Been there myself, and it usually happens with the ones you don't particularly like. LOL

The neck is where most of the eyes will be attached to the stem. Cut the stem off above the tuber about an inch or so. The eyes should be approx where the neck and stem meet. Sometimes it is difficult to see the eyes. If you want to play it safe, you can maybe divide the cluster into a group of 5 with a quarter of the stem attached. You will probably get several eyes next spring. Often it is easier to see the eyes in the spring when you are starting them up. Personally I don't like the tubers that come out like little balls as it is so hard to tell which tubers are viable and which are not. You have no doubt read that some of the tubers will not generate new plants. Getting the dirt off is indeed difficult with these small balls, even with a hose and a tool to pry them apart.

You said, "I now have a kajillion of these yellow ones so don't need to maximize output for next year: just don't want to kill them all", so why not pack away a smaller cluster for the spring and not worry about getting each individual one separated. That is what I do when pressed...err on the side of caution. As I say, in the spring you'll be able to tell which ones will give you new plants. If you have too many, develop some trading friends to multiply your own selection.

Thanks, Jroot! That is clearer now. I was just washing them (again) and thought of another question: The big whopper clusters have several stems. (Maybe they came attached as a cluster and I planted them that way) I imagine a good way to start would be to try to split the cluster into several stems?

linnea I am working hard to get you photos of just such a pesky clump I really, really wanted to divide because I love the flower, but Photobucket just isn't cooperative at the moment. Suffice it to say for now, that small, tightly knit tubers are not the dahlia grower's best friend. I couldn't even begin to guess where I could possibly divide such a little monster. photobucket is now cooperative: here it is: stem is upright center, eyes marked in blue ink.
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The one and only one tuber that was harvestable was damaged, gouged on the side. I don't care, I'm trying to save it anyway.
The remaining undividable little clump will be stored all together until Spring, when I may just plunk it in the ground as is. I know it has eyes, I just can't tell where to divide into individual tubers on this one. Not one possible cut can I see. Either the eyes don't match up to a tuber, or they're too tight to separate without too much harm to all. Bummer.

Move on to your next clump and hope that it is easier, with more cooperative elongated tubers that are easier to divide. Otherwise, I support your idea of trying to quarter the clump next Spring when you will most likely see growth for new plants. See Jroot's photo of splitting down the stem in the long post of 'dividing tubers' I think.

Here are examples of necks of varying sizes. Necks are marked in red. Generally, thicker necks are better for storage and survival in Spring planting. Thinner ones can be stored, particularly in Saran wrap, but are prone to breaking and rotting. Some tubers you have to cut as doubles or triples: they just can't be divided easily, but can be stored where two/three tubers support the same eyes up on the neck area. I am saving the thin ones to try cuttings, if nothing else, next Spring. If you have broken or wimpy tuber necks on a clump, just cut them off and be done with it. They make good compost.

Good luck to you. My only other advice is DO NOT put a no blot ink pencil in your mouth to hold when you have to work the following day. Because indelible blue lips are really hard to explain LOL!
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Thanks so much, Poochella! Most of mine look like your "problem" clump, only balls times 4. I'm going out to dig the "good ones" in a few minutes, I hope they won't be little balls. Since it has been a week since the frost, some have actual sprouts about 1/2" long.

On the very lower part of the stems, partly underground, I have lots of tiny oval light brown things, lighter than the stem color, that look like calluses. That makes it a little hard to see the eyes. I thought they were eyes until I got them in the house and took a good look. The tubers have lots of light small bumps too. It makes me think they were trying to grow new roots after being shocked by the frost.

One thing I found odd when I dug the little yellow ones was that there seemed to be little relationship between the volume of foliage and the volume of tubers found underneath. I have some with 3 tubers, some with softball-sized, even melon-sized clumps. The one that bloomed the longest and most did not have the most tubers. And despite being the same variety, some had started blooming months ago and some were just getting started when the frost hit. When we planted them originally we did the ones that "looked good" (plump)first, then just tossed in the broken-off really shriveled pieces wherever. I was surprised they grew at all. These I'm pretty sure are the ones that got around to blooming very late.

You're welcome linnea. I'm not sure what to say about the light colored oval things. Doesn't sound like the thickened ring of collar found under the stem, before the tubers start underground. Occasionally, you will have a stem tuber: one that forms higher up on the stem from the rest of the gang below. I've read that they make good tubers too, for what it's worth. My wine and Roses grew from such a stem tuber this year: it was the only sprout on a little clump part I received. It was very slow, so I'll have to compare progress next year. (If I get tubers! It's still in the ground blooming in our glorious rainfall.)

There is no relation to plant and tuber production that I can see. Some of my best tuber producers in the past are shockingly 'chintzy' this year: like 10 tubers last year vs 3 this year, even though the plant grew well. Others are more generous. It's all a spin of the wheel as far as I can tell.

As far as bumps on tubers: that seems to be variety-specific: some tubers are smooth as a baby's bottom and some are so nubby it is hard to find space to write the name on in any legible fashion.

Good luck digging your other clumps, I hope they aren't softballs!

I dug up the ones I actually like yesterday: bigger pink cactus and some nice salmon-colored ones. Still ball-like tubers but not nearly so many of them. Those bloomed heavily but did not produce the quantity of tubers that the little yellow ones did.

Last night I sat down to watch an old movie with a big tray of the yellow tubers to learn dividing. The "softballs" were really hard, but I didn't think it would be any easier to wait until spring. There were tubers and stems wrapped around each other every which way. I wished I could take a picure as it was really unbelievable, but my DH has the camera for a trip. I just followed each stem down and tried to remove tubers from the top down. I'm sure a lot will not make it, but I sure had a lot to start with. Where I couldn't tell where to cut, and couldn't se any eyes, I left a cluster attached.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap. But since many were clusters, I couldn't wrap them nearly as neatly as the pictures. Just made it as tight as possible, and now have about 12-15 "bundles". But there's still some air in and around the clusters. Should I then put the bundles into a plastic bag, squeeze out the air and seal that?

Thanks again for all your help!

As tight as possible in saran type wrap sounds good enough to me. I don't think they have to be absolutely air tight, just close to prevent drying out, or air to fuel the growth of any little germs left behind. I tried a few extra tubers wrapped in aluminum foil too!

Bernie, if you are out there, can you comment on the air tight factor, please? After I tried the foil, I wondered about vacuuming sealing tubers too using those little Ronko vacuum sealer machines. That might cramp the style of sprouting buds in Spring, I bet. Soil is not air tight, it has small air spaces among globs or particles, so perhaps airtight is not such a worthy goal for a tuber in storage.

I just can't wait for Spring! LOL here I am still digging and wallowing in wet/cold gardens already looking forward to next season!

Personally, I don't think the tubers need to be "air tight". The saran wrap method definitely helps in this goal, and this in turn helps prevent dehydration, and that is the goal (from my perspective). I have used recycled plastic grocery store bags, wrapping as tightly as possible, twisting the top and wrapping around the encapsulated tubers. Then these are put into a box for winter storage. My thinking is that the plastic bags will aid with preventing dehydration, and any air that is still in the bag will act as an insulation within the box. I've done this for several years now and not had loss. Previously I had tried storing in peat moss - what a disaster; storing in shavings - what a disaster; etc etc. The idea of the saran wrap is a good one. My version of using recycled grocery bags is a viable alternate. It prevents dehydration, it is easier to put the tubers in, it traps a small amount of air that will act as insulation, it separated the tubers, from each other, it is reusing a product that would immediately go to the landfill otherwise, they will hold several of the smaller tubers which are more easily wrapped with the saran wrap ( yes, I do use saran wrap for the smaller ones), and are ideal for holding small clumps such as linnea is describing.

Poochella, I don't believe the plastic wrapping has to be air tight and I wouldn't advise vacuum sealing based on the experience of a knowledgeable friend of mine. He vacuumed some as an experiment and lost them all. He said when he opened them he was assailed by a mushy foul smelling mess like rotten eggs.
Since he also used sulfur as a fungicide, I assume some hydrogen sulfide was generated and couldn't escape.
I believe Jroot, who must have taught either chemistry or physics, has good handle on process of storing in any form of plastic wrapping that seals and prevents dehydration but allows any noxious gases that form to escape.

Good advice, thanks both. I'm all in favor of allowing foul noxious gases to escape- the further from me, the better! I'll still eagerly await the results of the foil wrapped ones, just for fun. If I remember to get paraffin, I'll try dipping some extras as well to see how they do.

Back to digging....

Thanks for the help, everyone! So far so good. Once all bagged and boxed I'm planning to store them in my attached garage, against the wall that is closest to the house. I notice that paint doesn't freeze there. The other choice is my basement crawl space; but I doubt that gets below 60 degrees.

On a "fun" note, I found I had plastic grocery bags in colors that coordinated with my dahlias: yellow and orange. Though I had to use white with red letters for the pink cactus! I labeled the tubers and clusters but each plastic wrapped bundle went into the matching bag. I also collected them from the garden this way.

Poochella, are you serious about the paraffin? That was a very successful storage method in days of yore and I'm sure you know that the idea for plastic wrap storage evolved from that method.
Something you posted recently piqued my interest. As soon as my tubers get put to bed, I hope to expand on your idea.

Well, I divided my Dahlia today. Anyone hear the screams? lol, I massacred the thing-it was so grown together and tangled and twisted, the was no other way to do it. I thought of using an ax-turns out I might as well have. I have grown them for three years now and never divided before. I am pretty confident that it will make it through and am going to try the plastic wrap method.

Btw, what is wrong with storing in peat moss? That has worked for me up until now.

Some people think it draws the moisture out of the tuber- but if it works for you don't fix it!
Personally we had absolutely rotten- literally- luck with the saran wrap method- every one I wrapped, rotted - but have had fantastic luck storing in vermiculite- so- to each his own & if it works for you that's GOOD!

Putzer: good evidence that one should dig and divide annually to avoid that screaming hassle. Your neighbors will appreciate it! Even if you do divide annually, some clumps are still tough customers. With luck, you will have saved something viable.

Plantlady, did you use any kind of fungicide before wrapping or storing in vermiculite? I used both methods last year with great results. The year before storage in quarter clumps in peat moss with a sustained freeze was a total tear jerker though. Rot, rot and more rot. Live and learn, and learn some more, I guess...

We don't use any kind of fungicide on the tubers- used sulphur one year & I had a very bad reaction to it- ended up in hospital-- so now they have to get rid of their fungus if any on their own! We do use a fungicide during the growing season on the plants & that may help as we have really healthy plants & the tubers store well without any rot.

The best storage areas are between 41-48 degrees, medium humidity, with no fluxuation in temperature. This doesn't mean that other storage situations are unworkable; instead, it means you have to work harder to find what storage medium works best for you.

bump into 2016... great thread!