October 8, 2018 General Meeting

Join us at 6:15 p.m. for a potluck meal (bring a dish to share and your tableware), followed by a brief business meeting and informational presentation. General Meetings are held at the Oak Grove Lutheran Church on 7045 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55423. Enter at the east entrance on Augsburg Ave. Non-members are welcome to join us!

Presentation: Seeds and Seedlings

Larry Bagge and Cindy Soule will demonstrate how to harvest seeds from your Dahlias and discuss how to store them and plant them in the spring. They will also discuss how to enter and show seedlings. Additional information and images can be found on the web at How to Collect Dahlia Seeds

Seeds

Pods

Beginners will want to learn how to dig and store their tubers over winter. Larry will review this topic as well. At our last October meeting, Eric videotaped the presentation and you can watch it here:

Some important notes from the presentation are provided below:

The clippers shown are Zenport ZS104 Deluxe Scissors, Garden/Craft/Horticulture, 8-Inch Long

After a hard frost, allow tubers to remain in the soil for 2 weeks before digging them up.

After digging up tubers, clean them off and cut off the “rat tail” roots, remove the “mother” tuber, remove any damaged tubers, thin-necked tubers, or tubers growing from another tuber.

When dividing tubers, be sure to remove part of the stalk with your tuber. This is where the eyes will be produced.

Disinfect your cutting tools between plants with a 10% bleach solution.

Allow tubers to cure in a dark, cool place such as your garage before storing them for the winter. The key is air circulation. You can set them in crates or slatted shelves. Do NOT place them on concrete!

There are many different storage methods and you have to find the one that works for you. Key components to storage are a dark, cool (not more than 50 deg. and not less than 36 deg.) location with air circulation. Constant temperature changes cause condensation which will cause rot.

Check on your tubers throughout the winter and remove any rotten or shriveled tubers.

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