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Storing Tender Bulbs & Tubers for Winter
76 Plays2 days ago
In this cozy late-fall episode, the Hort Culture team (Alexis, Jessica, and Ray) talk all about lifting, curing, dividing, and storing tender bulbs and tubers—especially dahlias, begonias, caladiums, gladiolus, cannas, elephant ears, and more.
The hosts begin by chatting about Kentucky’s unpredictable weather, winter chores, and even a tangent about hot chocolate “tea hacks,” before digging into the main topic: what to do with plants that can’t survive a Zone 6 winter in the ground.
They walk through the why and how of storing tubers successfully:
- Prevent rot and prevent drying out—the two main goals.
- Ideal storage temps: generally 40–50°F, with some exceptions like caladiums that prefer it warmer.
- Curing time: often just a few days with good airflow, and you don’t need to overthink it.
- Leave the soil on to avoid excess moisture and bacterial problems.
- Check stored tubers monthly for rot, shriveling, or excess dryness.
- Storage media options: pine shavings, vermiculite, peat moss (in drier spaces), perlite, and more.
- Dividing dahlias: the trickiest—eyes form near the crown, not on the tuber body, and are easier to see when the clump is warm or beginning to sprout.
- Tools they rely on: shovels, digging forks, loppers, snips, and sometimes saws for huge clumps like cannas.
They wrap up with discussion on microclimates, overwintering experiments, and the joys of having a cellar or basement that naturally works as an ideal root-cellar environment.
Overall, the episode is a friendly, practical deep-dive into helping gardeners confidently store their favorite tender ornamentals through winter—and maybe even multiply their stock through spring dividing.
Digging and Storing Tender Bulbs Protects them from Freezing Temperatures
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: hortculturepodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
Weather Impact on Farming
00:00:17
Alexis
Well, hello. How's everybody doing today?
00:00:20
Jessica
Well, hello.
00:00:21
Plant People
Hello, once again, doing good.
00:00:22
Jessica
Good.
00:00:23
Plant People
I'm enjoying the warmer weather in Kentucky. We had a early snow in Kentucky and now it's very warm again, which is what part for the course for Kentucky, would you say?
00:00:28
Jessica
yeah.
00:00:29
Alexis
hmm.
00:00:34
Plant People
In our lovely state.
00:00:34
Alexis
Yeah, i I do appreciate it because in a way, like as much as it like is kind of irritating from ah like a farming standpoint, because so you're like, why are things ruined?
00:00:35
Plant People
Yeah.
00:00:42
Plant People
Yeah.
00:00:44
Alexis
It's like Mother Nature saying, no, you know what? You need to be done and then you need to close up shop. And so it forces you to be done and then gives you warm weather in order to like, you know, like get it finished.
00:00:55
Jessica
No,
00:00:55
Alexis
Jessica's shaking her head. and She's like, hang on.
00:00:55
Plant People
It flips your switch and then allows you to do it.
00:00:57
Plant People
Yeah.
00:00:58
Jessica
it, it just, cause I have the livestock side in my farming.
00:00:58
Plant People
I like that.
00:01:02
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:01:03
Jessica
So now it's just like, Oh, doing chores and the, in the cold.
00:01:05
Plant People
Yeah.
00:01:08
Jessica
Right. I text Alexis the other day and I was like, I don't know.
00:01:09
Alexis
Oh, yeah.
00:01:12
Jessica
is it my age? What has happened? But I don't, I don't think I like winter anymore. Cause now it's like, where got to bundle everybody up to go feed, you know, feed at night.
00:01:22
Alexis
Yeah.
00:01:23
Jessica
And it's so dark. but But now it's warm again.
00:01:25
Alexis
Yeah.
00:01:27
Jessica
So we went from snow to warm.
00:01:28
Plant People
yeah
00:01:28
Alexis
Well, yeah, no, I don't like um Yeah, I'm not a fan of the cold. I'm more or less saying like the random cold cold followed by warmth is like a kind of a gift. the Same with like when you have warm days in the middle of winter and you're like, oh, I can actually like do the things I didn't get to do before it got cold.
00:01:44
Alexis
Like I'm trying to.
00:01:44
Plant People
It's like you're triggered by the cold snaps because, you know, I've got to do this, this, and this, which is very appropriate for the topic that we will get to eventually today.
00:01:46
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:53
Plant People
But, yeah, it flips that switch in my mind that, hey, it is winter, even though we're we're probably going to have summer temperatures at some point in winter because it's Kentucky.
00:01:56
Alexis
who
00:02:02
Plant People
But yet it it gets me in the mode to actually go and I've got to cut down banana trees, you know, banana plants that are beside the house that look to do all the winterizing things that I know I need to do, even though today is going to be seven.
00:02:03
Alexis
Yeah.
00:02:07
Alexis
Right. do Do all the chores.
00:02:14
Plant People
You know, it's wintertime and it's 70.
00:02:14
Jessica
Yeah.
00:02:14
Alexis
Yeah.
00:02:15
Plant People
So it's a confusing times, confusing times.
00:02:16
Jessica
Yeah. I have more bulbs to plant. So I am excited for now the warmer temperatures again.
00:02:20
Plant People
Oh, yeah, exactly.
00:02:22
Alexis
Right.
00:02:23
Plant People
Yeah, like that. So, yeah, and that's a good time to do that.
00:02:25
Alexis
You're like ohre like, I gotta to cram it all into these like three warm days we have.
00:02:28
Plant People
Yeah, in between feeding and the cattle in the mud. Yes, got to do all the things.
00:02:32
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
Winter Livestock Challenges
00:02:34
Alexis
Well, you know, I always bring up like um something food related and I just wanted to share.
00:02:37
Plant People
Something completely random.
00:02:38
Alexis
um i wanted to share it before, even though this is off topic, we were like flowing right into our topic for the day, but I feel like this is important enough that all of you will want to know.
00:02:47
Plant People
It's food. It is important. We need that.
00:02:50
Alexis
Well, I saw a video recently of somebody who um they use, so for they're making hot chocolate, but instead of using just like you probably You all are probably milk users, which is you know totally valid.
00:03:03
Alexis
But instead of using milk or water, using tea, like your pre-made like herbal teas, like your peppermint tea for your hot chocolate or your Earl Grey tea or your chai tea or something like that.
00:03:17
Alexis
And then you put your hot chocolate mix into your like tea and then it's flavored like that. And I just thought that was cool. So I did it with my coffee
00:03:24
Plant People
a Ah, that sounds very English. Yeah.
00:03:27
Alexis
i Well, I mean, if you're a big peppermint mocha because it it makes it like hot chocolate, right?
00:03:29
Plant People
You did what with your coffee? Tea or? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:03:34
Alexis
Because hot chocolate you powder, you can mix with water, right?
00:03:35
Plant People
Mm hmm. Yeah.
00:03:37
Alexis
Just like normal. But instead, you're flavoring your water. So then your chocolate hot chocolate is flavored. And I was like, this is genius. And I just needed everybody to know about it as we enter like tea season.
00:03:48
Alexis
but
00:03:49
Jessica
I have two questions or what, well, one first, I was so glad that you didn't say that you were going to make hot chocolate with bone broth because that was a thing last year.
00:03:58
Plant People
No, ah no, ah no.
00:04:00
Alexis
What?
00:04:00
Jessica
Yes. Did you not know that was a thing?
00:04:02
Alexis
No, that's fresh news to me.
00:04:02
Jessica
Yes, it was.
00:04:04
Plant People
a
00:04:05
Jessica
it was, ah even some of the FCS agents, the family consumer science agents in our area had said they had tried it and guess what? They said it was not good. Can you imagine?
00:04:16
Jessica
Um, right.
00:04:16
Alexis
Shocker.
00:04:18
Jessica
So I'm glad you didn't do that.
00:04:18
Plant People
Nothing screams comfort food like bone broth. I mean, nothing is that.
00:04:21
Jessica
But so you did it, right? You tried it. How was it?
00:04:25
Alexis
the it Yeah, like if you like peppermint tea.
00:04:25
Jessica
You tried it yet?
00:04:28
Alexis
But I did um i yeah wasn't ready for hot chocolate at the moment and I'm a big chai tea latte fan with a shot of espresso in it.
00:04:39
Alexis
So what I did instead was I put a chai tea bag in my – I do pour over coffee, so in like my decanter and then I made my coffee. And so the coffee then like made the chai tea bag.
00:04:50
Alexis
And then I had like a chai coffee in the morning and it was like very little to no work.
00:04:54
Jessica
I'm doing it.
00:04:56
Alexis
I'm telling you, man, game changer.
00:04:56
Plant People
You know, it's kind of is like, i you know, I like milk and tea anyway.
00:04:59
Plant People
So that's just like you're taking that one step farther than just milk.
00:05:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:05:03
Plant People
You're doing milk plus.
00:05:03
Alexis
And it's just like easy.
00:05:05
Plant People
Yeah.
00:05:06
Alexis
Listen, I just we're going into cold season or it's around Thanksgiving.
00:05:06
Plant People
The peppermint seems like that would work for me.
00:05:11
Alexis
Everybody's going be getting cozy.
00:05:12
Alexis
I just thought you all needed.
00:05:12
Plant People
You're making your own like weird medicine ball tea.
00:05:14
Plant People
Yeah. You're making your own something.
00:05:15
Alexis
That little, ooh, I do love a medicine ball tea, like citrus, honey,
00:05:18
Plant People
Oh, that's my favorite. Yeah.
00:05:19
Alexis
like minty.
00:05:20
Plant People
That's my favorite. Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:21
Alexis
Anyways,
Storing and Curing Tubers
00:05:22
Alexis
but we are, we we should talk about things that you might be doing that deserve a delicious cup of tea or hot cocoa, ah which is the, ah the whole, whole tuber situation, the whole underground plant part.
00:05:22
Plant People
Good stuff.
00:05:36
Alexis
What do I do with it? It's cold now ah situation that we all get lots of questions about. I had one yesterday. you all have probably had one and they're like, what, how do I,
00:05:47
Alexis
what do I do with these? And so specifically we talk about things like, i mean, dahlias is the big one. That's like kind of the, the big one everybody knows about, but there's some other stuff as well.
00:06:02
Jessica
Yeah, there's definitely some other ones that are out there. so
00:06:07
Plant People
As Alexis is recovering from illness.
00:06:08
Jessica
We think about the gonias, caladiums. ah We get lots of questions about them.
00:06:13
Alexis
and
00:06:13
Jessica
The Dahlia one, though, is the biggest one that I always get because people...
00:06:16
Plant People
Yeah.
00:06:16
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:16
Plant People
And they're a little tricky. mean, there's some commonalities with everything, but even when I first started messing with those years ago, i I did them wrong. I'm not afraid to say that I wasn't paying attention and I did them wrong.
00:06:28
Plant People
And I know Alexis has a lots of great information on that, but a lot of the things we'll mention today on all the tender things we need to lift or dig.
00:06:33
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:06:35
Plant People
And the fault, like there's some commonalities, some common things among most of them or all of them, but there's some that have some nuances and Dahlia is a great example of that. Uh, and that the way, you know, you, you treat those, I guess, Alexis, uh,
00:06:50
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. um So I think the biggest thing to point out, and it's like very obvious, but sometimes it's like to start to make sure your brain is wrapped around with what are your goals for when you're storing these tubers?
00:07:06
Alexis
You don't want them to rot and you don't want them to dry out. Okay. So like usually it's one extreme or the other. And I have lost, you know, bulbs and corms and tubers and all that kind of stuff to both of those um before.
00:07:19
Alexis
And because i guess another thing is there is no correct answer for every person every, even every year. So I've done a lot of different type of storage situations. If you move houses, if you, you know, put a dehumidifier in your place, you know, it's going to change the way you store something. And so um what works one year is not always going to work the next year.
00:07:40
Alexis
And keeping in mind, you that, you know, there's those two ends of the spectrum. You don't want them to rot and you don't want them to dry out. And I think making sure you have that in your brain ahead of time makes all of the storage stuff like, you know, to go through a little bit more, like, you know, make more sense that those are your two goals. And it's relatively easy to combat both of them.
00:08:01
Alexis
And the next thing that you have to keep in mind is temperature. So there are some outliers we'll talk about that really want, you know, super warm temperatures or even super cold temperatures, but majority of the stuff that you're going to lift and dig are all going to be within that like 40 to 50 degree Fahrenheit range for storage over winter.
00:08:21
Alexis
So basically you don't want them to freeze. And, you know, if it's a little bit in either direction, you're probably going to be fine, but you know, to make sure you're fine between 40 and 50 is usually the goal.
00:08:24
Plant People
Hmm. Hmm.
00:08:32
Alexis
um I've had, you know, Dahlia but crates get down to 38 before and had no problems. There was a little insulation in there.
00:08:38
Plant People
Hmm.
00:08:38
Alexis
So I think that's what helped, but really you just don't want them to freeze in that water and stuff. So Your goal is always 40 to 50. And then as far as storage goes, there is ah about a billion different ways to do it. I mean, um again, it just depends.
00:08:55
Alexis
Are you in a dry environment? And therefore, you need to make sure your tubers aren't going to dry out. So you need to take steps to keep them moist. or are you in a warmer, more moist environment and you need to make sure they don't rot. And so you want to take steps to make them feel a little bit more dry throughou throughout the winter. So that's what ultimately you have to decide. Like what is going to um determine how you store your tubers is, are you in a dry environment or are you in a or more moist environment?
00:09:25
Plant People
And I don't think there's any like substitute for like a
00:09:25
Alexis
um And I would,
00:09:26
Jessica
You...
00:09:28
Plant People
you know, looking at them every now and again, actually like once a month or something, cause you have three or four months you're storing these things.
00:09:30
Alexis
yeah, yeah, that's what I do for mine.
00:09:34
Plant People
Yeah. And you have to go through and it's kind of like potatoes. If that one rots and it's kind of spreads.
00:09:37
Alexis
yeah
00:09:39
Plant People
ah So actually just because even the most, the the the best curing phase, which is a phase before storage, even the best process, you're still going to have some of those that, especially the really fleshy ones that start to kind of collapse and get mushy and that's going to spread.
00:09:39
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. who yeah
00:09:54
Plant People
So yeah, that that you've got to inspect those.
00:09:55
Jessica
you
00:09:56
Alexis
Yeah.
00:09:57
Jessica
You mentioned the curing stage, right?
00:09:57
Alexis
And it's going be.
00:10:00
Jessica
So like i am a novice to this because the previous house that I lived in, I did not have a space that I could do this, that like what you've already like described, right?
00:10:10
Jessica
that I didn't have a good location versus now I have a cellar, so I can do things.
00:10:11
Plant People
Oh.
00:10:16
Jessica
um But you're talking about the curing process, right? And I know like with sweet potatoes, I know about how, you know, we go about curing those and leaving them,
00:10:19
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:10:26
Jessica
you know, outside on a well-ventilated and you have like the warmer temperatures.
00:10:28
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:10:31
Jessica
What about with these guys? Because we're, if you're pulling them now, what is like that curing process? Because I guess that's the first process right after you pull them is to cure first or is like you don't like, you know,
00:10:42
Alexis
Yeah. And you don't need to overthink it in the same way of like potatoes. um So a lot of the time the curing will happen. So after the plant, so I'm going to use dahlias as a, as an example, because again, they're kind of one of the more difficult ones.
00:10:57
Alexis
And if you can nail that one, you can nail most of the other ones.
00:10:59
Plant People
any of them, yeah.
00:11:00
Alexis
So um you know, dahlias, the easiest way to cure them similar to sweet potatoes and potatoes is you just let the above ground parts die back. And then, you know, and usually that happens and, you know, you're not ready to dig them yet anyways, because you got a billion other things going on.
00:11:16
Alexis
But as long as the ground doesn't freeze, then those can stay in the ground as you know, until you're ready for them.
00:11:16
Jessica
you
00:11:21
Plant People
Yeah.
00:11:23
Alexis
And so part of that, just leaving them in the ground until you get around to them will help them cure, which is what we also do with, you know, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
00:11:30
Plant People
And that's advantageous. that acut Does that accumulate energy, Alexis?
00:11:33
Alexis
Yeah.
00:11:33
Plant People
I've heard that before, that that process is natural and that's what the plant needs anyways.
00:11:37
Alexis
hu
00:11:39
Plant People
And just because the top's died, you don't immediately run out there and you don't have to dig them the very same day or the day after.
00:11:44
Alexis
Right. And you... Yeah. And the thing, and there is a misconception that you have to wait until the above ground parts die. And that is not true.
00:11:52
Plant People
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:11:53
Alexis
But if you dig them early, which I have done before, because if you got time, you know, the frost is coming and you know, you're just wanting to get it out of the way while it's still warm and dry.
00:11:58
Jessica
you
00:12:03
Alexis
um You know, you might go ahead and dig them and that's fine. You can totally do that. You could dig them, this cut them back and dig them the same day, but you're going to have to do some of that curing and Usually that just means letting them kind of dry out somewhere for a little while before you pack them up.
00:12:19
Alexis
um You know, just a few days really is what you're looking for. It's not quite the, you know, rocket science that I swear sweet potatoes are.
00:12:25
Plant People
Do you normally do a couple of weeks, Alexis? A couple of weeks, seven to 14 days?
00:12:28
Alexis
Huh? No, even just a few days with good ventilation.
00:12:30
Plant People
What's your... Is it...
00:12:33
Alexis
Like if you throw them in some crates that have, you know, holes all the way around.
00:12:33
Plant People
Yeah.
00:12:38
Alexis
um or, you know, set them out on a table or something a few days with some, you know, a light fan running usually will be enough.
00:12:38
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:12:45
Alexis
um The other thing I tell people if they are not experts in storing tubers is to leave the dirt on them. And so you can knock off the big clod so they're not super heavy and they're not taking up as much space.
00:12:55
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:12:57
Plant People
a
00:12:59
Alexis
So, you know, whatever you can get off relatively easy with your hands. Yeah. is great, but that layer of you know dirt that's on the tuber is actually going to help you.
00:13:10
Alexis
right It's going to hold in some moisture. It's going to also prevent some bacteria from getting in there um you know from the outside. and you know It will contain rot even a little bit, like just that light layer of dirt.
00:13:20
Plant People
major
00:13:22
Alexis
and so I would say if you've never done storage before, whether it's gladiolia or whatever, don't Don't wash them because you can you also are, you know, you're wetting down the surface again.
00:13:31
Plant People
Yeah.
00:13:33
Alexis
You can have, you know, other bacteria and stuff because those tubers are wet. So it's just not, it's, and it's easier, right? Like nobody wants to be, as someone who's done it, cleaning off tubers in the, you know, wet mud everywhere, spraying them off and it's cold outside.
00:13:52
Alexis
It's like the most miserable job you can you can do in the plant world is cleaning stuff when it's cold.
00:14:00
Plant People
Yeah. It seems like I'm team no wash for all of that stuff. and And once they go through like a curing phase of, you know, I have a week or two, whatever your your process is.
00:14:05
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:14:11
Plant People
And, you know, I don't even do a light brush anymore. I just kind of knock off the excess, but um that's not on a commercial scale.
00:14:16
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:14:17
Plant People
That's just me personally. But if you're a home gardener, I think it's much better. Yeah. to Not to wash those.
00:14:23
Alexis
Yeah.
00:14:23
Jessica
Much easier process.
00:14:23
Plant People
And if and at the most, yeah.
00:14:24
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:14:25
Plant People
And if you're giving them as gifts, which, you know, that they make a great gift. You may, you know, take a light brush or something and to get a little bit more of that excess off if you're going to package those up for a gift. But yeah, that's a really good
00:14:36
Alexis
And you'll see, ah you know, a lot of people, um you know, large growers will start dividing. So as soon as they dig, they're going to divide. And so they will wash when they divide because, you know, you've got to be able to get in there and see the eyes and see where you're going to be do division at.
00:14:48
Plant People
Hmm.
00:14:52
Alexis
um But they are typically more commercial style growers and they have a very specific area that they No is then it's dialed into their storage and they have to start dividing early in order to be able to get, you know, everything done to sell them to people in the springtime. So, um you know it's how they get their counts and stuff. So you will see that it's not wrong.
00:15:12
Alexis
ah You know, if you have a really great space for storage and you want to do it, you know, in when you dig, there there's nothing wrong with it.
00:15:13
Jessica
you
00:15:19
Alexis
I would just say, like, in my experience, ah you can get away with a lot more if you don't wash and divide them early. Now, that being said, they're, they take up a lot of space when they're in
Techniques for Dividing Tubers
00:15:32
Alexis
clump form, ah which is not always great when you're digging, you know, hundreds and thousands of them.
00:15:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:15:37
Alexis
So again, that's another reason people divide. um I always tell people, if you don't have space, you know, divide it in half, see if you have more space then. some, because, you know, some of that stuff falls off and you can arrange them a little bit easier and if that doesn't work divide them again but you want to divide it as minimally as possible to make it fit and so you might you know cut a clump in half or in thirds or something like that but um as minimal as you can for for easiest storage would be my recommendation mm-hmm
00:16:05
Plant People
and we And we were just talking about for homeowners, um one of the benefits of waiting maybe until later in the spring is if you're having a, if you have a new variety or having trouble identifying what's a viable eye, which is really hard to tell once you dig them, even after curing, it's very hard to tell.
00:16:17
Alexis
Yeah. Your eye is that growing point.
00:16:20
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:21
Jessica
Yeah, that's what I was going to, is that, is this the right time to start talking about that?
00:16:21
Plant People
Yeah.
00:16:25
Jessica
Cause that's like the big question, right? When it comes to dividing them and you were kind of mentioning about, you know, if it's not done properly, you're just destroying your plant.
00:16:36
Jessica
You're not, you know, you're cutting it up in they' all the wrong spots and you're not going to get any flowers from it.
00:16:41
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. So it's like, you know, most people are familiar with potato eyes, right? You can like see that little indentation.
00:16:46
Plant People
Hmm.
00:16:49
Alexis
and as long as there's a little indentation on every single piece, you can get growth coming out of that, right?
00:16:50
Jessica
you
00:16:53
Alexis
Most people are familiar. so if it's similar, pretty much the same, but a lot more difficult to see on dahlias and some some other types of tuberous roots and things.
00:17:04
Alexis
um And so if you if you divide them when they are warm, and so that is either on the front end, like as soon as they're dug, they're still usually like kind of those eyes are active and really visible.
00:17:17
Alexis
um Or what I like to do because I don't want to divide in the fall is in the springtime, i will pull them out of storage. And by spring, I mean, usually it's like late winter when I'm like itching to do something and I have time and while I still have time.
00:17:33
Alexis
And so I will actually pull those um crates that i use out of storage and put them in a warmer area. So I'm going to try and get them between 50 and 60 degrees and that signals them to wake up.
00:17:44
Alexis
And so they start to wake up just enough that those eyes will swell and they're easier to see.
00:17:48
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:17:50
Alexis
And then I will divide them and in either, you know, depending on what time of year it is, you know, leave them in that semi-warm stuff. They'll start to wake up. It's not really a big deal if they start kind of growing a little bit. You'll pull them out and they'll have little sprouts on them and that's totally fine.
00:18:05
Alexis
um Or I can even throw them back into storage, you know, at that 40 to 50 degree level and then they're ready to go and pull out. But usually the way the timing works for me is I pull them out, I let them warm up for a couple weeks and I get those eyes active.
00:18:21
Alexis
I divide them, wash them if I need to, and then just leave them, you know, in a warmish space. And by that time, there's no real chance of freezing outside. And then they're ready to go in the ground when the soil warms up.
00:18:35
Plant People
And dahlias are a good one to talk about because I do think, Alexis, so it's one of the tougher ones. Like I said, I've made mistakes with those. When I was in college, we were dividing a bunch at the college farm and and I just saved the expanded root structure, not knowing that the important part of the eye is really close to the stem.
00:18:51
Plant People
So if you haven't, and it's hard to explain, but it's easy to see in a video.
00:18:52
Alexis
Yeah.
00:18:54
Plant People
There's several good extension service videos online. I'd encourage you guys, if you've never done it, to go and watch it. Once you see it, you're like, oh, that's what I'm looking for.
00:19:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:19:03
Plant People
Because the important part is, actually very close to the stem and even some varieties I've seen eyes up on the stem, but primarily at the base of the stem.
00:19:08
Alexis
Up on the stem. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:19:11
Plant People
and So the big impressive structure is just a storage structure. If you just cut that off, you've, you've not done the right thing.
00:19:15
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:17
Plant People
You've actually lost the plant. You've lost the growing point. So that's what makes, I think dahlias.
00:19:20
Alexis
Yeah, you've lost the crown. Mm-hmm.
00:19:22
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah. That's what I think makes dahlias so tricky and it's like completely different.
00:19:27
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:28
Plant People
If we talk about something like a ah gladiola, do you do any glads Alexis? Um,
00:19:33
Alexis
I do, but I don't lift mine. um I think mine are just mulched enough.
00:19:36
Plant People
Some people do and some people don't. Yeah, they and some seem to do well over the winter, but they're different when you dig those.
00:19:39
Jessica
but
00:19:42
Jessica
That got me...
00:19:42
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:43
Jessica
thinking about like canas and stuff as well.
00:19:45
Plant People
Yeah.
00:19:45
Jessica
I know some people who like leave them out y'all and others that dig them up.
00:19:46
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:47
Plant People
Which can just be monsters. Yeah.
00:19:51
Plant People
And when you dig them up, my goodness, on Canis specifically, I've dug up 20-pound masses
00:19:51
Jessica
Right.
00:19:52
Alexis
who
00:19:52
Jessica
I,
00:19:57
Plant People
on a planting that has only been there for a year. They are so prolific. It is absolutely amazing on the cannons.
00:20:02
Alexis
Vigorous. Yeah.
00:20:07
Jessica
i
00:20:07
Plant People
But what is it?
00:20:08
Alexis
Ganas are a good one.
00:20:08
Plant People
Yeah.
00:20:08
Alexis
Yeah.
00:20:09
Jessica
I have a question for you, Alexis.
00:20:09
Plant People
Yeah, that's a good one.
00:20:11
Jessica
So if you're like a homeowner and you're digging a dahlia, right, do you need to divide it?
00:20:15
Alexis
Yeah.
00:20:17
Jessica
Or like, is that going to help, help the plant? Or like, if you're just like, I just really want to save this dahlia and you dig it up and you just store that whole, you know, structure. And then can you just replant that back in the, in the spring and be good to go?
00:20:30
Alexis
Yeah, yeah, you can totally plant it back as is and it'll be really prolific the next year because, you know, in theory, you could have divided and into, you know, three, four, maybe more plants. And so if you're keeping that all as one, you're gonna have a really bushy plant, which is totally fine. It just means you have to dig a bigger hole and, um you know, then you don't have as many, you know, different plants because obviously if you divided that into five plants, you're going to get more stems than one plant that is really five, if that makes sense. And so you'll still get ah you know plenty, but mostly I just don't like to dig big holes.
00:21:04
Alexis
So, which is unlike the tree episode that that we have recorded about transplanting.
00:21:05
Jessica
Yeah.
00:21:08
Plant People
that we told people to dig these massive holes yeah and don't skimp on the hole size yeah yeah
00:21:09
Jessica
Right. That we just talked about. yeah
00:21:14
Alexis
If you haven't heard that yet, it's either coming out next week or it just came out the the week before. So, um but yeah, so if you don't want to dig big holes or just want more of something or want to gift them, like Ray was saying, then, you know, divide them. But now if you're worried about it you don't have to. I would say you will be surprised at your capabilities if you let that warm up.
00:21:36
Alexis
ah You'll see those sprouts coming starting to come out and then you'll know exactly where to cut it in half or thirds or whatever. Yeah. And if, again, if you're not sure, just cut it in half and you are pretty much guaranteed to have eyes on both sides, right? Like literally cut the stem in half.
00:21:52
Alexis
And if you lose a few little of those storage roots is really what they are. They're tuberous roots. If you lose some of those, it's not a big deal. You really just want that crown with the eyes on them.
00:22:03
Plant People
Yeah, I get that question a lot, Alexis. People are very concerned about trimming off those smaller tip roots.
00:22:09
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:22:10
Plant People
And it's one of those things that I've never found it to be a big deal.
00:22:10
Alexis
Uh-huh. I chop them.
00:22:13
Plant People
Yeah, I just trim them off at the time.
00:22:14
Alexis
anything that's like Anything that's not like at least the size of like a nickel round, I cut it off before I even throw it in storage because it's it's not going to it's not going to make it.
00:22:14
Plant People
in
00:22:20
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:23
Plant People
yeah
00:22:25
Alexis
It's going to shrivel up or it's going to rot. And so I just eliminate the chances of it and and cut that right off. ah The next biggest thing I think was storage of... tubers of any kind, tubers, tuberous roots, whatever, is what do you store them in?
00:22:41
Alexis
And so you have the you have the area.
00:22:41
Plant People
I was just going to ask that.
00:22:43
Alexis
yeah you have the area that's 40 to 50 degrees. And then what do you do with them? Well, again, depends on the moisture content. But I think that one of the easier things...
00:22:54
Alexis
that is most universally um works for most people is some sort of, you know, plastic tote, plastic crate. I like to get the cheap ones after Christmas that are like red and green and on sale because they're red and green.
00:23:08
Alexis
um I get those. And, ah you know, so something that would essentially hold water, which helps with the, you know, maintaining moisture and then some sort of media. So either vermiculite, which is that shiny stuff that you see in potting soil. If you're not familiar, you can buy just really big bags of that.
00:23:27
Alexis
That stuff's nice because it's really light. It is a little bit pricier. It's not you know crazy. And for some people, like for homeowners, it could be a little bit harder to get hold of. Yeah.
00:23:37
Jessica
Thank you.
00:23:38
Alexis
The other thing that I like to use because it's cheaper and it's easier for me to find is um pet bedding, like pine shavings for like rabbits or something like that.
00:23:47
Plant People
Yeah, wood shavings.
00:23:48
Alexis
It can be pine. It can be cedar. It doesn't matter. But the like flakes um is what I like because I can just buy it. I can also then use it as I will... Once I plant my tubers, I don't like to use that from year to year because I never know what could have rotted or gotten weird in there.
00:24:06
Alexis
And I will actually use those shavings as like mulch on top of my dahlias. And so it doesn't like go super far, but it's a useful thing to have. And it breaks down pretty well because it's a shaving.
00:24:17
Alexis
um
00:24:18
Plant People
you ever use pure peat?
00:24:18
Alexis
So I like to use that. Hmm.
00:24:21
Plant People
A pure peat? Do you ever use that peat moss?
00:24:24
Alexis
I have used peat before in my environment that holds a little too much moisture, so I get more rot on mine.
00:24:32
Alexis
But I think that I'd rather mine, my tubers be on the drier side because even if they're pretty shriveled, you'll be surprised at how much they'll bounce back.
00:24:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:24:33
Plant People
I was wondering.
00:24:42
Alexis
Versus you're less likely to bounce back from rot. And so like I'd rather them be.
00:24:45
Plant People
yeah
00:24:47
Alexis
But if you're in an area where you're in a really dry garage or something like that, or you you know have them in a space with a dehumidifier running all the time, then something like peat would be great because it's got a little bit more moisture holding capacity.
00:25:01
Alexis
Totally.
00:25:03
Plant People
Yeah. So I know material makes it, I've even seen folks use like shredded, like cross cut shredded office paper for some of these things.
00:25:10
Alexis
Totally.
00:25:10
Plant People
But if they, you especially if they use like a ventilated onion bag or they use a cardboard box because containers also help manage moisture.
00:25:15
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:25:19
Plant People
And if you want to keep it a little drier, you can always go with cardboard over plastic or, but ah I've seen everything in the world uses media.
00:25:19
Alexis
Yeah.
00:25:22
Alexis
That's true. Mm-hmm.
00:25:26
Plant People
And I've i've seen people like what we were talking about, tuberous begonias little bit, people that would just bring those pots in and if they have a really dry garage and they'll just leave them in there and just let them dry down after ah frost kills the top portion. That's all they do year after year. I'm like, how do people do that?
00:25:42
Plant People
But I've seen people successfully, if they have a well-drained potting media for certain ones of these, you know, tender bulbs and quorums and things we're talking about, that you can get by with that on some of those with very little prep if you're not going to do a lot of division.
00:25:43
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:25:54
Alexis
Yeah. Amaryllis, like, yeah, I know amaryllis, it's like the opposite timeline than what we're talking about now, but like this is still the same idea, right?
00:25:57
Plant People
Yeah.
00:26:00
Plant People
Yeah.
00:26:02
Alexis
Like, and so like I leave mine in the pot, in the whatever, and I just put it in a space.
00:26:02
Plant People
Yeah. yeah
00:26:08
Alexis
It doesn't get water. I let it dry down. It's dark. And then I just bring it back out and start watering it again.
00:26:11
Plant People
yeah Yeah.
00:26:13
Alexis
It's not, it's, um, it, right.
00:26:14
Plant People
And just takes off. me Yeah.
00:26:16
Alexis
And it just takes off. And so, you know, every once in while you have to refresh that media if you're, um, you know, ah Using the same pot from year to year, you'll have to do that. But in general, like, yeah, just leave it in the potting soil because that potting soil has got a lot of the things we talk about. Like you could also use perlite.
00:26:33
Alexis
um If you have a really wet area, you could use perlite as a media to store in.
00:26:36
Plant People
Yeah.
00:26:38
Alexis
And the flip side, I've seen people who are in super dry, arid conditions, you know, in New Mexico and places like that where they, their problem is they don't have enough humidity and ah they will saran wrap their tubers.
00:26:53
Alexis
Like they'll, they'll divide them and saran wrap them or they'll put them in like plastic bags or something like that.
00:26:53
Plant People
wow
00:26:59
Alexis
And so, you know, it can go all the way in the other direction. In Kentucky, we don't have a humidity problem, that's for sure.
00:27:04
Jessica
Wow.
00:27:06
Alexis
But yeah.
00:27:07
Plant People
No.
00:27:08
Alexis
Um, if you're, you know, and it goes back to like checking them. So I check them once a month and I just put a little reminder in my calendar and it pops up, you know, and says like, Hey, check your tubers. And so I'll go out there and kind of like dig through, um, and look towards the, make sure you check the bottom of the crate because that's where the rot will happen.
00:27:29
Alexis
So check the bottom of your crate or your tote or your box and, um, for any rot, just kind of feel, I usually just kind of feel around. And if I feel something and gross, then that's a problem.
00:27:39
Plant People
ah that that nothing's worse than that's like finding a rotten potato i mean yuck you find that by sticking your hand in there first you probably smelled some of these things first not always but then you put your hand in gloop yeah i lost my mind over potatoes yeah yeah yeah
00:27:41
Alexis
So go in with gloves.
00:27:46
Alexis
but
00:27:48
Alexis
oh Yeah. I lost potatoes in my house one time and though they found me.
00:27:55
Jessica
Yeah, you'll you'll find you'll find a potato.
00:27:58
Alexis
and And you'll find a lot of little critters wiggling around in your cabinets when you find them.
00:28:03
Plant People
e
00:28:04
Alexis
It's like, luckily, I've never had that happen with dahlias, even when they rot because they're, you know, contained that I've never had like and a maggot problem. um It's just a gooey, gross thing.
00:28:15
Alexis
They don't usually smell too bad either. So that's good. Yeah. But yeah, feel around in there. If you do like feel tubers, if you look and you're like, oh, these are really, really shriveled and it's only been a month.
00:28:26
Alexis
um What I will do is I'll take like, i don't know, a cup, couple cups of water and I'll pour it over the the that bedding that I'm using um over the top and just kind of – not directly on the tubers, but in the like media itself.
00:28:41
Alexis
And usually that will soak its way into the rest of the media and be enough to get through. But yeah, even if you pull them out and they're completely shriveled up, don't discount them. I literally, I was cleaning out my cleaning out my barn yesterday and like trying to get my crates and getting all my totes and stuff ready.
00:29:00
Alexis
And I pulled out a tote and i mean, they these went into storage and winter or like fall 2024 and i was like dumping it out and i found clumps in there dahlia clumps in there that have still had sprouted and they had been in a tote in this in the barn just out in the open for since fall 2024 and they were still sprouted so um it will shock you plants want to live
00:29:30
Plant People
nature will find a way.
00:29:31
Jessica
they Yeah, they want to live.
00:29:33
Plant People
Despite our best efforts to mess things up. um ah Do you, on any of these that we're talking about today, dahlias, glads, or elephant ears, which we've not talked about, that's one of those that some people just leave in the ground, but on any of these, do you guys, have you worked with people on like pre-sprouting these?
00:29:44
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:29:48
Plant People
Because some of these things, it seems like I've heard of people like they, you want to get a jumpstart in the spring. You can bring them out leave them in the house four weeks before the last hard frost, which sometimes is in May.
00:29:56
Alexis
Yeah.
00:29:59
Plant People
Sometimes that's ah up into May in Kentucky. But to start thumb some of these things early, you can just bring them out into a warm environment and they'll that'll kind of wake them up.
00:30:02
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:30:08
Plant People
Do you guys ever mess around with anything like that to kind of get them pre-going before the first frost, before they go into the landscape bed?
00:30:14
Alexis
Yeah, that's what I do when I'm like – I said when I divide them and I'll tend to just like leave them out to wake up.
00:30:15
Plant People
or
00:30:16
Jessica
Okay.
00:30:20
Alexis
And so they'll already be sprouted and ready to go in the ground.
00:30:21
Plant People
yeah You gain some time.
00:30:23
Alexis
And then I know that they're like actively growing when I get them in the ground.
00:30:25
Plant People
Yeah.
00:30:26
Alexis
But um with dahlias, a lot of people – um will do cuttings if you've got the space um you can wake them up really early and then start taking cuttings if you want to like max you know maximize your supply of something uh there's others like other things that you know yeah exactly what you said right like just bring them into a warm environment start giving them some light and they'll you know um be ready to to plant out by first of May. um I will be doing that with one thing we've not talked about that not a lot of people grow, but it's exciting is I grew tulip gingers for the first time this year, curcuma.
00:30:57
Jessica
Very
00:31:05
Plant People
Oh yeah. I forgot
Caring for Various Plants
00:31:06
Plant People
about those.
00:31:06
Alexis
And it's, yeah, they're super fun.
00:31:06
Plant People
We're really cool.
00:31:08
Jessica
very cool
00:31:08
Alexis
And yeah, they they look the storage on that, like they are roots similar to dahlias, like a tuberous root type situation and they can be divided. They look very similar.
00:31:20
Alexis
um But they need to be stored a little bit warmer. So they're more on the 50 to 60. Because remember, these are jungle plants where dahlias are actually native to, you know, the mountains in Mexico.
00:31:26
Plant People
Yeah. It was like the caladiums we were talking about. Some certain ones are warmer.
00:31:31
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:31:33
Alexis
Certain ones are warmer, so do definitely do your research if it's something new. So these ones will be stored a little bit warmer than I do my dahlias, which of course is annoying because I have to find another place for them.
00:31:41
Plant People
yeah
00:31:42
Alexis
But um they are very long season and I like it hot.
00:31:42
Plant People
Cool.
00:31:46
Alexis
So I'm going to bring those out and like pot them up um early because I want to get a longer season out of them because it takes them a while to get going. And so I'll bring them out and like actively try and get them like really going so that I can put them in by May.
00:32:02
Alexis
um But yeah, that's totally, totally doable. And it's exciting, you know, when you're like just ready for spring and you're like, oh, i just want to do something. And, you know, you can bring out some plants and get them going and you'll get, you know, a month jumpstart on blooms a lot of the time for this stuff.
00:32:19
Plant People
and we've We've talked about all nuances of this stuff and all the similarities, commonalities between the process, but I want to know ah what your guys' tool sets are.
00:32:29
Plant People
I mean, and it made me think about it, Jessica, when you said canna lilies, which can be these huge 20, just big masses.
00:32:31
Alexis
Oh.
00:32:35
Plant People
I mean, I want to see what your tool sets are. Paint us a picture for like what's your essential tools for when you're tackling, you know, all the divisions of all these root structures, you know.
00:32:47
Plant People
I've seen people use everything in the world, depending on kind of what they're working with, from an ax down to fine ah fine fine needle tip snips. I mean, I've seen everything. So what's essential here when you're dividing based on what you're working with?
00:33:00
Plant People
I mean,
00:33:00
Alexis
Well, I would say one of your essential things for digging is a pitchfork or like a carrot fork or something.
00:33:05
Plant People
yeah, I like the flat fork kind of thing, yeah.
00:33:06
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:33:07
Alexis
Yeah, a carrot fork. Yeah. um So something with like tines to help you get underneath there.
00:33:12
Plant People
who
00:33:13
Alexis
um Now, if you've got something like, don't know, a peony that you're digging up or cannas, you're probably going to need ah just a regular shovel for that. But ah for anything that's like and more of an annual once a year type thing, usually some sort of tined thing will help.
00:33:27
Plant People
Yeah.
00:33:30
Plant People
yeah
00:33:30
Alexis
And then you're not cutting off a bunch of tubers. So that's mine. Jessica, do you have a any favorites?
00:33:36
Jessica
Well, now that you said that, it was we moved peonies the other day at our house where I wanted to move somewhere.
00:33:42
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:33:43
Jessica
They're in a location that they come up year and they don't bloom and it's because they're like in full shade.
00:33:48
Alexis
Yeah.
00:33:48
Jessica
So just a shovel, just a shovel is all that needed.
00:33:51
Alexis
Yeah.
00:33:51
Jessica
And you can see the little, um probably say the wrong, the eye or whatever, the little buds already on them.
00:33:51
Alexis
For those, definitely a shovel.
00:33:51
Plant People
and
00:33:53
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:33:57
Jessica
But at this time of year, dividing them up, but a shovel or the pitchfork, like you said, I've used that a lot um more with, um,
00:33:57
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:34:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:34:04
Jessica
so more vegetable production background, but it with lifting things, that is very handy.
00:34:08
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:34:08
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:10
Alexis
Yeah.
00:34:10
Plant People
I've broken the handle out of some of those guys, those flat forks, because i get really aggressive and depending on what you're digging, I mean, it could be something that some of these things are only an inch below the surface.
00:34:10
Alexis
And then...
00:34:20
Plant People
like a caladium or if you're digging like an elephant ear, my goodness, you take some effort.
00:34:22
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:34:24
Plant People
It takes some effort to get some of those things out of the ground.
00:34:25
Alexis
Yeah.
00:34:27
Plant People
Yeah.
00:34:28
Alexis
i've I've broken a shovel handle or two. Uh-huh.
00:34:31
Plant People
Yeah. Taking out that aggression. I've seen people use like, and one of my favorite things, and I believe it was Canada's that got me into this. ah You know, don't do a lot with ornamental grasses anymore, but like an old bow saw for some of these things, we talk about being delicate and drying down, but if it's one of these huge masses,
00:34:44
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:34:47
Plant People
I give up and go for the heavy equipment. One of my favorite things is this old bow saw I keep for that purpose in the garage. It's dull, and I just hack straight. Like you said, Alexis, I'm chunking them down into manageable bits, and I will deal with the particulars later.
00:34:56
Alexis
ah huh
00:35:02
Plant People
But I will just straight saw through the center of some of these things like a bludgeon. That is my style.
00:35:06
Alexis
I've had i people who are not like huge plant people, like, you know, have never done something like this before. When they see plant people, like, you know, people like us.
00:35:17
Plant People
They're like, what are you doing?
00:35:18
Alexis
go after something. Like i dug up a big old peony and was moving it to my house and someone was watching me, you know, it was, it was their peony.
00:35:19
Plant People
Yeah.
00:35:24
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:35:28
Alexis
And so I dig out this big thing and I've got a, you know, one of those big long shovels, um, like, you know, and I just started like hacking at the crown, like, like you said, to divide it and, um, and into, into a couple of pieces.
00:35:33
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Lots of leverage.
00:35:38
Plant People
Going at it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:41
Alexis
And I'm just like destroying this thing. And they are appalled. They're like, what is going on?
00:35:45
Plant People
yeah
00:35:46
Alexis
like, it's fine. It's fine. I can cut this thing into like 10 pieces.
00:35:48
Plant People
It's cool. Yeah.
00:35:49
Alexis
It's fine.
00:35:49
Jessica
Yeah, it'll be fine.
00:35:50
Plant People
It's tough love.
00:35:50
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:35:52
Plant People
It's tough love. But I mean, it can be a delicate operation, you know, like we were talking about in the beginning or some of these larger clumps, you really have to to use more of a coarse tool rather than a fine and a little bit of extra effort and
00:35:53
Alexis
um
00:35:58
Alexis
Yeah.
00:36:04
Alexis
For... Once I get dahlias out of the ground, when I do end up dividing them in for me late winter, um so I will cut back the stem with a pair of loppers or I'll flail mow them down or whatever it is, mow them down somehow.
00:36:18
Plant People
you
00:36:22
Alexis
um But then when I'm actually dividing the tubers, I use needlenose snips, which is what I use for cutting like for cutting flowers anyways.
00:36:27
Plant People
Yeah, I've seen a lot of people just swear by them.
00:36:31
Alexis
It's just kind of a finer snip. I know some people like who are doing...
00:36:33
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:36:35
Alexis
you know, the big commercial operations who are doing literally like millions of tubers, um they'll use like box knives or like an exacto knife, like a scalpel.
00:36:45
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:36:45
Jessica
Oh, wow
00:36:45
Alexis
um And part of that is because it's number one, you can change the blade really easy because when you're doing, you know, millions. ah yeah your Your blade is going to dull.
00:36:52
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:36:54
Alexis
um But also they can be a little bit more exact.
00:36:55
Plant People
And you're cutting through your soil.
00:36:57
Alexis
So when they are taking a tuber, they're wanting to get every single root with an eye where I'm like, man i just need majority of them to to survive.
00:37:05
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:37:08
Alexis
right I don't need to be as exact. And so they can do that with something like a scalpel and it's easily easy to disinfect. So they'll do that in between clumps and to make sure they're not spreading any virus or bacteria um from clump to clump.
00:37:17
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:37:20
Plant People
Yeah, commercially it's a lot different in it. Yeah.
00:37:23
Alexis
Yeah, yeah.
00:37:23
Plant People
And I've seen the commercial operations use fungicidal dips or sulfur dips or whatever.
00:37:24
Alexis
So, uh-huh.
00:37:28
Plant People
And I don't recommend that a lot for homeowners.
00:37:28
Alexis
Yeah.
00:37:30
Plant People
But that is an interesting point on sterilizing with like a 1 to, you know, a 10% solution.
00:37:30
Alexis
No.
00:37:33
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:37:36
Alexis
10% bleach solution. Yeah. One cup bleach, 10 cups water. And you can just have that there to like dip your, I would say you dip whatever you want in there, like your snips or whatever.
00:37:40
Plant People
yeah the
00:37:47
Alexis
But if you do your snips or something like that, make sure grease them and clean them up afterwards because bleach will corrode.
00:37:51
Plant People
Yeah, very corrosive. yeah Yeah, there's a lot of difference yeah and that.
00:37:55
Alexis
You can use a spray bottle. Yeah. and And I would say like, unless you've noticed a problem or you're getting in
00:37:58
Plant People
Yeah.
00:38:02
Alexis
um you know clumps from someone else and you don't know what could possibly be on them, then you probably don't need to do that.
00:38:06
Plant People
Yeah.
00:38:10
Alexis
But ah if you've maybe noticed some issues with your dahlias or your cannas or whatever, um you know dipping them in something but between each clump would be really wise.
00:38:23
Plant People
Yeah. It's amazing ah how some people report some of these that we're talking about, just whether it's an elephant ear or a canna or gladiolus or whatever. It's ah really amazing to be depending on what their location is, how much it varies based on the success.
00:38:37
Plant People
Some people have never transplanted any of those things. They'll mulch heavy and just leave them there.
00:38:40
Alexis
Yeah.
00:38:41
Plant People
Other people's like, oh, I lose them half of the time. you guys ever run into that where it kind of just varies a lot?
00:38:44
Jessica
it
00:38:44
Alexis
Yeah.
00:38:45
Jessica
It's kind of just the right, you know, right place, like the luck of it.
00:38:49
Plant People
like a microclient, yeah.
00:38:50
Jessica
I went on a home visit before where a guy had this massive canna that was beautiful.
00:38:51
Plant People
Yeah.
00:38:55
Plant People
and
00:38:55
Jessica
And he said he'd been trying everything he possibly could to kill it. And it just kept coming back. And I was like, what? People would love to have this. You know, he didn't realize how they they grew.
00:39:04
Alexis
yeah
00:39:06
Jessica
Right. And so he explained i was like, well, you technically want to like dig it up.
00:39:06
Plant People
Yeah.
00:39:09
Jessica
Right. Because he just kept just, you know, cutting it back and everything. And it just kept it just kept coming.
00:39:13
Plant People
It's got a lot of energy in there. Yeah.
00:39:15
Jessica
ah But it was like out in the middle of the yard.
00:39:16
Plant People
Wow.
00:39:17
Jessica
Right. It wasn't even in like a protected area.
00:39:18
Plant People
Wow.
00:39:20
Jessica
And it was thriving versus I know other people who have them and they religiously dig them up every single year because
00:39:21
Alexis
ah
00:39:27
Jessica
One year they didn't dig them all you know up and something happened and they only had a few survive. So they will like like clockwork. Okay, it's time to dig to dig and move these into my basement or my garage.
00:39:35
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:40
Jessica
So...
00:39:40
Alexis
Usually I find it's
00:39:40
Plant People
I feel like that about my banana plant.
00:39:43
Alexis
yeah Yeah, you'reinate you've got you've got some hefty banana plants.
00:39:44
Plant People
ah And now I'm like trying to kill them, ah constantly trying to kill them because they will not die. And I'm like, ah you were supposed to die in the winter.
00:39:51
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:39:53
Plant People
They never, they don't die because they're close to the house in a little microclimate. That's what it is.
00:39:57
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:57
Plant People
They're doing too well and I'm sick of them.
00:39:58
Alexis
They...
00:40:00
Alexis
usually with stuff like that, I have found, cause I've overwintered like my like large dahlia thing and, and usually it's moisture.
00:40:06
Plant People
Yeah.
00:40:10
Alexis
And so they rot and it's the cold and the rot, right?
00:40:12
Plant People
Hmm. Hmm.
00:40:13
Alexis
Like if they can take a lot of water if it's warm, but the, and they can handle cold if they stay relatively dry. And so, um you know, if you're if you're wanting to do some experimenting, and I would say, you know, do a heavy mulch on some of your stuff.
00:40:24
Jessica
Thank
00:40:27
Alexis
And then if you want that extra layer of protection, like you actually care if it lives or dies, um something that keeps out the water. So like ah we use silage tarps here, which are, you know, not permeable. They're not a woven. They're just a big piece of plastic. um A lot of people I've seen use like bit old billboards too, that are like, you know, weather resistant, but anything like that.
00:40:51
Alexis
And then you put that over top of your mulch area and that's going to keep the water out.
00:40:56
Jessica
you
00:40:56
Alexis
And so they can get cold, but they can't get cold and wet is usually what I have found.
00:41:01
Plant People
Yeah.
00:41:02
Alexis
um And so, you know, you can give that a shot if you want to. You don't get to divide them and get lots and lots of stuff, but it does have its perks of, I don't know, not being disgusting and dirty and storing them and all the, I hate it.
00:41:07
Plant People
Those variations and everything. Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:16
Alexis
hate it.
00:41:18
Plant People
Yeah, most of these things, like you said, they don't all store the same. Most of them do, 40, 50 degrees of fine. There are some exceptions we've talked about today, but just finding space for all the little projects.
00:41:23
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:41:27
Plant People
And I don't have commercial space. I've just got a garage. It's really good, 40, 50 degrees in the winter, an attached garage.
00:41:32
Alexis
ah
00:41:33
Plant People
But, you know, it's like we've got to have space for the other things that a garage is for, typically, rather than a bunch of, you know, stuff sitting around plant
Community Engagement in Planting
00:41:42
Plant People
materials. So, yeah, it's kind of a bouncing act.
00:41:43
Alexis
I am so jealous of like, I'm so jealous of people who have like unfinished basements or like crawl spaces that are easy to get into because that is like premium space for stuff like this.
00:41:45
Jessica
Yes.
00:41:51
Plant People
that are just perfect.
00:41:52
Jessica
yes
00:41:55
Plant People
The humidity, if it's in good shape, it's perfect.
00:41:55
Alexis
Like if you, yeah, you, you basically don't have to try and like they'll store perfectly well.
00:41:58
Plant People
Yeah.
00:42:01
Plant People
Jessica, don't you have a root cellar? Don't you have one of those setups?
00:42:03
Jessica
I do have a, I do. That's what I was saying at the beginning. I was like, you know, in the past, I did not have a garage or a cellar or a basement where I used to live. And so I would basically just be like, oh, dahlias, they're annuals in my house, right?
00:42:17
Plant People
Hmm.
00:42:17
Jessica
Like there's no saving these ever because where am I going to put them?
00:42:17
Alexis
yeah
00:42:20
Jessica
But now I have a cellar.
00:42:21
Alexis
Yep.
00:42:22
Jessica
So now like as we've been talking and you've been sharing, I was just like a thinking of all the things that I can do and add in my own yard and put now down in that cellar.
00:42:28
Plant People
Gosh, you could save.
00:42:29
Alexis
Yeah.
00:42:29
Plant People
Yeah, that'd be amazing.
00:42:34
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:42:34
Alexis
I am so jealous.
00:42:34
Jessica
Yes,
00:42:35
Alexis
I want i wish we had a cellar. Yeah.
00:42:37
Plant People
You just have like peach crates just full of all the things, Jessica.
00:42:41
Alexis
yeah
00:42:41
Plant People
Yeah, just slatted crates just stacked everywhere.
00:42:43
Jessica
yes.
00:42:43
Plant People
Yeah, very cool.
00:42:44
Jessica
yes
00:42:45
Alexis
store my vegetables in there, all that kind of stuff.
00:42:46
Plant People
Ooh, yeah. All the goodies, all the goodies.
00:42:48
Alexis
But don't know, a little, it's your root cellar whatever.
00:42:50
Plant People
All the goodies.
00:42:52
Alexis
But anyways, we hope that helped. um Usually the it's hard because the answer is not the same for everybody. And it's like, well, it's the it's the classic.
00:43:01
Plant People
The general process is similar.
00:43:01
Alexis
They're like, oh, can I do this? And you're like, well, it depends, which is what every every plant person hates to hear is it depends.
00:43:09
Plant People
I want the exact answer now.
00:43:09
Alexis
um Just yeah, there is no one shoe fits all for storage options. um You know, just if you check on them and you notice they're starting to rot, then you know you need to get them drier and, you know, vice versa. But, and as long as you can keep them above freezing, ah but below that growing air, you know, um thing, which is for most stuff, 50, 50, 55 degrees lower than that is great.
00:43:34
Alexis
ah Then you will be successful. And then you'll have all these plants. And then every year you'll go, oh, I I have more. Where am I going to put them? And then you'll be digging more and then you have created a monster and you're welcome.
00:43:44
Plant People
you know give it away more and yeah, maybe start a plant swap or go to a help group, whichever.
00:43:50
Alexis
Yeah, there you go.
00:43:51
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:43:51
Alexis
i like that. like that, right?
00:43:52
Plant People
selfub
00:43:52
Alexis
You're like, you know what? Just share the love. That's all. That's all there is to it.
00:43:55
Plant People
we're We're going to try to start that. we We have a lot of great local gardeners in ah Bourbon County, i as I'm sure, you know, in your all's counties and across the state, but i love a good plant swap.
00:44:06
Plant People
And what we're talking about today is just goes along so well, ah you know, with, ah you know, Preparing things and storing things and in the springtime just trading things. ah But there's a lot of different ways to accomplish those community plant swaps and we're going to do one in the spring and I'm pretty excited about it you know, we're going to lay down some ground will rules to keep things kind of structured.
00:44:27
Plant People
But it's all the things that we just talked about today that makes things like that possible. And people that have success with that 20-pound root ball of or that root mass of cantalilies, you know, and it's like, what do i do with it?
00:44:39
Plant People
It's like, well, go and trade it for something you want more. Trade it for that dahlia or whatever.
00:44:42
Alexis
Yeah.
00:44:43
Plant People
Yeah.
00:44:43
Alexis
Yeah.
00:44:44
Plant People
Yeah. So good stuff.
00:44:45
Alexis
That's awesome. Yeah, I always forget about those.
00:44:46
Plant People
Good information.
00:44:47
Alexis
I just feel like I have to grow them. Like, I'm like, well, well they're here, so I got to put them in the crowd.
00:44:52
Plant People
Hey, I got to do something. Yeah. Eventually, Alexis, you will run out of outdoor space as well as indoor space. Eventually.
00:44:58
Alexis
I mean, I bought 14 acres.
00:45:00
Plant People
Eventually. Okay.
00:45:00
Alexis
It'll be fine. It's fine.
00:45:02
Plant People
And that that's a lot of plants.
00:45:02
Jessica
I
00:45:03
Plant People
That's at least two more years, three more years before you crash out.
00:45:04
Alexis
Jessica's laughing because she was here when Dahlia season was at like its ultimate low.
00:45:06
Plant People
So, yeah.
00:45:12
Alexis
And and she was like, you're just doing too much, Alexis. And I was like, how dare you?
00:45:17
Plant People
don't salt them Don't judge me.
00:45:18
Jessica
have so many.
00:45:20
Plant People
yeah It's all good.
00:45:22
Alexis
All right. Awesome.
00:45:23
Plant People
Good stuff.
00:45:23
Alexis
Well, we appreciate you guys being here today. Hopefully you picked up some tips and going into storage season. And if you've already started that, you know, maybe you need to change a few things. Or if you've already stored a bunch of your stuff, have you checked on it lately?
00:45:37
Alexis
Why don't you go do that? and That's a little little tip for you. um You can find our email if you've got any questions about storing stuff or any plant questions at all. Please feel free to shoot us an email and we will get back to you on that.
00:45:50
Alexis
ah You can follow us on Instagram at Hort Culture Podcast. ah And we are just so glad that you join us every week. So thank you for being here and we'll check on you next time.
00:46:01
Alexis
Have a great one.