Updated February 13, 2024

Storing hundreds of dahlia tubers for my flower farm has been a farming experience with a huge learning curve. I’ve made many mistakes. I’ve both rotted and desiccated dozens upon dozens of dahlia tubers. If you’re feeling like a complete failure in the dahlia tuber storage world, don’t! We all make mistakes. You simply have to figure out what works best for you and the space you have.

For reference on dahlia tubers molding during storage, I wrote this blog on How to Get Rid of Mold on Dahlia Tubers (along with the stories of the many mistakes I’ve made overwintering dahlia tubers… fun fun!)

Also this other Dahlia-focused blog information may be helpful for you: When to Dig Up Dahlia Tubers + How to Plant Dahlia Tubers and Grow Dahlias Organically + Will Deer Eat My Field of Dahlias? + Drip Irrigation and Growing Dahlias in a Drought Year

Onto the topic at hand: Packing and storing dahlia tubers in wood pine shavings.

Storing dahlia tubers in wood shavings has been a wonderful experience this winter. I can’t believe I can refer to storing dahlias as a wonderful experience… but it’s the truth! Here’s why.

The white “mold” looking growth on the tubers above is actually mycorrhizal fungi from the field. It will not harm the dahlia tubers, nor cause rot over winter. I do not wash my tubers, partly to keep this wonderful resource present for the farm next year.

Benefits of storing dahlia tubers in wood shavings

Not a single tuber has dried out in pine wood shavings (my dahlia tubers have been packed for 4 entire months and are stored in my 45-degree basement in large plastic totes). In a few totes, the contents were too wet and ran the risk of forming mold, but that was easily remedied by removing the lid on the plastic tub I had them in;
Wood shavings are light as a feather and make moving big tubs full of dahlia tubers much easier than if they were when filled with peat moss (which you shouldn’t be using anyway because it is a waning natural resource);
Wood shavings can (and should!) be reused as mulch in a perennial garden once all of your tubers are unpacked. The wood will help encourage healthy fungal connections in your soil. You could also add some of it to your compost pile;
Wood shavings are compressed into bags and take up a surprising amount of space when they’re out the bag… which means you need much less than you’d think. I believe I packed 6 large plastic totes of dahlia tubers using one (5.5 cu ft) bag of wood shavings.

what you need for dahlia tuber storage

Pine Wood Shavings - One bag of these pine wood shavings will fill several large totes packed with dahlia tubers.
A mix of plastic totes - For large quantities of same-variety tubers, I use these large Sterilite plastic totes. For smaller quantities, I use these smaller Sterilite plastic containers. Both are packed with the same methodology below.
Tape and a permanent garden marker to label the outside of your bins.
A HEPA Air Purifier to set up in the storage area; a HEPA purifier will keep air circulated while filtering out mold spores. I use mine in other rooms of my home from Spring-Fall to filter out dust particles and keep the air clean.

How to store dahlia tubers in wood shavings

You’ll want to store your dahlia tubers in plastic totes of some kind (the above suggestions are exactly what I use). When stored in cardboard boxes, my dahlia tubers have dried out so I do not store them in boxes anymore. I find I do not ever need to add moisture when they are stored in the plastic, non-permeable totes, but this will depend on the humidity/moisture levels of the area you store them in. I have mine in my 1870s basement, which is considerably damp. You’ll need to observe your packed tubers every few weeks or so until you come to understand your space.

To begin packing, I layered 3 inches of pine wood shavings on the bottom of my plastic tote. Then I layered dahlia tubers. I do not wash nor split my tubers before packing. I lay the tubers close to each other but not touching. Then add a 2-3 inch layer of wood shavings on top of the tubers. Then another layer of tubers, another layer of wood shavings. It’s like making lasagna. I also picked up and tapped the tub full of tubers down on the ground a few times, to get rid of any space. The shavings should be right up against the tubers to help insulate them.

Finally, I brought all the totes full of tubers down into my basement. I started out by adding the lids onto the totes with a slight crack for moisture to release itself. I was highly skeptical over whether the wood shavings would actually insulate the tubers. I really thought they would dry out. Well, I was wrong! I went downstairs to check on my tubers a few weeks later and the wood shavings were all wet on the top with a ton of condensation accumulated on the inside of the lid. Naturally, this freaked me out so I took all the lids off and they’ve been off for months now. Not a single tuber has dried out nor rotted. In fact… they’re all looking perfect!

Meanwhile, a HEPA Air Purifier is turned on every-other day to keep air circulated and filter out any mold spores that might be lurking.

I hope this has shed some light on storing dahlia tubers in wood shavings, for anyone else who may have been skeptical. I’m so glad to have found a tried and true method!

peace, love, plant magic and oodles of dahlias,

Fran Parrish