dahlia question

i dug up my dahlias last fall and stored them, as they were. of course the tubors had grown quite considerably. should i cut them and plant them in small units, or can i plant them as is and get a larger patch of them?
inquiring minds want to know

Debi-z

You can separate each 'finger' as long as it has a leaf bud on them prior to planting. Personally I'd only take a couple or three fingers off and plant the main tuber as a whole, just in case.

You might want to dip them in a fungicide as a prevention after cutting the fingers.

i just checked them and they are drying up. there are only a few on each that have any meat left to them. are they ok, or dead?

Sounds like they've been kept a little too dry (it's quite commonly said they need a dry winter storage, that's not quite true they appreciate a very occasional spray).

Give them a spray of water and bring them into some warmth. Cut off the really dry fingers, they are dead. The others still have a chance. Do any of them have leaf buds yet?

Baa, we call those leaf buds, eyes like on a potato except the eyes on a dahlia are all along the edge of the stem.
Debi, when I store my tubers I put them in cedar shavings which helps them stay plump. Some varieties just want to dry out worse than others. We try to keep our tubers at about 40-45 degrees F.