Fall bulbs

O.K. It's a little early to be talking about next spring but while it's fresh in my mind.. . . . I'm thinking of planting tulip, daffodil, etc. bulbs this fall in pots to try something different. Has anyone done this? I live in northern Illinois--would I put the pots in the basement or garage over winter? When would I start watering and put them outside? Thanks for your advice.

I make many spring containers with bulbs. Some are a single variety & others sport a succession of blooms. I plant bulbs in a very fast soil with a little bone meal added in Oct or Nov & leave in an unheated garage until spring. Every so often, I'll throw a handful of snow on the soil so it remained "barely moist". I put the containers outdoors when there's not much danger of temps dipping below 20* F. at night.

Overwintering in the basement will not satisfy the chill requirements of temperate bulbs (unless pre-stratified). They need an average of 8 - 14 weeks of temperatures from 32 - 45* F. for vigorous growth. I have also stored bulbs in the fridge & planted in containers - late March.

Al

Thanks so much for the great instructions! I'm going to give it a go this year. Cathy

Not sure if you want to force or just plant in pots. This is how I do it: Refrigerate bulbs from purchase date into late fall in paper bags. In November pot them up. Then water and let the excess water drain out of the pot, and then tie each pot inside of a plastic bag. The kind sold as "storage bags" at the grocery. Place in unheated basement in total dark. Inside of a box will work. At one point in the winter, check the bags and add a little water if dried out. With this method, I've found that I don't actually need to water more than once in the winter because they don't dry out. Stagger planting times to maintain blooms through winter. Note that I am not using a basement with danger of freezing, just an unheated basement. Around Christmas, start bringing them into the house and removing the bags if you want to force them indoors. If not, just keep them in the dark and take them outside after danger of freezing.

This message was edited Aug 14, 2005 12:56 PM

More good tips! Thanks, Andidandi. Is the point of the plastic bags to keep moisture in? Cathy

Yes. It saves you the trouble of watering. I find once during the winter is enough if the bags are used.

andidandi - i don't quite follow your instructions. when you say "pot them up" i thought that meant that you put them into a container with potting mix. i'm lost after that. help me out please. i am interested in planting hycinths. can i grow them in 4 inch pots so i can keep them in the house during the season. thanks

Hooray, what timely information... I was just thinking, "sheesh, I wish I knew how to force those bulbs in a container in the house this winter" :) Hooray! :)

Hi Herbie43!: The way I understood it ws that we should indeed "pot them up" in potting mix in a container... then water it as you normally would and let the water drain well out of the bottom of the container or pot. Then, the instructions say: "tie each bag inside of a plastic bag"... but I think they mean put each POT into a plastic bag. This keeps them moist enough so as not to have to go down to the dungeon (or basement... whatever :) to water over the winter. Then, (if you were me) you would bring them upstairs after 8-14 weeks and have fresh grape hycinth for Christmas! :)

Hope that helps!

Sarah

How cold does it get in the winter? I'm in zone 5b and I plant bulbs in containers every year, but I leave them out unprotected along the brick wall of my apartment's balcony. This is a picture of early tulips. I layer my bulbs and have them coming up from March through July (lilies). I do make sure they get water about once a month if it's dry. But the freezing weather has never seemed to bother them.

revclaus- *edit this message to say that I really don't know what I'm talking about :)* That said: I understand it like this: consider the metro region one big pot of dirt! If you overwinter your bulbs in the ground, they are in this enormous pot we call "the front range". It's REALLY hard to give a pot that big a hard, hard freeze. It has to be SUPER cold for quite a while to penetrate such a huge volume. So, if you plant your bulbs in the ground, they are more protected from the SUPER extreme temps (those freakish nights when it's 20 below), simply because they are in a HUGE pot. (interlude: I wish I had bold, or italics, or something more interesting than ALL CAPS, :) Just my two cents!) On the other hand, if you plant in a pot (say, the lovely pot with your adorable pink tulips ;) then, the bulbs will definitely get frozen harder than if they were in the ground (the big pot) under the natural mulch of fall leaves, to boot! So, I think (and again, this is just my theory)... that your bulbs must be good 'n' hardy to get way frozen and not care! Lucky you! (or you could jsut be one of those who can't kill a plant to save your life! :P :) I've heard of people mulching their containers, wrapping them with various insulators, etc. Maybe if you were using a more sensitive bulb you might get burned... freezer burned, that is ROFL... ahhh, I'm a dork! :) I hope some bit of this makes sense. Sorry if I'm rambling, it's late! :) Happy to see someone nearby though... I too am a container gardener on my apartment's balcony! I'd love to email more and talk about what you grow for ideas! :)

And, if I'm way off base, someone wiser had better come along and shut me up! :) With many thanks for sharing your wisdom, of course!

Sarah

This is sort of the same idea as when we are 50 or 60 degrees for a week in winter, then the next snow melts off real quick... that's because the ground is already warmed up and melts the snow, y'know. I'm sure you know that... so just apply that same idea to this. :)

This message was edited Aug 12, 2005 12:23 AM

Sarah - about the 3rd topic down in FAQ tells you how to bold, italicize and

http://davesgarden.com/faq/forums/

If you're just adding bulbs to a big container that you're not planning on forcing to bring inside, you might as well top it off with asiatic or oriental lilies. I do it with the bulblets harvested from the stalks. That way I can grow them out and they don't get lost. Bloom the first year although they're little rascals. I'm in the same zone as Denver but my cold is worse. I can't leave cannas outside like my DA in Denver and DM in Otis (2hrs east).

Another thing you could put in that container if leaving outside is sedum. They get along really well since they both do well with water and fertilizer in the spring then basically dry the rest of the year.

Thanks, 8ftbed! :) Lots of good stuff to know. :)

Sarah

I think revclaus may have 2 things working to protect the potted bulbs - a brick wall that releases heat it gains during the day to keep the pots a little warmer (unless it's a north-facing wall) and being up against the building.

I've been looking at bulbs all week but hadn't even thought about potting some until now. Goody! Thanks.

Ahh... "Goody!" A word that fits my vocabulary! :) Thanks, mickgene!

HERBIE43-

Sorry for any confusion. It seemed that the original poster did not have room for potted bulbs and I was picking up on that. My method is to the leave the bulbs bare in the fridge crisper in just a paper bag, and then pot them in November in pots with potting mix, tie them in bags, and place them in the basement at that time. An alternative for Hyacinths in November is to place them in forcing vases and put the vase back in the refrigerator if you have room.

There was a typo in my original message, and think that i have corrected it. Tie the *pot* inside of the plastic bag. That is, your chilled bulb is placed in a pot with mix, and then watered and drained, and then tied in a plastic bag.

Sarah, I know what you're getting at, and you're right on!

Mickgene, It IS a north facing wall. But I think it gets heat from inside rather than outside. And it's pretty protected from the weather.

And if I don't get my bulbs ordered pretty soon, I won't be able to have ANY at all next year! :-)