Dahlia Digging & Storage - Finished!

This is the day I have been waiting for- I am finished with my dahlia tubers for the year! Back on October 29th I cut down the first four rows of dahlia plants. Then on November 4th I dug those first four rows. Since then, I have been "working" on dahlias after work and on weekends almost every day straight. Today the last dahlia tubers were fully dry. I wrapped them by variety in saran wrap and then carefully labeled them. The last tuber bundles almost completely filled storage box number 4! As far back as I can remember, I haven't ever saved this many tubers. Last year it was 2 1/2 boxes worth.

Looking at my notes, this year I divided about 230 clumps. Two plants showed signs of virus and I tossed those tubers over the back fence. I also lost 4-6 clumps due to rot. After dividing those 230 clumps, I washed, bleached, dried, wrapped, and labeled 922 total individual tubers. Of those 922 tubers, I ascertained that 761 definitely had a live eye. The others I wasn't sure about, but saved them to check on in the Spring. Not a bad one month's work!