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The luxury and splendor of dahlias deserve the love of many gardeners and summer residents. Even the most modest plot will dazzle more elegantly if you plant dahlias on it. Therefore, it is not strange that in the arsenal of many summer residents and gardeners there are these flowering plants of various varieties.
However, the joy of flowering dahlias will be short-lived if the necessary conditions for winter storage of tubers are not provided in the house or apartment. From this article you will learn how to keep dahlias until spring in the apartment.
How and when to dig up dahlias
There are basic rules for storing dahlia tubers, but success largely depends on when and how you dig up the roots of these plants. To ensure early flowering of dahlias, they need to be started as early as the end of February.
The optimal time for digging tubers is the first autumn frosts. Do not delay this, because, otherwise, the frost will destroy the shoots, which will soon begin to rot during storage and spread to the planting material. As a result, all workpieces for landing may die.
Too early to dig up the tubers is also not worth it, as they are also poorly stored. In addition, next season in this situation, one should not expect abundant flowering. This is due to the fact that green leaves provide natural nutrition to the root system, while the buds are actively preparing for the next flowering.
So, before digging up the plants, you should cut the stems. So, you definitely will not damage the roots or buds. In order to avoid damage to the root neck, stumps with a height of about 20 cm should be left above the ground. In addition, in order not to damage the neck of the dahlia, it is necessary to place a shovel not too close to the stems, and you should also not pull the bush by the stems.
To safely dig planting material, you should dig the bush from all sides at a distance of about 30 cm from the stems, then rake the soil and get the roots. But that’s not all. Tubers need to be prepared for storage.
The secret of successful storage lies in the quality preparation of the bulbs for wintering. So, a number of preparatory operations should be carried out:
- Flushing. The roots should be shaken off the ground and washed in running water.
- Shortening. With sharp scissors, cut off the shoots from the tubers by about 15 cm.
- Division. At this stage, you need to divide the rhizomes. The stems are cut almost to the base of the tubers. Each root should have buds. Hard roots with underdeveloped buds can not be divided.
- Disinfection. To disinfect planting material, you need to immerse it for half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate. This event minimizes the possibility of developing fungal diseases and rotting tubers. Another option for disinfection is the treatment of rhizomes with a fungicide. Each division should be checked for signs of disease and damage. All roots with suspicious spots should be destroyed. White bloom on tubers is a sign of the initial stage of infection with fungi. Such roots must be destroyed immediately, otherwise all planting material will die before spring.
- Drying. The roots must be dried well in the fresh air after washing.
Methods for storing tubers
Gardeners have come up with many ways to store dahlia tubers. The simplest and most common method is to store dahlias in boxes lined with newspaper. However, this method is not always suitable. Alternatively, you can store dahlias in an apartment in a clay or paraffin shell, as well as in plastic wrap. Each of these storage methods will be further described in the article.
In the boxes
If we talk about storing dahlia planting material in boxes, then they must be wooden. The bottom is covered with newspaper, and then tubers are placed in boxes for winter storage of plants. They need to be covered with newspaper and put away in the basement or other place where you usually store vegetables.
Also, for better safety, some summer residents fill boxes with tubers with sand or sawdust. But, if you have to store planting material in the winter in an apartment, then this option will not work for you.
Waxing of planting material
To make it easier to store dahlias in an apartment, gardeners came up with another method, which is to paraffin the tubers. To do this, you need to purchase ordinary candles or special paraffin and boxes / nets for storing planting material. Then the paraffin is heated in a steam bath over medium heat. After that, pre-washed, dried and disinfected tubers should be dipped in melted paraffin on both sides.
Waxed dahlia tubers are put in boxes according to varieties, and then sent for storage to the balcony or to the pantry. The storage location should be cool and with low levels of humidity. Before planting the tubers in the spring, you need to clean the planting material from paraffin by gently wiping it with a dry cloth.
Storage in polyethylene
It takes less time to prepare for storage of tubers in plastic bags or cling film. In addition, this method of storing tubers is cheaper. Before packing planting material, it must be treated with colloidal sulfur. Peat is poured into the bag and the tuber is placed, and then the bag is tightly tied.
Packed planting material is placed in boxes and placed in a dark, cool place. The main advantage of the storage method is the absence of contact between tubers, which makes it impossible to infect one root from another. The condition of each spine is easy to check by simply untying the package. The same manipulations should be carried out when twisting the roots into a cling film.
clay shell
One way to store dahlias in low humidity conditions is a clay shell. To do this, dilute the clay in water to a creamy consistency. Then you should dip the tubers in a diluted solution and lay out to dry in a cool dark place. When a clay crust forms on the tubers, they can be transferred to a storage box. In the spring, you need to free the tubers from the shell. To do this, you need to lightly knock on them and the clay shell will sprinkle.
Conclusion
So, storing dahlia tubers is not so difficult. By following the above recommendations, you can avoid rotting and fungal infection of planting material. For more information, we recommend that you also check out the accompanying video:
