Digging up Dahlias early

[Jonny.D]

This is the first year I've grown Dahlias and they are still very much in full bloom with healthy foliage.

I'd like to dig up and save the tubers and from what I've read & watched I'm supposed to wait until the foliage dies off before doing so though I'll be going away mid November and wont be around when they die back.

So does anyone know if it will be OK to dig the tubers up & store them before the foliage dies off?

TIA


JD

[ecudc]

How long are you going away for? They won't start to die back properly until the first frosts and some people leave them in all year with just a mulch so assuming you are not in an area where you would expect a deep early frost and you are not away for too long is leave them in until you get back.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Yeah! Pretty much as "ecudc" says, you being "Darn South" think you are pretty safe to leave in situ till hard frost hits, but "Pant's n Braces" I'd mulch em too, just for safety's sake, and lift on your return!

Has they say up here! "They'll be Reet"

[Scarlet]

If you are going to lift them I would also wait until you come back from your hols. How many dahlias have you got? You could leave a few in the ground? I'm in the South West, my garden does get hit by frost and ive lost a few dahlias but if they are are giving a good mulch they should be ok left inthe ground.
This one has been in the ground for about 5 years now...


Although if they make it through the winter you need to ensure the young shoots aren't nibbled to the ground by slugs! Fortunately this plant lives under the bird table

[Jungle Jane]

You could lift them early November before you go? We should have a frost soon. I've grown mine from seed & is it right that they would've grown tubers this year? I'm going to cut them down & put a plastic & straw mulch over the lot & see what happens in March,if nothing happens,I've lost nothing,but I'l start more from seed too just in case the slugs eat all of it. I don't know why lots of websites say dahlias grown from seed are treated as an annual,are they feeble plants in their second year if grown from seed? Geraniums grown from seed in 2015 have produced bigger plants with more blooms this year wouldn't dahlias behave the same? Sorry I've just asked more questions than actual help

[Greenleaves]

My old pops never lifted dahlias, used to cover them with straw and put a terracotta flower pot over them.

[Martin H]

It probably doesn't matter either way. The plants will already have made big enough tubers that you can chop off the top growth and lift and dry off the tubers. Alternatively you can carry on enjoying the flowers as long as possible and lift and dry them off at Christmas. Or you can just leave them in the ground all winter, maybe with a bit of extra protection to make sure frost doesn't penetrate the tubers.

Personally I find that many of the ones I don't get round to digging up, survive the winter just fine. Also I find that a few of the ones I lift up don't want to grow in the spring. It seems hard to find a good place to store the dormant tubers, everywhere is either too warm or not guaranteed frost free. I wish I had a nice big garage!