Dahlias - Take up now or not

[lizzyf]

Hi guys

Now we are starting to get frosts, should I take the Dahlias up or leave them until they have stopped flowering.

Some leaves are blackening but it seems a shame to dig them up when they are still full of flowers.

Any views or advice would be much appreciated

Lizzy

[WendyC]

Personally I'd lift them now. The weather isn't get any better and you'll be cursing if we get a sudden cold snap. I'm thinking of two winters ago where we had snow here in the south at the end of November and it didn't really thaw until sometime in January. By that time the crops at the allotment I'd not removed were disgusting. Be a shame to lose a whole summer's worth of flowers for one or two now.

[BertieFox]

Contrary to what most think, it is NOT cold that kills off dahlia tubers but a combination of cold and wet. We live in north western France where we regularly get winter temperatures as low as minus 20C for several days at a time, yet all of our dahlias are left in the ground and get through the winter. We could never do that in the UK even though the winters were far milder.
I would think therefore that you could leave your tubers in place, if you wish, by protecting them from waterlogging and heavy rain. You could try covering the place where they are planted with plastic.
If you decide to dig them up and keep them over winter, it is important that they are maintained in a moist, but not wet, situation over winter and free from frost. More damage is done to tubers by allowing them to dry out than from cold and damp.

[Matt94]

i know an expert dahlia grower - i can see his plot from my house and has hundreds and hundreds of dahlias - infact it was him that gave me the 'dahlia growing bug'. Anyway when he lifts his dahlias i lift mine - and he lifted his yesterday (i was a bit late and lifted mine today);P

[lizzyf]

Thanks Folks for all your advice - I'll take it all on board. I guess I've been pretty lucky with them this year. Some have diappeared in the wet ground but others have gone wild.

My hubby was pretty sick when he asked me to take his Dahlias up for him but it was all a whirlwind (or hurricane) and I can't recall when in the Autumn it was. I kept them in the garage to dry out for a while and at a loss as how to keep the cold from them a friend suggested that I shread newspaper in the mail shredder to insulate them. I did that and left them in boxes in the greenhouse and they survived. I was worried that they weren't dry enough but obviously from what you have told me too dry is not good so I guess the newsprint kept them a little moist. I was thinking about doing them same this year. Has anyone any views about old newsdpapers - it didn't seem to harm them last year or was I just lucky.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Couldn't tell you where mine are, to then dig up or whether they are there at all. Eaten by the clay.

[bramble]

I have been growing dahlias for years and have never lifted them.
Hav'nt lost any so far but i always make sure the plants are well covered. I dont cut the foliage down until the spring.

[Gearoid]

I've been out in the garden this afternoon as it was sunny and dug up my dahlias. It only took around an hour so it's not too much bother. After they've dried off for a couple of week, I store them in boxes with old newspaper and some loose compost and pop them under the stairs where it's not frosty, but not heated either.