My basic guide to storing and lifting dahlia tubers - the easy way

Dahlia lifting and storage was the topic of episode two of the The Gardener Ben Podcast, which you can stream now on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon,-it’s called ‘dahlias and bananas oh my’

I’ve covered this topic extensively before and my views differ from many other online gardeners. My process is simple and in my opinion limits many stages of possible damage which can cause your tuber to rot.

instead of lifting and storing many of my tubers, I choose to leave them in the ground mulched over with a large mound of wood woodchip over them. The stems left long to prevent them filling with water and ultimately rotting the tubber below ground,

Tubers I want to lift and store I lifted carefully estimating the size of tuber below ground, leave as much of the soil intact as possible and place this onto a bench in a greenhouse or shed with a window which is well ventilated and allow the soil to dry out for around 10 to 14 days,

It has everything it needs wrapped around it already and once dry to the touch can be placed once labelled into a slatted crate and stalled in a dry dark place where the temperature doesn’t drop below around 7 or 8°

Be bold there’s no point obsessing and becoming anxious over the storage procedure until February February or March, poking examining and checking often won’t change the outcome of storage

if you have any questions, take a listen to the podcast or leave me a comment below 😀

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[Barbara-kq]

Great that you explained why you do what you do - will help me remember the method! Thanks 😊

[tinasterry]

Thank you Ben, great information as always.
Some of my dahlias (in pots) still have blooms on and seem very happy in their pots so can I cut them back, leaving stems as you say and simply leave them in their pots in a sheltered part of the garden, with a good mulch around them and a fleece covering over winter?
Many thanks
Tina (Dublin, Ireland ☘️)