How are we doing on our fall bulb-digging??

I am in the midst of digging my tender bulbs, just put in the last of my spring blooming bulbs, and trying to get these dug before new ones arrive, and also before daylight savings time puts the ki-bosh to my after work play!!

In-between the cold raindrops that persist, I've been digging my cannas, callas, dahlias, and will be doing glads next.

Here is one of my questions: Should I be washing my bulbs, or leaving the soil that clings on them? Usually I never wash them, but when you buy them they are very clean, so I am washing this year. Only thing is, they seem so white and vulnerable when you clean them all up. Dig, spray, and now they are drying on racks in the barn. I have not cut the tops from the cannas and callas, they are so lush and wet, I thought maybe the tuber could take in some of that moisture as they cure, is this a foolish thought? When I cut the dahlias, they literally squirted water.

I have forced air heat, and even though my basement is not kept very warm, it's enough to dry my bulbs to the point where many are barely alive, if at all. My mom always kept carrots in dry sand, and I sometimes do this, cover them with sand. Also, somewhere I read that someone kept them in dog and cat food bags since they have a moisture barrier. I'm afraid those bags might attract rhodents, though. I'm trying to experiment and get better results, lets share ideas!!
Thanks, Legit

Found an interesting article in a newsletter. Hope this helps some others not so familiar. Legit

http://infosource.uwex.edu/recorddetail.cfm?messageid=101069&heading=Garden%20and%20Landscape&headingid=2

We clean & treat our glad bulbs. (Anyone want to help ?)
After cleaning we dip them in an insecticide to control thrips. We will store them in our cooler, which will be kept around 40º
Bernie

Hi Legit,

I don't have many Fall Cleaner Uppers for that same reason. Most of the time they dry out too much and die. I am trying Glads again this year. All I'm going 2 do is dig em up, shake em off, cut em back, put em in a bag and PRAY. LOL

I have had luck with Glads and Cannas overwintering for a couple years and then nothing after I tried, I think the 3rd year.

So, we'll try it again.

Kelly

Legit...just yesterday I decided I wasn't going to wait any longer for my cannas to die down. I cut all the foliage off :-( I hate doing that to a live plant, but it had to happen. (I think there are about 200 out there. MAN can they multiply!)

Anyway, for about the past 5 years, I've dug all the tubers, washed and divided them. Then I let them dry a little and store them in a mesh laundry bag hung on the wall in my basement storage room. The temp down there is probably in the area of 50-55° and it's fairly dry because it's closed in.

I usually lose some of the tubers due to the fact that I don't even remember they're there until its time to plant them again. LOL But you have to understand that, up until this year, I've only had the old tall red standard variety. Now that I have gone off the deep end with my gardening, I've bought quite a few named dwarf cultivars. So I'll be treating those tubers to a long winter's nap snugged up in peat moss to see if I can keep more than the 80% that usually survive the 'bag' treatment.

Now that you've read my "handling" (if you can call it that) of the cannas...I'd be very interested in learning how you treat you calla lilies.

~julie~

The only thing I had to dig was my caladiums, and I did that a few weeks ago, when the foliage had pretty much died down. I wasn't happy with their performance, so I'm not sure how the bulbs will be by next spring. I have them in a mesh bag with wood shavings, hanging in the garage. Where would be the best place for them this winter? Anyone have experience with caladiums?

kbaumle...Caladiums (according to the info from growers) need a warmer temp in the winter than cannas do. I kept mine in mesh (onion-type bags) in an upstairs closet this past winter. I planted them in pots in early April (kept the pots in my semi-heated basement and had gorgeous plants by mid-summer. I didn't use any shavings or peat...and I did wash and dry the bulbs before I stored them.

~julie~

Bernie, when you say you Clean the glads, is this with water, or just shake them off?? My soil is sandy, so most of mine comes off glads pretty easily by just handling. Also, what insectiside do you use? One more ?? when you plant to sell blooms, do you use a fertilzer fro outstanding performance. I have never fertilized glads, but now wondering if it would help them bloom sooner, be stronger, and make larger corms.

Julie,
With most of my Callas, I plant them in a clay pot, 3 to a pot, and then plant the pot. When fall comes, I pick the pots out of the ground, let them dry up naturally, usually they are pretty dry by now, but this year we didn't get decent water till late this year, and they are quite green now, so I put them in the gh to dry up. (Now I need to remember to get them to the basement before it starts to freeze in there!)

I leave them in the same pot for several years, just replanting the pot, and move them into individual pots as they grow larger.

I'm insulating and putting shelves in my "bulb room" downstairs, so it's not quite ready to "receive" yet. I'm trying to keep it cooler, and keep the heat out. Used to house firewood when we used to heat with it, then to dry the wood was a good thing.

As for my cannas, I did the same thing, what an idiot, bought more varieties I need to dig, dahlias as well. Have you also noticed that the fancier varieties, overall, are not as vigorous as the old stand-bys?? This seems true with mine.

kbaumle,
I've had really poor luck with caladiums, it's just not warm enough for them here, so they bit the dust after the coop when I spent tooooo much money on tooooo many of them. Live and learn!

I've found that once you let the bulbs dry, the soil is pretty easy to 'brush' off.

Then again...I've not had a whole lotta luck overwintering bulbs, lol!

A few caladiums have done OK....I just leave them upstairs in their pots and only water enough to prevent total dessication.

I've got some cannas and EE's to take care of......haven't had time to get them up and out....gotta do that this weekend! lol!

I recently bought some 'bulb dust' and was planning to try that for mine this winter....has anyone used that?

Wow, julie....200 cannas? How many different types?

That many cannas would end up *frozen* for me!

I have to water them? As poorly as they did for me, I'm thinking they aren't going to be worth the effort. :-(

Be careful with the water, I've already thought they were shriveling too much, long about Feb, and added what I thought was a little water, and they took it as a que that spring was around the corner and wasted no time sprouting. I lost a few that way, but I ususally had so many it didn't matter much.

I keep the numbers down by starting some cannas and dahlias in pots and selling them at my plant sale. The problem is that I've bought some I want to keep for myself, and they are the ones that 80% survival is not good enough for, some I only have one clump, or even one root. One poor little guy (dahlia "yellow bird") last nite didn't even seem to have a tuber left, I potted it up, and am having thoughts about trying to bring it inside to continue it's growth, am I sick or what?? Legit

Legit...thanks for the info on the Callas...mine are sitting in a bucket right now waiting for me to *do* something with them. They're still very green...so maybe I'll just pot them up and see if I can get them to go dorment for me.
...as to the vigor of the cannas. NO WAY do the new varieties put on as much in the way of new tubers. And MAN are they hard to keep over the winter! (That's why I want to be sure to use the proper storage method *this* year. LOL)

Nan...At the moment, the majority of the cannas are tall red standards (2/3 are green leaf, 1/3 bronze leaf). But I have about 30 'something Vaughn' variety, 1/2 dozen SpitFires, 3 Pink Dawn, a couple 'Journey's End'...a few Stadt Feldtbach...and maybe a few others that I got from the ill fated canna co-op. But have *more* on order for next spring.

Legit...starting the tubers inside in pots and selling them is a *great idea*. I think I might have to start doing that myself here real soon.

~julie~

I have far fewer than 200 Cannas and many of mine still freeze. LOL
But I have mostly standard red with spiky flowers. Lately, I've been letting them freeze and propogating the ones with red foliage. Still don't have a very interesting flower (the picture on the tag looked interesting but it's not what I got).

I DO have a Lucifer which is yellow-orange. Will try to winter it. But I've had less success overwintering the fancier varieties.

I tend to just let them dry and slough off all the soil I can. Dust them with bulb dust and store them with milled peat moss in an old nylon stocking. The I layer them in a large plastic pot with more peat moss. Put a plastic tray on top for a lid and store them in the basement. This year I think I'll try to find space in my cold room.

I do the same with Callas and have had pretty good success.

Haven't started planting spring bulbs yet. Won't in the older sections of my garden as I had a lot last year. But I have quite a few slated to go into the new garden which is looking more plantable now. We are just waiting on a landscape company to build a retaining wall on the street side of the oak tree.

Ann

Wow...you're a regular 'cannaholic', julie!

I was really into the variegated varieties a few years back, but then my son got sick and we were late digging them up and so on.....so lost most of them and decided to focus on other things.

I agree it's a great idea to start indoors and sell if you've the tubers and the space. The growing ones really sell high in the spring at the garden centers!

Had my eye on some nice Tropicanna's this spring....but they wanted something like $29.00 if I recall correctly!
Ended up buying a tuber on ebay and growing it myself!

Here's that same garden from the other side.

Ann...are we talking just plain old bulb dust or is there something particular I should looking for? (Like something in the sulfer dust type?) Super looking garden you've going there.

Nan...not really a 'canna-holic' at all. They're a little more trouble than I'd ordinarily like to go through. But they're the talles thing I could find that would grow quickly and add some height to my very flat beds and borders. ~big grin here~ I'd way rather have some Japanese Maples...but haven't found one that likes what I have to offer.

~julie~

My dad always put out a circular canna bed every year, in the 'alley' between our house and the neighbors'. It was really pretty, and he really didn't like doing it, but he did it for my mom, who loved it.

lol! I can relate, Julie...lived in Boscobel most of my life (still work here) and my parents' yard has that same type of soil (if you can call it that!) that you've spoke of.

Actually, though....there are some Japanese maples that are pretty hardy, and with a 'microclimate' and a little soil amending.....you might be able to grow them!

Luckily, where we live now, we have nice dark, rich, black soil.

Looks like Ann and I posted at the same time, there....glad to hear you've used the bulb dust, Ann, and that it seems to work for you. I'll be trying it with the few canna tubers and EE bulbs I have to overwinter this year.

I have 3 japanese maples that are thriving here. Started out really tiny from Mellingers, I mean tiny. They don't grow much each year, but are still going strong, I could look up their names if anyone really wants to know. Then there are a bunch of Amur maples I'm growing from seed. If a person was of a mind to do some creative trimming you could probably give them any look you liked.

I think if we all have some of these cannas left in the spring we should think about trading. Can we trade from here if we just want regional trades??? Legit

Nan! BOSCOBEL!!! WAHOO!!! Where do you work? (I'm sorry, I just SO excited when I saw that! LOL)

BRB to answer the other posts. :-D

~julie~

I will have to try to find my bulb dust to let you know what is in it. LOL
Ann

I *really* do have to start trying to these posts more slowly...on my way down to answer I saw a WHOLE bunch of things I wanted to comment on. hehehe

Ann...I have some of the 'Lucifer' cannas too. I bought several bags of mixed cannas from Park's last sping ('04) I was hoping for 'Princess Di' but got all 'Spitfire' and 'Lucifer'...but they were SO beautiful I didn't mind at all.

Legit...I dont' see any reason why wo couldn't start our own UMW trades in the spring. I honestly think we're better off trading plants that have come from about the same growing conditions as they will be planted in. (Besides...trading amongst ourselves will keep us from getting zone envy when we look at all those great things everyone else can grow! LOL)

I just started two new threads (are you getting the feeling that I wanted this forum for my own purposes??? ROFL)
Japanese Maples http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/553459/
and another for Ornamental grasses.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/553457/

Just so you know...I'm enjoying this forum more every minute! It's great to be able to talk to people in my 'neighborhood'. It's a cinch there aren't any in my *real* neighborhood to talk to. LOL

~julie~

Thanks Ann...we were posting at the same time. (Kinda like talking over one another, eh?) :-D

~julie~

Julie...just sent you a Dmail....don't want my place of employment coming up on DG in an internet search! lol!

Oooops! ~embarrassed giggle here~
I'm going to get the mail.

~julie~

"How are we doing..." we are wishing there were six more weeks of mild temps!!! LOL

Jody

Jody...if we had 6 more weeks of mild temps we'd be hoping for a WHITE CHRISTMAS and a quick spring! ;-)

~julie~

Julie and Jodie,
If I had a choice, I'd ditch the White Christmas in a heartbeat for 6 more weeks..........

Got the rest of my dahlias out tonite, almost all red in this bed though. Anyone have a wonderful creative idea on planting these. Ususally I just mix them in-between other things. Legit

Legit...link us to the pic of the bed you're designing.

~julie~

When I say, clean glad bulbs, we break off the old corm & all the small ones. We let them dry before we start cleaning. Dirt is off when we get done breaking them apart. We also peel off most of the husk to let the insecticide get to the bulb. We dip them in Orthene. Seems to be only thing that will kill Thrips.
Depending on what colors we are working with, we keep all the little bulbettes. They grow quite fast, & even bloom in the second year. Any that are about the size of a dime when planted seem to bloom.
Still need volunteers to help clean bulbs.
Bernie

Volunteers, eh....do you check pockets when we leave? LOL

~julie~

I will help you fill them!
Bernie

Hmmmmm...I *like* that kind of deal.

BTW...thanks for the tip on the Orthene...that's good to know.

~julie~
(Who's NOW going to bed...for REAL!!)
G'Nite everyone! It's been a GRAND day!

Julie,

We could pick up neighbors on the way to a weekend at Bernie's to "volunteer!" I think my daughter has a pair of pants with lots of pockets I can borrow.

Jody

!!

Bernie...those are gorgeous! I can't even imagine having so many of a single variety. All of mine of from mixed bags...with the exception of a dozen really nice red and white ones.

I may have to plan a visit up there during the season to see your plants.

~julie~

Nice glads/ Mine did not bloom. Of course, it didn't help that I kept weeding them out - it's been a long time since I tried to grow any.

Ann

Ann...that's SO funny! I was doing the same thing!! (I thought it was just a clump of grass the chipmunks planted from the birdfeeder...until I finally *noticed* the tiny bulbs attached. Oh well, live and learn. :-))
~julie~

Here's my "do-little" method of overwintering tender bulbs...Dig them with the dirt still around the roots, put in a cardboard box on the basement floor in a cool corner, add a little sand to bury the roots, and shut the lid. You basically want them to be dry but not bone dry. Then after Christmas or so, go and check on them, and if they are shriveling at all, sprinkle a little water over them. If they are getting moldy, they started out too wet, and you'll have to let them dry out in the air a bit. Works good with cannas, dahlias, callas - glads I just throw into a paper sack after cutting off the stalks.

Using this method, my ellen huston dahlia has increased from one small bought plant to 24+ big plants.

CG...thanks for the info here. I'm assuming that if I have bareroot plants at this stage of the game, I can just put them in peat in the cardboard boxes and follow the same procedure? (Next year I'll try to be more careful and leave some soil on the ones I dig up...but this year it's too late to replant them. LOL)

~julie~