Crispy Critter - (Is it too late?)

I went down to the garage to check on my Dahlia Tuber. I had it in a box with peat. It seems really dried out -- is it too late to "revive it"? Any suggestions please? Thanks!

How dry? Is there still a little plump flesh in the tubers?

If so you could try spraying them with a little water.

I think that the base is probably a bit plump -- have to recheck. After spraying it with H2O should I pot it up in just barely damp soil and put it back in the garage? Would that help??

Yes you can do that if it's easier for you. Dahlia tubers appreciate a little spray of water from time to time when they are stored. The key is to not wet them just a bit of a spray to keep them fresh

I will try -- it is pretty crispy and not much flesh there . . . in fact it is as hard as a rock toward the base. May have lost it!! Oh well . . . just a little sad . . . it was my first and only Dahlia. :(

but a healthy tuber is very form. do you mean it has shrivelled and what has remained is very hard? try scratching the surface with your nail and see what color is is underneath

Yes, exactly what you just said. Parts of it are definitely rotted though. -- scraped off the rotted part (which wasn't too much) and potted it up. When I scratched it - it was pretty brown. -- Athough the stem above the crown does look like fresh "wood". Guess I will see what happens.

On a side note: I have heard of people powdering their tubers with some sort of antifungal before storing . . . any recommendations on what and where I can get it?

Powdered sulphur is the most effective, sometimes called flowers of sulphur.

flowers of sulphur.

you bulb may have been frosted badly or just stored incorrectly. once the rot sets in I would dump it. Dahlias are usually stored in damp peat or compost for the winter

OK -- that would be the problem -- I stored it in peat -- but it wasn't damp. Oh well - I have more I ordered coming in the spring.

THANKS FOR THE TIPS!!

ALSO:
Does "Flowers of Sulphur" protect against thrips?

This message was edited Friday, Jan 10th 9:00 AM

I think Thrips dont do any harm. Arent they the little bugs that mess around on the soil surface eating dead stuff?

There is some info here http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/thrips.html

I thought thrips were the little ones that munch on the bulb while they are planted. - - Well then, I don't know what it was - but I had a little "muncher" chewing a bit on my Asiatic Lilies bulbs last year.

This message was edited Friday, Jan 10th 6:48 PM

Have a look at the hyperlink Alyssum :)

I did read the link -- and then read it again. I don't think my bulb munchers (little "bites" on the bottom of my bulbs that are in the ground) are thrips. From what I gathered in the article -- thrips eat away at stems and leaves and deprive bulbs what they need - - so the bulbs are smaller.

Oh, ok I thought you'd missed it :)

That's OK -- maybe someone will read this and know what my "bulb munchers" might be and I can figure out what to "treat" it. :)

slugs

mice, vine weevil grubs

I'll bet it was grubs!!!