Hello! My name is Bethany and I grow things in my rooftop container garden in Chicago, zone 6a. I am by no means an expert, just someone who enjoys sharing my garden journey.
In today’s video, I’ll show you how I overwinter my dahlias using the method that worked last winter. Let me know how you store your dahlia tubers. Do you dig them up or keep them potted?
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6 Comments
If I had access to a rooftop like you have. I would build a mini green house with led lights for the winter.
Great video! You can clean your pruners with steel wool and some “3 IN ONE oil” they even sell it at my little grocery store. You can also take them apart and give them a good oil and cleaning once a year. You can take pics or videos to know how they go back together. I would use your vermiculite method or wrap the individualdahlias in Saran Wrap and store in the garage. The key is to keep them in that temperature, your house will always be too warm. I believe 40-50 degrees is ideal.
How disgusting to have the fly eggs! So glad you caught that. Lol
For the clippers, use steel wool to remove rust and then wipe down with WD40.
A good scrub will help with those pruners, I’ve done that before lol 🙂 Dry them well and then a couple drops of mineral oil near where the blades meet and open/close them a bunch to work it in. I try to remember to do this once a week because I use them so much. They’ll feel just like new!
Is your garage detached ? I also live in Chicago and am nervous about y dahlias in the garage since we get such low temps (ours is detached)
I also have had good luck with just cutting them back and keeping them in the grow bags. I also had good luck with wax 🙂