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Bulbs in planters

18 years ago

Six or seven weeks ago I planted daffodils & tulips in containers & left them on my covered patio bringing them out for rain. My bulbs in the ground are beginning to show their tips. Why aren't the bulbs in my planters pushing through the top of the soil? I live in z7 where we have days above 65 and then days in the 30's.

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Comments (2)

laughlivegrow_yahoo_com
18 years ago
I planted my bulbs at the end of November and forgot about them in my garage. Three wks ago I saw that they were 5 inches above soil, so I brought them into my kitchen and watered them. They are beautiful. I layered tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus. I only had one crocus bloom and it was short lived. My first daffodil bloomed after we rec'd 8 inches of snow in PA. Below is a link to my flowers. Hope you enjoy!!!!

Maybe you haven't given your bulbs enought time in the cold weather since you planted planted 7 wks ago. I placed my other pots in the frig to delay their growth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Layering of bulbs
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patwood
18 years ago
About what temperature was it outside? Bulbs need to be above freezing and below about 50F for some time to force properly. The first month they won't grow any green; they'll simply put down roots. After that, the amount of additional cool time they need depends on the species and cultivar. Most require around 12 weeks. Covered porches are not great, as the soil can freeze pretty quickly at night; this will slow down the metabolism of the bulbs. Also, the multiple freeze/thaw cycles can't be good. Temperatures underground are much more constant.

My suggestion is to hope for the best.
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I am afraid that cutting it all back was probably a mistake. Unless of course the foliage had all died. Those leaves nourish the bulbs to make next years flowers. You need to wait for them to die down naturally before either lifting the bulbs and drying, or easier still leaving them in the planter where they will reappear next year.
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Did your tulips ever flower this year? If not, I agree with kato_b that the bulbs may have been defective when you got them. Do not store your containers near apples or keep the bulbs too warm before planting in the fall. Bulbs bought on sale in late fall are often not good candidates for forcing. Buy bulbs for forcing in early Sept. and (if tulips) keep in a cool place until planting the following month. Most other bulbs can be planted (either outdoors or indoors) as soon as you purchase them in Southern Ontario. Buy large, top quality bulbs for forcing.
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violas are my favorite, pansies are nice, I also like stock, cyclamin and calendula are pretty too I know there are others but I'm drawing a blank. but don't plant until it gets cooler.
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Tall at the back, shorter in front. The fact that Barrett Browning and Juanita were packaged together doesn't mean they must be planted together -- they probably won't bloom together. Put the paperwhites in bowls of pebbles, inside for Christmas pretties. They're probably too cold tender for your area, I think? Fertilizer is fertilizer. Look at the analysis on the bulb fertilizer bag and buy a similar mix -- but the bulb fertilizer is meant for tulips, not daffodils. The crocus will bloom ahead of everything else, so it doesn't matter where they go. Why not along the sidewalk and they'll be gone when the grass needs cutting? Muscari looks wonderful up close to yellow daffodils. Let them meander in a little stream (double and triple rows) along the edge of a nice drift of yellow. Mark areas for bulbs and areas for perennials, separately. It always takes more bulbs than you have. Nell
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