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in Fall· Garden· Tips and Tutorials

How to Safely Dig Up and Store Your Dahlia Tubers During the Winter Season

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Are you thinking about overwintering your dahlia tubers through the cold winter? I’ll share some different methods and simple tips on how to safely dig up and store your dahlia tubers during the winter season.

Store dahlia tubers: dahlias in front of greenhouse

You have 2 choices when it comes to your garden dahlias during the cold, winter months.

  • Leave your dahlia tubers in the ground through the winter.
  • Dig your dahlia clumps up and store them in a safe and dry location until there is no danger of frost next season.

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I’m a self-taught hobby gardener, not a Master Gardener. Everything I share with you on my blog is my personal opinion and things that have worked for me personally.


white dahlia with open center

How to Know Whether to Should Dig Up Your Dahlia Tubers to Overwinter

Where you live and the climate is basically how you’ll make the decision to leave your dahlia tubers in the ground or overwinter dahlias in a safe environment until the chance of freezing has passed.


white and purple center dahlia

Dahlias in Mild Winters

Because I live in a more mild climate (zone 8B), I’ve been very fortunate when leaving my dahlia tubers in the ground year-round. I’ve only dug up and stored my dahlia tubers once in the 9 years I’ve grown dahlias in my cut-flower garden.

If you do end up leaving dahlia tubers in the ground, it’s a good idea to protect them from freezing temperatures during the coldest months of the year. You can do this by adding a 3-inch layer of organic leaf mulch around each plant.

When we’ve had a wetter-than-usual winter and I’ve left the tubers in the ground, I’ve lost about 15% to rot, but I personally have had more rot damage the year I stored the tubers out of the ground.


Store dahlia tubers: red dahlia

Dahlias in Colder Climates

In most areas, winters are too cold to leave dahlia tubers in the ground. For those zones that have colder climates, dahlia plants should be cut back at the end of the growing season, and after the plant’s top growth dies back, or is blackened by the first frost.

With clean, sharp pruners or loppers, cut all but 4 inches of the top growth.

The longer the tubers are kept in the ground, the more mature they will be. This will give them a better chance of surviving in storage. But you do want to dig them up before the first hard freeze of the season.

You can find your average first and last frost dates here.


Store dahlia tubers:

Splitting Dahlia Tubers in the Spring

You have the choice to divide your dahlia clumps when:

  • digging up tubers to store them over the winter months
  • it’s time to plant the tubers back in the ground in the spring
  • you’ve left your tubers in the ground through the winter and need to dig them up around the last first date in spring.

I will dig up my dahlia tubers in April to split and inspect them, toss any rotted or diseased tubers, and remove the mother root or tuber.

After splitting them, I plant them back in their holes and wait for them to bloom in the summer.


garden bed of dahlias and a greenhouse

Label Your Dahlia Tubers

It’s important to label your dahlias before their blooms die off so you’ll be able to keep track of each tuber once they are removed from the ground.

If you do not take your dahlia tubers out of the ground, you will still need to label them to be able to find the plants next year so you can dig them up to divide.


storing dahlia tubers

How to Dig Up Your Dahlia Tubers

No matter what option you decide on, you’ll need to go through these steps to start the process of digging dahlia tubers out of the ground.

storing dahlia tubers

Steps to Digging Dahlia Tuber Clumps Out of the Ground

1. Use either a shovel or garden fork, to dig around the dahlia clumps. Be careful not to accidentally sever the dahlia roots. I tend to use a pitchfork because the tubers are so sensitive.

storing dahlia tubers

2. Gently shake excess dirt off the tubers, and set them aside.

storing dahlia tubers

3. Repeat until you’ve dug up all of your tubers.


purple spotted dahlia

Options for Storing Dahlia Tubers

I’m sharing a few options for overwintering your dahlia tubers to eliminate any risk of frost.

Here are the best methods I have found.

OPTION 1:

This is the option I have used in the past to store dahlias.

Rinse the tuber clumps to remove all the excess soil and then wash them by dipping them in a 5% bleach-95% water solution.

After you’ve rinsed the tubers off, examine each clump to make sure that there is no damage or rot.

Home Depot buckets with water in them

If the tubers have several growth eyes, you can divide them at this step in the process as well. Use a sharp knife or pruners to divide dahlia tubers, making sure each piece has at least one eye.

The eyes of dahlia tubers are the set of cells that produce the next season’s plants and blooms.

I personally have much better luck finding the eyes in the spring. So if you can’t find them in the fall, wait to divide your tubers when they may become more visible in the early spring.

storing dahlia tubers

To prevent rotting, make sure the dahlia tubers are completely dry before you store them for winter.

Some gardeners suggest setting them out to dry for several weeks before putting them away for the winter. Others recommend only a couple of days.

I’ve been lucky because we have a wood-burning stove in our outbuilding, so our tubers dry pretty quickly.

When they’re dry, place tubers in a dark and cool place for storage, where there is no risk of freezing temperatures. This would be preferably between 40-50º F. and could be in an unheated basement, closet, utility room, or attic.

Store dahlia tubers: dahlias and greenhouse

Store dahlia tubers in slightly dampened peat moss, sawdust, wood shavings, or coarse vermiculite, and then place them in a cardboard box or paper bag lined with newspaper.

Tubers must have good air circulation, so make sure that they aren’t touching, and that they have enough room for proper airflow.

I check my tubers for rot once a month throughout the winter season.


Store dahlia tubers: dahlias

OPTION 2:

I learned this option from Erin at Floret Flowers who is basically my gardening hero. Her flower farm is located in the same state, Washington, and is a few hours away from my garden.

After Erin digs her dahlia clumps up, she shakes off the excess dirt, puts the clumps into deep bulb crates, and stacks them in a 40-50º room in her basement for winter storage. THAT’S IT! She warns that most pros may question her tactics, but I have to tell you, I love this idea.

Erin says that the soil seems to keep the dahlias tubers hydrated enough to avoid shriveling. Then in mid-late March, she pulls out all the crates, rinses off the clumps, and starts dividing the overwintering dahlias.


Store dahlia tubers: dahlias on a split rail fence

OPTION 3:

This is the Saran Wrap method.

Rinse the tuber clumps to remove all the excess soil, and then wash them by dipping them in a 5% bleach-95% water solution. After you’ve rinsed the tubers off, examine each clump to make sure that there is no damage or rot.

Lay the dahlia tubers out to dry in a cool garage or basement for a day or two. Once the clumps are dry, carefully divide them and then separately wrap each individual tuber in a piece of Saran Wrap.

Read more about dividing in my blog post All You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Dahlias.

Place the wrapped tubers into plastic bulb crates, and store them in a 40-50ºF space throughout the winter.

I have mixed feelings about this method of storing dahlia tubers.

  • PRO: The plastic wrap keeps the tubers separate from one another so if one was to rot, the others would be safe.
  • CON: Wrapping individual tubers in plastic wrap can be very time-consuming.

Store dahlia tubers: dahlias

I hope this has given you some ideas when planning to store your dahlia tubers for the winter.

For more on dividing dahlia tubers or other information about growing dahlia flowers, you can read my blog post on All You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Dahlias.

I’d love to hear from you, leave me a comment. Thank you for being here.

Until next time.

Happy gardening!



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How to store dahlia tubers in the winter

New Hersey garden

Make sure you visit my friend Stacy at Bricks ‘n Blooms to find out more about gardening for summer highs and lows. Stacy is a Master Gardener who lives in New Jersey and has so many great gardening ideas no matter what the season.


geraniums in greenhouse

For some great tips to save plants over the winter, visit my friend Rachel of The Ponds Farmhouse where she uses her gorgeous greenhouse to overwinter her plants.


Other Posts You May Enjoy...

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9 Common Cut Flower Garden Challenges and Solutions

Cut Flower Garden Dos and Don'ts

Pacific Northwest Fall Garden Tour

All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Dahlias

How To Divide Perennial Plants


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Filed Under: Fall, Garden, Tips and Tutorials Tagged With: dig up and store dahlia tubers, how to overwinter dahlias

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Comments

  1. stacy says

    08/21/2022 at 4:41 am

    Love your tips on saving and storing the dahlias. I am going to do it this year since I’m having a lackluster season with my dahlias. And thanks for sharing my post ! xoxo

    Reply
  2. Ingrid Sisson says

    01/09/2022 at 11:26 am

    Can I grow dahlia in the pot? I never grow dahlia, I would love to try this flower this year. What is the best month to start plant it? I got black dahlia bulbs online. Thank you.
    Your garden looks magnificent 😍

    Reply
  3. Jennifer Howard says

    10/17/2021 at 6:22 am

    Thanks for this! I need all the tips! I didn’t realize you were in zone 8…that sounds dreamy!!

    Reply
  4. Rachel Harper says

    11/10/2020 at 7:19 am

    Kim, I loved this information! Hope to plant some next spring. Pinned so I’ll have the information

    Reply
    • Kim says

      11/10/2020 at 2:26 pm

      I will be so excited to see you grow dahlias Rachel. It is so wirth it!

      Reply
  5. stacy says

    11/10/2020 at 7:09 am

    Great info Kim!!! I’m hoping mine make it this winter. I’ve overwintered other tender bulbs but never dahlias. Your flowers always look spectacular.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      11/10/2020 at 2:25 pm

      I am so excited that you are growing dahlias now Stacy. Now we can compare notes.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Cottage On Bunker Hill Weekly | Vol 57 - Cottage On Bunker Hill says:
    08/22/2022 at 6:06 am

    […] Now that the Summer is winding down it’s time to start thinking about putting your garden to bed in the Fall. If you have dahlias growing then you need to check out Kim at Shiplap & Shells tutorial on How to Safely Dig Up and Store Dahlia Tubers. […]

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Kim. Welcome to my home & garden blog, Shiplap and Shells. We live in a small 1920 beach cottage in the Pacific Northwest and have spent the last 10 years renovating, reinventing, and adding character to our forever home. Read More…

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