With bulging flowers, they attract admiring glances from mid to late summer. But what happens to them when autumn and with it the frost approaches? Is there any way to protect the dahlias from the winter temperatures?
How do you protect dahlias from frost?
Dahlias do not tolerate frost and should therefore be protected from winter temperatures. To ensure this, their tubers should be dug up in autumn and overwintered in a frost-free room. Damage caused by frost manifests itself in brownish, limp plant parts.
Can dahlias tolerate frost?
Frostdamagesthe dahlias. They are not at all designed to survive sub-zero temperatures and are therefore not hardy in this country. As soon as frost hits the plants in autumn, their above-ground shoots freeze. The tubers in the ground, on the other hand, are somewhat protected and can tolerate short-term frost.
What frost damage can occur on dahlias?
Frost damage to dahlias is shown bybrownish plant parts that hang limply and are dead. If necessary, these can be cut down and the plant will sprout again.
When does frost damage to dahlias usually occur?
Annoying frost damage to dahlias often occurs if they are planted outdoors too early inspring. This should best only be done after the Ice Saints.
Dahlias also freeze to death every year inAutumn if they grow in an area where frost occurs. In this country, this happens everywhere at some point during the fall and winter.
What should you do with the dahlia when there is frost?
In order to be able to enjoy the dahlias next year, their tubers should bedug up in the fall. They are overwintered to sprout again the following spring.
However, before the tubers are removed from the ground, the stems and leaves of the dahlia should already be wilted. Then there are enough nutrients and water in the tubers for overwintering, which they draw from the above-ground parts of the plant).
Where is the tuber of the dahlia protected from frost?
Since the tuber would not survive the winter outdoors, it is overwintered in a cool, butfrost-free room. Cellar rooms with a temperature between 4 and 8 °C are ideal for this.
The tubers of the dahlias are wrapped in newspaper or stored in sand in a pot or box. This is important so that they don't dry out in winter. Attention: The room should be dry and the tubers should not be lying around openly. Otherwise there is a risk that the tubers will rot.
How can you protect planted dahlias from frost?
Once the dahlias have been planted out and the young shoots are already showing, you can protect them from frost with variousmaterials. For example, a cardboard box, a pot, fleece (€34.00 on Amazon), Styrofoam or a plastic hood are suitable for this. If the plant is already outside and frost is forecast, put the protective material over the fresh shoots and remove it again as soon as the sub-zero temperatures have passed.
Tip
Dahlia tuber protected from light frost
Short, light frost in autumn usually does not harm the dahlia tuber. You can take your time digging until around the end of October.
