It’s finally Spring for us in the Northern Hemisphere. If you haven’t already done so it’s time to check on your Dahlia tubers.
I confess once I stored my Dahlias, I usually didn’t check on them until it was almost time to start them. Nothing changed in my storage method and my loss was minimal at best. Nothing changed of course, until it did…
As I may have mentioned, Dahlias are my obsession, over the years I accumulated quite a few varieties. Some I saw the one time and never saw again, I was in Dahlia haven.
Generally as we step into the New Year, my Sringdar (Spring Radar) kicks in. I get the itch combined with the Spring fever and I am ready to get my hands in the dirt.
With each day, the itch soon becomes worse . Don’t believe me check out my Spring countdown . Hey don’t judge me! Ok Go ahead 🙂
Last year I was out of sync. In early March, I usually start peeking at my tubers. By then a few of them have more prominent eyes and you can see the cute little shoots pushing their way out. That’s usually when the giggles begins!
This time when I opened the container and I was greeted by this!
No it’s not a new species of alien DNA being grown by scientists. This is the result of poor storage and not checking. Yes, I should know better and yes, I did know better but like I said it was a bad time.
The horror!!! To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. My kids were ready to duck and cover. Don’t know why they thought I would have a melt down. The’re just overly sensitive.
Not only had I check on them later than I usually do, last fall I also had the brilliant idea of storing them a little differently. I decided that I would get two larger containers and instead of the cardboard boxes I usual favor. I mean I would save space, less trips up and down the stairs,what’s the harm?
Add to that, blocking of an extra vent added to my furnace by an overzealous furnace guy. It was a trifecta!
Intuition is there for a reason. It pops up every once in a while. Yes, that thing we tend to ignore more often than we should. Well, it told me that I should go check on my tubers but alas, I did not listen and I payed the price.
Unless they are totally rotted, the tubers can still potentially be saved. As you can see the growth is is white instead of green, this is due to lack of light and the odds of it recovering is next to nill!
If the tuber is still firm, cut the growth down to about 1/2 inch from the the tuber and plant as usual.
If planting indoors, follow the steps to starting Dahlia’s indoors. Once established and before you plant them outdoors, you must allow the plants to harden to the outside environment.
How I found a silver lining here, you ask. Just check her out. While I dug through the vermiculite, looking from some thing to salvage. I had a bit of help.
Cleo, who was by side through it all, was more than happy to help me.
So the moral of the story, check on you tubers after storage.
WhosYourDahlia
It’s About Bloomin‘ Time
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