Hi Cheryl, with very good success I've stored dahlias and all types of roots and tubers in my coldroom, temp in there is about 4C. I also have water lilies stored, thus the humidity is high because of them being kept under water.

When digging, I leave a good bit of soil on the dahlia tubers, the stems are cut back and turned upside down to drain any moisture within them. The roots are then left to dry and cure a bit in the sun. I wrap them in several layers of newspaper and place within cardboard boxes. During the winter I check them a few times for any rot that needs to be removed.

You mentioned about having a terrible autumn, meaning weather wise? In the Edmonton area we did not receive a killing frost until the Oct 10 th and the weather was good all through November.

Terry

Hi Cheryl. Are the glad corms still firm? I find that after they've dried out and have been stored, a few layers on the top 1/2 will get papery, and I just peel those off - being careful right at the top just in case the glad has started to grow.

I kept my glad corms in a brown paper bag (along with my whiskey! ha!) and then packed in a small rubbermaid container that I stored in the innermost corner of our attached and unheated garage this past winter, that is not yet fully insulated (around the auto garage doors). We'd get ice on the door handle of the door that comes into the house, so I know it got cold in there, yet I just checked the corms after our last cold snap and they were still fine (knocking on wood or crossing fingers). I packed shredded newspaper around the corms within the rubbermaid with the hopes that'll give them a bit of insulation from temperature fluctuations (like when the big doors open to allow the vehicles in and out in -30C*).

I also attempted to store dahlia tubers in the garage, and from the looks of it, most appear firm, and some had the beginning of 'eyes'. These were an experiment from some pot dahlias I grew in the garden, and I did the 'saran wrap' method, which is a lot of work, but I did it the year before and out of 12 tubers that I separated from 2 plants, 8 made it, for me that seems like good odds.

When gardenweb clears out those nasty little garden gnomes that are messing with the search engine, you can try to search under saran wrap in the dahlia forum, jroot gives a pictorial/or a link to one that is pretty neat. Or try to search now, and if you get a 'missing page' type message, take your cursor up to the address bar up top, and delete the number 2 that follows the word forums, and hit your go button to the right, that should allow you to see the thread.

~kioni~

Thanks Kioni, I did remove the outer layers of husk and you are right, most of the corms are firm, small but firm). There are some that are completely dried out but they weren't that big to begin with. I have potted up the one's that might survive. Live and learn right? I was checking out the bulb forum but most of them live in the U.S. or much warmer climates and don't need to store their corms for as long. Thanks for the info on the dahlias I will check that out. Cheryl

Cheryl, its a good idea to let Dahlias die back completely after a "heavy" frost (usually about 7-10 days). If you got some kind of mulch such as straw around the plants, they'll be ok under ground before digging up. During this time it's ripening and preparing itself for winter. I also leave some soil on the tubers, let air dry for a couple of days on newspaper and store in cardboard boxes with peat moss.

With Glads, after flowering the foliage continues to stay green for a long time after a heavy frost, they will begin to turn yellow thereafter, corms are ready for digging when you see them yellow up or you can dig them when green and let the leaves mature on the corms before cutting. Dry for a few days on newspaper, then cut off the leaves within 2" of the corms. I store mine in a flat card board box layering them inbetween newspaper and peatmoss.

I have a pumphouse that I use for my cold room, it too stays around 4C.

Sharon