phone to go check them in about a month to ensure there isn’t moisture trapped in the bins which would cause them to rot.
Come the beginning of February we will begin dividing all of our tubers. We divide them for 1 main reason. We love being able to provide them to you our gardening friends. We are always fine tuning our dahlia cutting garden so that it is growing the varieties and colors that we use the most in all of our event and floral work. Our dahlia tuber shop opens in March! Be sure to follow along when it’s about to open because our stock runs out quickly.
If you’re interested in learning how to divide your tubers follow along @kellywelk - we love sharing all that we’re up to in the garden and will have lots of details and tips to help you as we dive into our own dahlia tubers in February.
Would you like even more help getting your own garden started? Click here to join us either in person or online for our Get Your Garden Started Workshops. Plus we even have a Garden Planning EBook that walks you thru how to decide what will grow best in your garden. We included our own Garden Maps to help you see how we plan our vegetable and cutting garden beds, plus details on when we start our seeds and what varieties we love to grow.
There is so much goodness to come - Kelly
Show me your dahlias! tag @kellywelk on instagram
Kelly's Favorite Gardening Tools - Upcoming Events - Event & Wedding Planning - Book: Dinner Changes Everything - Pinterest
In addition to the funds raised atThe Freedom Dinners, we donate 10% of all profits from Ciderpress Lane to continue the freedom giving work of Atlas Free
