Keep those tubers from freezing!!

Attention!! Keep your dahlia tuber from freezing. Freezing = dead!

I live in Washington State, near Tacoma. Winter has hit.

If you have your dahlia tubers stored in a garage:
1. Keep the storage boxes away from an uninsulated wall.
2. Cover the storage boxes with blankets for insulation.
3.Be careful about using heat sources in the garage--don't burn your house down. If the garage temperature drops to 32 degrees (yes, I have my outdoor remote for my thermometer in the garage for my dahlias) I use an electric heater for an hour (only if I am home and can monitor it).
4. I have my heating pad (used for my cuttings in the winter) on top of my storage boxes (and under the blankets) and run it from 4am to 5am.

If your tubers are still in the ground:
1. Put mulch over the tubers. The temperature is to drop to single digits in the coming days. Mulch can be straw, compost, etc.


Check out my web site: The Dahlia Guy.

Dahlia tuber dividing video

Hey there dahlia fans. Have you ever wondered how to divide your dahlia tubers? I have place a video on YouTube showing how to divide tubers. The video can be found here.

Also, check out my new web site--The Dahlia Guy.

Web site up and running

Check out my new web site (here). I am offering quality tubers at a rock-bottom price. Here is my thought process:

1. This is the first year that I am selling dahlia tubers. A good way to enter the market is to offer tubers at EXTREMELY reasonable prices.

2. Too many people are hesitant to grow dahlias because of the cost of the tubers. My first dahlia's were "no name" dahlias purchased at a "big box" store. I want people who grow dahlias for the first time to grow quality, named, dahlia varieties.

3. The economy is in the toilet. People are worried about their families and the economy. People will be cutting back on unnecessary expenditures. I find it is relaxing to come home from work and check out my dahlia garden. I want other people to experience the same type of relaxation and joy that dahlias bring me. I am offering inexpensive tubers to make this possible.

4. These tubers will not last long at this price. Order today.

Once again, check out The Dahlia Guy web site here.

Open for U-Cut Dahlias on Saturday, August 23, 2008!

I will be open for U-Cut dahlias on Saturday, August 23, from 9:00 a.m. - noon.

Cost: $6 per dozen.

Only one A (8"-10'') or AA (10+") blooms per dozen. Extra A or AA blooms are $2 each.

Map: click here.

Directions: I am in the Fredrickson area (south of Puyallup and Tacoma and east of Spanaway.

From Hwy 512: Go south on Canyon Road for 4.3 miles; turn right on 176th St. E and go 1.1 mile; turn left on 38th Ave. E and go 0.2 miles. My house is on the left and the garden is behind the house.

Cuttings and leaf cuttings

My goal for this year’s dahlia garden is to produce enough blossoms that I can sell some of them as cut flowers. I will have at least 600 plants (up from 100 plants last year), and possibly as many as 800+ plants. It is too expensive to purchase multiple tubers of the same variety of dahlia. So what is a person to do?

Last year I discovered the world of cuttings and leaf cuttings. The photos at the beginning of this post are of tubers prepared for taking cuttings.

Here is a brief description of how it is done:

1. Place a tuber in potting soil with the “eye” out of the dirt.
2. Label each tuber with the name of the dahlia variety (such as “Sparticus”).
3. Place the tubers on a heating pad in a warm room.
4. Keep the soil moist enough to keep the tubers from drying out.
5. Some people put plastic covers over the tubers.
6. Wait. And wait. And wait.
7. The eyes will begin to grow a dahlia plant.

I will continue to write on this topic when my tubers are at the point of taking the cuttings. I will include of taking both types of cuttings.

Photos 1-3: Photos of dahlia tubers planted with eyes out of the soil.

Photos 4-7: Photos of “eyes” developing into plants.

Click on each photo to see the full sized picture.

Plastic Wrap Storage

Dahlia growers are passionate about how dahlia tubers should be stored. In past years I would leave the tubers in their original clumps (marked with their name) and stored in either peat moss or cedar sawdust. In the spring I would divide the clumps. I had to be very careful to keep the tubers from drying out.

I have become much wiser in how to deal with dahlia tubers. First, after the first frost I cut down each dahlia plant, leaving an eighteen inch stalk sticking up out of the ground. Survey tape is tied to each stalk with the name of the dahlia written on it in permanent marker. Leave the tubers in the ground for at least ten days before digging up the tubers—this allows the eyes to enlarge, making the dividing of the tubers much easier.

After the tubers were divided they were wrapped in plastic wrap. Place a tuber on the plastic wrap and then have one wrap of the plastic around the tuber. Then, place another tuber with the first tuber and have one wrap of the plastic around the two tubers. Continue until there are eight to ten tubers in the bundle. Only one type of dahlia tuber is in a bundle. Mark the bundles with the type of dahlia and the number of tubers in it. The plastic keeps the tubers apart so that if one tuber rots the other tubers are protected.

I have packaged 91 tubers for our church’s garage sale and found only two tubers that were rotten. I have checked most all of the bundles and there appears to be little if any loss. I am very please with how this storage system works.

I placed cedar sawdust in the bottom of a box, put in a layer of tuber bundles, added a layer of cedar sawdust, etc. until the box was full.

The journey for my 2008 dahlia garden

Welcome to The Dahlia Guy. This blog is about my love for growing dahlias. Photos of my 2007 dahlias can be found here.

In 2008 my garden will be at least six times the size as last year--in number of plants. I plan on have at least 118 different varieties of dahlias. On top of that, I am growing some dahlias for the seeds I harvested from some of last year's plants.

Join me on this journey.