A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 winter dhalia care

I live in upstate NY and bring my dhalia "bulbs" inside each winter. I dry them out, brush off the soil and place them in the cellar in a plastic bag with newspaper on the bottom and peat moss. This year they have all become moldy! I now have them just hanging in the celler, but they look shriveled. What shall I do? I look forward to these beautiful flowers each summer!

Shriveled tubers can be placed in a bucket of water overnight to plump them up. Allow them to dry thouroughly before returning them to storage. Dahlia tubers should be inspected, every few weeks during the winter, for signs of disease or shriveling. Diseased parts can be cut off and the wounds dusted with sulfur. You can mist the peat moss from time to time, but keep a close watch for signs of rot.

Good luck
Barb barbsblooms@shaw.ca

Does anyone know which animal it is that digs up dahlias and eats them? I've had problems with that in the past. We have got the squirell population under control- could it have been them? We also have many possums and raccoons. Marketman25@aol.com