Digging and Dividing Tuber Clumps

Dividing and storing your tubers for next spring:

No, you do not need to wait for a killing frost to start digging your tubers out. What you do need is at least 120 days of growing to develop tubers that are strong enough for storage.

I start digging in November. I like to cut them down a week or 2 prior to digging, to help the eyes develop. This is not necessary if you plan to divide in the spring. If you dig in the fall, but divide in the spring, do not rinse your tubers. just dig, dry and store.

If you are going to dig and divide in the fall: dig and rinse tuber clumps with a garden hose, removing as much dirt as you can. The dirt hides the eyes and you need to see them well. Do not use a lot of water pressure, you do not want to cause damage to the tubers...

Step 1: ask yourself, how many tubers of this variety do you want to plant next spring?

Step 2: trim off all hairy bits, broken necks, and obvious blind tubers (tubers connected to tubers, not the crown) If a tuber is damaged from the dig, it is not a lost cause unless the neck was broke. If you accidentally sliced through a tuber, that is okay, but you will want to make a new straight cut removing any damage. The tuber does not need to be whole to be viable, it just needs a strong neck and an eye.  Generally, you would also toss the mother tuber.  She is larger and much darker than the others and will likely fail during storage.

Step 3: carefully cut off the easily identified tubers with eyes
Step 4: do you need any more? If yes, go to step 5. If no, go to step 7
Step 5: split clump down the middle (you may need to sacrifice a tuber or 2 doing this and that's okay)
Step 6: remove tubers that are connected to the crown, leaving as much crown as possible attached to the tuber you're removing
Step 7: toss the rest, your done dividing
Step 8: dip cut tubers in a 10% bleach/water (1:10) solution for 30 seconds or so and let dry 24-48 hours

Step 9: optional, dip all cut ends in cinnamon or sulphur powder to help prevent rot and mold during storage
Step 10: label tubers and store.

Note: I prefer to store in fresh potting soil, but plastic wrap works (make sure tubers are very dry. If there are any wet spots, these will rot. You can also use wood chips (sawdust works better than chips), peat moss, vermiculite, or sand - use what you have access to.  Although I prefer potting soil to store in, I cannot have soil on tubers when shipping internationally, and to some US states, so we use vermiculite.  NOTE:  Vermiculite and Peat Moss do need to be a LITTLE moist.  A benefit of vermiculite:  It's reusable.  Peat Moss and wood shavings should not be reused.