My stored dahlia tubers have started to sprout. What to do?

mnist

I stored several kinds of dahlia tubers in my basement. They had been carefully dried and cleaned before I put them away in a corner. When I checked them this morning, I found that several of them had started to sprout; two even had long sun-starved stems! It's far too soon to plant them out.  It looks as if they have been living off the stored moisture and energy in the tubers.

I would hate to lose them. Should I pot them up and keep them under lights until the weather is warm enough to plant outside?

fidgetbones

They must be too warm. If they are growing they will need light and potting up. I would keep them as cool as you can but above freezing point.

pansyface

You could always eat them and buy some new ones.😊

mnist

fidgetbones said:

They must be too warm. If they are growing they will need light and potting up. I would keep them as cool as you can but above freezing point.

Yes, I had worried about the temperature. Unfortunately the only "cool" spot available to me is my outdoor shed where temps frequently drop below -4C (This week we will have a Polar Vortex that should bring us to -14C!) The other location is my basement which has proven to be a little too warm.

I went to the local DIY and got some new pots and an enormous bag of potting soil (I believe this is called compost in the UK) They are now under my grow lights. Best outcome would be to have award-winning blooms by the time others are just getting started

mnist

pansyface said:

You could always eat them and buy some new ones.😊

Sauted with a little butter, perhaps. 

pansyface

mnist

Hmmm. Thanks for the recipe, pansyface. Could you please arrange to have one of these gentlemen prepare it for me? I would hate to mess up a delicacy such as my beloved dahlias

Purplerain

You could take some cuttings. George at the small garden channel shows you how to do it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rLvhq0TIGA4