From Beautiful Blooms to Delicious Tubers: All About Dahlias

Dahlias, known for their mesmerising flowers, are typically cultivated for their blossoms. They offer such a diverse range of blooms, making it unsurprising that they are amongst the favorites for gardeners to grow for cut flowers. They have the ability to produce stunning flowers in just one season, and their tubers grow bigger and can be stored during the colder months for their development in the next season. These tubers tend to appear bulbous, leading me to contemplate whether they are edible.

Can you eat Dahlia tubers? The short answer is YES, you can eat Dahlia tubers. You can eat the entire plant. The plant produces fat tubers throughout summer and can be stored much like potatoes. Their taste and size vary but can be treated the same as artichokes. They can be eaten raw, roasted, fried, mashed and baked.

What does Dahlia taste like when eaten?

Dahlia tubers, as mentioned, have varied tastes and structures due to the wide varieties of Dahlia available. Some are crunchy, like eating raw Oca, and others are softer, like yams. The great thing is that Dahlias can bring a salad to life or even be roasted and added to the veg in a Sunday roast.


Their flavors, dependent on variety, could be similar to celery, apple, carrot, or swede. But they change when cooked, becoming milder as the tuber is heated or baked. The Dahlia flowers make beautiful additions to brighten up any summer salad.

When was Dahlias first eaten?

Coming from Central America, Dahlias were eaten by natives and were a staple food in Mexico. They were introduced into Europe in 1788 as staple tubers supplying food crops for communities. However, this didn’t take off as much as their breeders would have liked.

They declined as a food source after the corn took a strong foothold in supporting the country. Surprisingly they were even considered a coffee substitute, much like Yakon, so if you fancy a cup of decaf, why not try dahlia tea?

How to prepare Dahlia Tubers for eating?

Dahlia tubers lend themselves to being treated very much like sweet potatoes or Jerusalem artichokes. Baked, boiled, mashed, or roasted, they are an excellent addition to other root vegetables.

Simply clean and peel like potatoes and cook as required. They are very easy to prepare. Larger Dahlia tubers could also be eaten exactly like a jacket potato. So, this tuber is very varied.

Is it safe to eat Dahlia tubers grown in the garden?

This is a much bigger question. A lot of factors would determine whether something is safe to eat or not. I don’t say this because of the plant but because of growing practices.

If you are using strong chemicals to grow the flowers of the Dahlia, you may find that these could be passed on to the tubers. But if you are growing organically and not pouring growth hormones onto the plants, they are safe to eat.

Dahlia. Sp. Harzfee

What varieties of Dahlia are edible?

Before I give you a list below, I want to add all varieties of Dahlia are edible. However, the following species are known for flavor, texture, and tuber size.

England’s Glory

Akita

Blue Wish

Explosion

Kelvin Floodlight

Autumn Fairy

Garden Wonder

My Love

Kennemerland

Vancouver

Purple Pearl

April Dawn

Arabian Knight

Babylon Rose

Bitsy

David Howard

Duet

Eveline

Foxy Lady

Frost Nip

Dahlia’s best for salads

Doris Day

Frigoulet

Pianella

Magenta Star

Scura

Hermerick

Sunshine

Caballero

Karma Choc

Fascination

There are thousands of Dahlia species, but this is the list I have tried and enjoyed eating. Why not grow some dahlias yourself and give them a go?

How to store Dahlia tubers ready to eat?

Once you have lifted your Dahlias after growing, you need to cut off the stalk around 6 inches above the tubers and turn them upside-down to dry out and cure. This prevents the tubers from rotting. Once dried, you can remove all spindly roots with scissors and wash the tubers in clean water.

Avoid breaking the skin when doing this or leaving a damaged area where disease can set in when in storage. There are three methods to store these tubers until it is time to eat them.

  1. Store upside down on a shelf
  2. Store in dry compost
  3. Store in damp sand

Store upside down on a shelf

Tubers do well when stored this way. Keeping them on a shelf makes them easy to check periodically for rot and disease. They should be stored in a dark frost-free cool room to prevent them from shooting or chitin. Check tubers for signs of shrinkage and spray with water if these signs are found.

Store In dry compost

Tubers can be stored in dry compost in creates or boxes. Plastic containers should be avoided as the tubers need to breathe. Again, a dark, cool, frost-free place is required. A garage is an ideal place to store them. You should also check these for signs of rot and disease. They are spraying if they start to shrink.

Store in Damp Sand

This is one of the easiest methods. Store in boxes as above, but use damp sand as the medium. This will keep the tubers humid and will prevent them from dehydrating. You also need to check them far less for disease and rot. Store in a dark, cool, frost-free room.

More Information

How to grow Dahlia’s to eat

Growing Dahlias to eat is much like growing them for flowers. But where you would plant one tuber for flowers, we need to increase our stocks to bulk out our tubers for a more significant yield. We can do that by taking cuttings. Instead of just planting the tuber in the ground and waiting for the flower to come, we can half bury the tuber in a pot or tray.

Place this on heat and provide artificial lights; eventually, green shoots appear. Cut these off with a craft knife when they are around 6″, cutting as close to the tuber as possible. Dip these into a rooting hormone and place them into a pot containing a 50/50 mix of compost and grit.

Within a few weeks, these will have roots and can be grown until the last frost has passed. Once the danger of the last frost has gone, you can plant out the cuttings. Continue to take cuttings from the parent tuber until you have the desired amount.

Then plant the original tuber too. By the end of summer, you will have many plants and tubers to harvest instead of just one. This keeps costs low as Dahlia tubers can buy $5 or $6, or £4 to buy each.

Watering Dahlias that you intend to eat.

Watering Dahlias is essential, these grow huge plants fast, and it is not until the height of summer do the tubers put on weight. The more water available now, the better, as the tuber will swell much easier when available. Be mindful not to saturate the soil so the tubers are not sat in the water, which can cause the tubers to rot.

FAQs on From Beautiful Blooms to Delicious Tubers: All About Dahlias

Can I leave my Dahlia tubers in the ground all winter?
This would depend on where you live. In colder climates, leaving them in the ground is not advisable. If frost gets to the tubers, it will kill the plants. Even with a good layer of mulch, this can be hard to control reliably for most gardeners. It is much better practice to lift the tubers as described.

Can I feed leftovers to my cats and dogs?
No, Dahlias are one of those plants that are poisonous to your pets. If you have leftovers, you are better off composting or binning these. DO NOT feed dahlias to your pets. If your animals eat this plant, it will cause mild gastrointestinal cramps and can even cause dermatitis.

When do I harvest my Dahlia tubers to eat?
You can harvest your tubers from the end of September to mid-November. Avoid frost at all costs. Tubers should be lifted to allow time to harden off and cure, as described above, before the first frosts are due.

When should I start to take Dahlia cutting when growing to eat?
You should start this process in February and continue taking cuttings until the end of April. At this point, the mother tuber should be adequately planted into a pot and allowed to grow in preparation for being planted out.

Don’t Feed Dahlias To Your Pets.

Conclusion

I hope that this has answered your question as to whether you can eat Dahlia tubers or not. If you got value from this content, please consider signing up for my blog so you can be notified each time I release new content. You can do that in the right-hand sidebar next to this post. Remember, folks, you Reap What You Sow!

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