Rouge, I'm not familiar with this particular dahlia, but I imagine you could overwinter it as any other dahlia. Saying that is the easy part. Deciding on a way to do it is the hard part, lol!

First, let me say, I agree with your research plan - you should do a youtube or google search. There are several ways to do this and it would probably be so much easier for you to learn by watching a step by step tutorial than by trying to read my instructions lol.

I've tried overwintering dahlias a couple of ways - in peat moss in plastic grocery bags, in leaves in plastic grocery bags, in styrofoam coolers, and some other ways I've forgotten - I almost always lost them despite others swearing by these methods. The year with the peat in plastic bags, I finally bought a few more tubers over the winter, expecting to lose mine, and of course since I bought some, mine overwintered fairly well haha!

I had given up and gotten into the habit of treating dahlias as annuals, but last year I grew flowers for my daughter's wedding, and planted about 80-90 dahlia tubers. I felt compelled to try to save them lol. So I googled, youtubed, etc., and settled on layers of newspaper and peat moss, with the tubers in the peat moss, all layered in large cardboard boxes (about 2'x2'x2'). (I still can never find the eyes, so I cut the bunch of tubers into quarters down the neck/stem, and dealt with the eyes this past spring.) I kept the boxes in my basement, which was probably between 40-50 degrees most of the winter, and a bit humid. I think I VERY lightly misted the newspaper when layering it, and I checked for moisture sometime in late January or February, and again may have misted VERY lightly. I had quite good success with this method, but you may find some other way that works for you.

I'm thinking of trying the saran wrap method this fall, but that means you have to really separate the tubers, (i.e. find the eyes!) so I'm not sure I'm up to that lol. So much easier to find the eyes in spring, IMO.

Good luck!
:)
Dee

P.S. If you have several tubers and can find the eyes, perhaps you can experiment with overwintering each tuber a different way, to see which works best for you.

I've had good success with potted dahlias, just stop watering and cut the tops back to stubs about two inches high and place container in a cool frost free place. The tubers I've kept over as such didn't seem to require any watering during the winter or at least only a tiny sparse amount if I had done so.

FB, thanks for that.

Leaving it in the pot is lots less mess than digging it out and all.

Rouge for what it's worth I have tried overwintering in pots like that a few years back and it did not work for me. I used to overwinter about 200 pots per year of perennials, but just didn't have luck with the dahlias. I think it may have been a moisture issue, but not sure. Of course, it obviously works for others and may work for you, but just wanted to share my experience, fwiw.

Is this particular dahlia easily found to repurchase if needed? If so, then you can feel more confident in whatever method you choose to try, since you can easily buy a replacement.

FB, where did you store yours specifically? Basement, garage, shed? What were the approximate temps? I have so many dahlias now I know I won't get to lift them all, so maybe I'll try dragging in the potted ones again and focus on lifting the ones in the ground. I see you are much colder than I am so you have given me renewed hope lol! Thanks!

:)
Dee

Is this particular dahlia easily found to repurchase if needed? If so, then you can feel more confident in whatever method you choose to try, since you can easily buy a replacement.

I couldn't have said it better myself Dee!

I am confident I will find it again next year so it is just an experiment to see it I can get this one to live again.

(We have a small cold cellar which during the winter has a temp range of probaby 2C to 6C (36F to 42F))

Dee, dahlias are sooo gorgeous and yet often so frustratingly challenging to store! We had a neighbor lady that grew a vast number and then just tossed them into cardboard boxes set under her stairway of that old cold unfinished basement, in the spring those dang tubers had remained plump perfect!

The thing for sure about dahlias is that they do not like to be stored moist, or at least that has always been my experience, pretty well sitting in bone dry soil is what I've had best success with.

Here is a potted one, yes the soil is now completely dried out and I just snipped the tops back. I'll leave those cuts to dry off for a day or two and then set in the garage or into the cold room where the temp is about 4 or 5 C, the garage does get colder later on, so yes all will get moved to the cold room at some point.

In ground grown dahlia, now boxed within dry soil. Note those little shoots on the stem, that's a good thing, these help prevent the stems from dying and rotting ... though, dry stems are not a bad thing, rot is what one really wishes to avoid within the stems as it can easily travel down into the tubers.

UPDATE:

So it has been in its pot, in the cold cellar since last late October.

If after bringing it into the light and warmth sometime in....mid March it begins to show life, I am wondering what the next step(s) should be. Specifically I am thinking about this dahlia having been in the same potting soil since spring 2020. But I worry about repotting it in spring 2021 as it would disturb the newly growing roots. I need your experience and advice.

I'll be dividing my dahlias in mid April and potting them up at that time. Don't be concerned of knocking yours out of it's pot and removing a good amount of the old soil and refreshing it all, dahlia respond quickly with new root growth, a bit of damage is of no major significance.

Don't be concerned of knocking yours out of it's pot

And just to clarify FB, I am doing this even after I see signs of life in the dahlia ie green on top of the pot?

All this will be moot if this potted dahlia doesn't survive its overwintering in the cellar :(.

(I have an accurate thermometer in this room and this cold February the lowest I have seen is 4C/39F.....I am assuming that anything greater than 0C is ok)

Yes, being frosted is what one must avoid, also excessive warmth and too much moisture in particular is a big killer, dahlias have rather exacting storage requirements. Just checked on mine, they're in the attached unheated garage that had experienced well below freezing temperatures within ... though, I set the boxes containing the tubers up against the warm wall shared with the house and I covered all over with a VERY thick layer of blankets and other insulating materials and all seems well! I had stored the cured tubers in bone dry silty garden soil, it's all that I had on hand and really helped to prevent both rotting and desiccation, for the most part, I also had attempted to maintain the tubers as well ventilated.

So when in (April?) do you plan to pot them, warm them, water them and light them? :)

A mid April start gives them six weeks to develop into stalky 8 to 10 inch plants that have been grown on in the full sun aspect of my attached sunroom, some of the dwarf varieties might remain potted, the rest out into the garden patch they go.

Thanks lot for the information FrozeBudd. I hope it comes to the point that I can use it :).

After the last two years, I've come to realize that this is the "danger time" for me lol. The last two years, which is when I really started paying attention to overwintering tubers, since I had so many, I've taken them out of their storage maybe in late April? May? Many tubers with some leggy, fragile growth. I have trouble finding that balance between taking them out too early and leaving them in storage too late.

Last year I potted many up (and left them outdoors), but just had sooo many tubers (well over a hundred) and didn't have enough pots, and was using way too much potting mix. I saw on a youtube video that you could just lay the tubers in a tray of potting mix, so I used old seed trays/flats for this. The problem I found with this is that the soil was so shallow, and so new growth was leafing out very close to the tuber, and when it came to planting out, I was't sure if I should plant the tuber at the proper depth and cover the foliage, or plant it shallowly so the foliage would be above ground.

This year I am thinking of trying to pot up earlier, to avoid that leggy growth. (Also, good to know I can snip it! Thanks FB!) I just don't know WHERE to do this. I don't have a really good spot to keep these pots indoors. I'll have to think on it some more. The flip side is that last fall I waited too long after lifting and dividing the tubers to put them in storage, and I think I lost the majority of them to drying out. :( I should go and check on them but I'm too afraid lol. Oh well, I bought a few more tubers to compensate for my losses. And if I lost so many it won't be as labor- and resource-intensive to pot up what I do have!

:)
Dee

Diggerdee, ... oh boy, someone has a LOT of dahlias tubers, funny how that sneaks up on a person! Because my tubers are stored just a few degrees above freezing, they tend to stay dormant and seldom show spindly spring sprouts. Though, if ever they would, these can be nipped right down to just a tad above where they come forth from the tuber, but don't rub them out altogether. When planting out dahlias that have been grown on, I set the tubers a bit deeper and with a shallow basin around the plant that fills in by itself as the season progresses. I know some will transplant much deeper and also some will hill their established plants up to help provide support, being concerned of possibly rot occurring to deeply buried stems, I tend not to bury stems too far down.

FrozeBudd, mine didn't exactly sneak up on me lol. I bought about 80-90 tubers (can't remember exact numbers now) to grow flowers for my daughter's wedding in 2019. Then I felt compelled to overwinter them (having usually just treated the two or so I normally bought, as annuals). I actually had great success in overwintering them - almost too good, lol, as like I said I had them coming out of my ears!

Unfortunately I don't think potting up my overwintered tubers will be an issue this year - they really did not look good when I went to store them. Still can't believe after all the work of lifting and dividing I let the storing part get away from me. Ugh.

Anyway, again, it's really good to know about cutting back the new growth,and I like your idea of planting them in a shallow basin. That's helpful too. Thanks!

:)
Dee

P.S. Your point about your tubers being stored just above freezing also has me rethinking if perhaps I have a colder spot in the basement. Maybe just a few degrees will hold off that new growth just a bit longer.

Dahlia Diggerdee! lol .... It's difficult to forsake a really good dahlia allowing it to be left in the ground and lost to the winter. Though, I've never blinked to winnow out those I'm not keen upon, even some that are highly touted, yet just don't do it for me. Also had tossed one out when discovering it to have leafy gall disease, something that years ago had badly spread though my collection before even knowing what I was dealing with.

Yes, tubers can shrivel up surprisingly quickly, I leave mine to cure in the sun for but only two days, then box them up, any longer and one risks them becoming severely dehydrated. Since my garage is not frost free, I must carefully monitor any frost sensitive plants being stored, the cold room being more ideal, though it also must be observed when outdoor temperatures become bitterly, bitterly cold.

UPDATE (March 29):

Had it in its original pot all winter in the cold cellar (I think the coldest it got was 4C/39F).

I brought it up and out on March 9 and slipped out the entire pot contents and repotted it. I placed it in a warm and somewhat sunny place and two weeks later it showed some life. Here it is this morning:

(I know I may be a bit early but I was bored ;))

Good show Rouge! I believe my tubers have wintered very well and will soon divide and pot them up. I have about twenty on order for spring delivery and ten or so already on hand ... yes, too many I know, lol ... but, will winnow that number down to my favorites and of course later add yet more, lol. I also have soooo many perennials coming that I don't know where I'll put everything! :)

I also have soooo many perennials coming that I don't know where I'll put everything!

Crocodile tears I say! (I have seen your large property and as I recall you have tons of room)

@FrozeBudd_z3/4 is (only?) one actively growing stem enough to give a 'robust' plant?

I have a whack of perennials and shrubs heeled in along the edge of the garden and with at least 40 more to arrive, I'll be doing a massive amount of head scratching wondering of their individually placement ... it's not of the amount of room I have, more so coordinating of everything and moving several shrubs around as well.

Yes, dahlias can produce a full lush plant with only one or two main stems.

it's not of the amount of room I have, more so coordinating of everything and moving several shrubs around as well.

For me that is so much of the appeal of perennial gardening....all the permutations and combinations...love it!

@FrozeBudd_z3/4 wrote:

Yes, dahlias can produce a full lush plant with only one or two main stems.

I believe you!

Here are two pictures taken today barely a week after the one I posted above when there was just the smallest 'nub' of growth:

It looks very happy!! All my dahlias stored very well and must now get around to dividing and potting them up!

And now 2 weeks later:

Rouge, are you setting the thing outside to enjoy the warmth and full sunshine, such will really help to make the plant strong and sturdy. On any decent nice day, many of my plants sit out on the south facing veranda and even stay out overnight if the temperature is to remain a decent amount above freezing, the veranda also provides for an additional many degrees of frost protection. I always give plants a few days to adjust to the full sunlight so as they do not become sun burnt.

Actually I have been pleasantly surprised how sturdy the stems have remained even never yet having gone outside. I will bring it for a visit outside soon.