Why And How To Dig Dahlias // Cottoverdi

[@JackieShorter]

Gosh I really do admire your patience and enthusiasm as you work through the flower beds lifting the tubers. Richard is such a valuable assistant. Thank you for pointing out dahlia gall, I didn’t know what that looked like.I have learned a lot from watching your dahlia journey in the course of a year. The pictures you have put on screen have enabled me to pin a few favourites. Your comparisons are very useful but best of all is the hands on knowledge you share. Thank you

[@cottoverdi]

Thanks Jackie, that's so wonderful to hear that you're finding the videos useful - that brings me so much joy, thank you 😁🌸

[@DownButNotOutYet]

Good morning Annette, yo, gardening is a lot of work especially if you wish to save bulbs or tubers for the next season, preparation is key! But it is worth it as well!! You have given such valuable details to the young or new gardeners out there, if they follow your instructions, they will become very contented gardeners in the future. I just wish to mention, I watched a Japanese dahlia garden, it was huge, probably growing for a small business, this grower removed all the bottom leaves off the plants for better airflow and it looks very tidy and I am sure the plants have benefitted from this. Just a thought to keep. We also have clay soil so we added lots of river or silica sand and loads of compost. It does help to break up. Many blessings.

[@cottoverdi]

That sounds like a great idea, thanks. I know it works for tomatoes too. 🌸😊

[@louisejohnson3851]

Love this video. Very anxious to see the "net bags" you use for storage. Keeping the label with the right tubers is a huge challenge. writing on the tuber itself can get smudged or not visible. Also, very pleased to hear you are a "Garden Answer" viewer, which I also love.

[@cottoverdi]

Hi Louise, yes, I love Laura and everything she does - so much fun to watch. I'm sure many of us can't imagine having such a big garden and the sheer quantity of plants that they have to manage but they do a fantastic job and are so generous to us on KZbin and also to their surrounding community. It's wonderful to share in their happiness. These are the netting bags I use amzn.to/3NLyZyx

[@AntoinettePieters]

I learn a lot from you , useful info.thank you.. from south Africa Cape Town..can't wait for next video.😊

[@cottoverdi]

Thanks Antoinette - so glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@arvindramanandi4451]

🙏🥀 Annette thank you for showing us how to prepare Dalia for winter storage. It’s amazing you got so many 369 dahlias. tubers its almost like a potato farm but you have more varieties of Dalia tuber’s than potatoes thank for showing division of the tubers I had some misfortune with my tuber some of them fallen out of the bunch but had no Eyes I tried to grow them but none of them came out does anybody remember Geoff Hamilton BBC gardeners world one of the best he used to show us how cutting crafting and dividing Dalia flowers i learned a lot from Mr Hamilton that many years ago sadly miss him I like the way you bring your baby dahlias out for sunbathing thank you for showing lovely demonstration. I’ll be waiting for your next video on pinching dahlias 🙏 from Dahliaoholic Ram

[@cottoverdi]

yes, they won't grow at all without the eye so just put them on the compost. I've seen some re-runs of Gardener's World with Geoff - I first started watching it when Alan Titchmarsh was presenting 😊

[@buddleiabee]

I'm glad you called out Monty & Laura. I was wondering about the misting of the vermiculite etc when storing. It seemed counter intuitive to me. Your videos (ref Dahlias) have been the most informative, out of 6, that I've watched on KZbin this evening. Thanks! P.s Where do you get those crates? I cant see that on the list.

[@cottoverdi]

Hi there, thank you for your kind words. The crates are from various places (some free from FB Marketplace) others from www.3jc.co.uk (also available from their shop on eBay. Hope this helps.

[@youlamatou]

Thank you Annette. Quite a lot of work to get them out of the garden and store them.

[@cottoverdi]

Yes indeed! 🤣 But it's so worth it to protect them for next year 😁🌸

[@youlamatou]

@cottoverdi So nice to hear English people use old language (indeed). Indeed is a greek word Όντως(Ondos) in modern Greek or Τω όντι (tooo ondi) ancient Greek.

[@KatWoman_]

Dahlias and fluffy cats. What more could a person want? I’ve been covering my dinner plates at night here in Northern California trying to get a little more time from them. Thank you for a great video, Annette.

[@cottoverdi]

Thanks Kat. You're so lucky to still have blooms!

[@juliabucker547]

Love your videos all the time and I learned so much about dahlias from you. This year is my first dahlia year and I've started with 9 tubers. Now my question: If you lay out the tubers for drying in the shed, aren't they in danger of mice or other animals to get damaged or eaten? I would be very glad for an answer. Lovely greetings from Germany...

[@cottoverdi]

Hi Julia, thank you. yes, mice might eat them but it is less likely at this time of year because they have other food sources. I don;t leave them in the shed for very long - a matter of days - until they are dry and then they are packed away securely and I will show how I do this is the future video. Hope this helps. 😊

[@LindaPadian]

its a lot of work digging dahlias up this year i have left a few in to see how they get on i have sandy soil so hopefully they will be ok

[@cottoverdi]

Hi Linda, I agree, it's always worth trying a few to see whether they can stay in the ground. Good luck!

[@MarieCB916]

Another interesting log Annette. I don’t lift my dahlias down here in NZ as where I live doesn’t get cold enough. However, wanting to know of you spray your dahlias for bugs? Mine are growing nicely and forming buds but something is eating the leaves! - even on the larger ones. I do use natural Neem granules around them. 🌺

[@cottoverdi]

Hi Marie, no, we don't ever need to spray the dahlias. I could be earwigs eating the leaves (do you have those in NZ?) or simply slugs and snails. For the later, I go out in the dark with my torch to hunt them down and dispose of them. For earwigs, try placing an upturned pot on a stake and fill it with straw; the earwigs will crawl in there to sleep and then you can dispose of them in the morning. Hope this helps 😊🌸

[@Dougswmn48]

Beautiful Kitty Persian. Thanks for Dahlia information 😊

[@cottoverdi]

Thanks for watching! 😊🌸🐈

[@AliceMeade-pt6ch]

Just a thought, if you punch a hole in the white tag with the Dahlia name on it, you could run the green tape through it and tie it around your tuber that way you have the tag and it will be attached until you bring them out to plant again.

[@cottoverdi]

Hi Alice, thank you - that is such a simple idea and I'm definitely going to try it because it would really help - just hope the labels don't crack but it's worth a try 😊👍🏼

[@adamsmith6594]

If you buy "green fingers" plant labels they already have the hole. You get 100 per packet, they're white plastic with a rough side which I write on with pencil as it doesn't fade unlike the sharpie ink got ours from yabE (flip it) and they were 5.99 per hundred.

[@judyrobinson2282]

I am in 8b in Oregon. Lots of rain. My dahlias did fine for about 2 years left in the ground. But then, one by one they succombed to moisture I am assuming. So if I want more, they will have to be dug. Now I know

[@cottoverdi]

😊🌸

[@laurelsayer7557]

I used to lift all my dahlias but it was such a palace to lift and store, that last year I left them all in the ground, munched really thickly and thankfully saw most of them return this Summer. However, I was wondering whether to lift a couple this year because they've grown so big and a couple could probably do with being divided. Mmm. luckily though I'm in Surrey on heavy clay all the amendments over the years mean the chance of surviving this very wet 12 months and the Winter to follow is reasonable. Fingers crossed! Don't think I could cope with lifting the number you have!!!

[@cottoverdi]

Yes, it's definitely a big job that we tackle over a few weeks but it's worth it for me to protect my treasures 😂