[davethespread]

the guy next to my new-er plot grows lovely dahlias they were really beautiful heads on them.
well he said to me today he never saves the tubers for next year he throws them away and gets new ones.
so i asked if i could have them and he said yes,hence the question does anyone know how to store them for winter please.
it would give the allotment a lovely burst of colour and maybe attract a few bees too.

[fatcat1955]

When the foliage has gone black and died down , lift the tubers and wash as much old soil as you can off them. Hang them upside down in a frost free place for a few days until they are dry. Place in a box of dry peat and store frost free overwinter. Beginning of April inspect the tubers and if ok pot them into a 10in pot and gently water them. Plant out end of May and enjoy.

[Nige2Plots]

To be honest Dave, I always grow new ones from seed. I cannot be bothered to save the tubers and if I do I leave them in the ground and yes this winters weather has killed them. The seeds I have planted have germinated and the seedlings are ready to be potted on.
That's the way I do it!

[Debz]

I get as much soil of them as possible without washing them because at that time of year it's too cold for me.  I leave them upside down on the shelf in the greenhouse (as long as it is frost free) and then I wrap them in newspaper, put them in a cardboard box in the attic and forget about them until February.

[davethespread]

thanks all,im looking forward to having a go,i dont really do flowers,only a few night scented stock around the patio.
this year im doing mariglods,sweet peas and sunflowers mostly to keep aphids at bay and attract bees to the plot.
again thank you for your replies.

[tallulah]

I find many of my tubers survive the winter, surprisingly.  Having said that, I've rearranged the border and had to dig them up, so I've popped them into shallow pots in greenhouse, with soil just covering the tops, to bring them on.  Also, can't be sure they all survive, so if I dig em up I can get on with utilising the ground where they non-survivors were.

Its really, really easy to store the tubers overwinter anyway, then shallow pot them in spring under cover  .  Enjoy the bonanza of free tubers!