Old Bulbs & Smaller Bulbs

14 years ago

Hello,

First time poster to this Forum.

I wondering if planting the bulbs I have is just an exercise in futility...

All summer I've been preparing some raised planting beds in my garden for this moment so I can have a couple of large tulip fields.

I've been in the process of digging-up & moving the old tulips I've had in an old strawberry field. The tulip bulbs have been in the ground for about four years and really performed well each year. But I have to move the bulbs out of that location. So the thought was to create new raised beds on the south side of my house and put the old bulbs into these.

Once I started digging out the old bulbs I realized that they had really multiplied several times. I probably went from having a hundred to about four or five times that amount... only the bulbs as they are pulled out of the ground are splitting and are rather small. The field they were in was rather dry and I seldom irrigated so I don't think rot is a factore. The bulbs themselves are kinda like a garlic bulb where each bulb is made-up of smaller cloves. That's one situation I have.

The next situation is one that I DON'T like to EVEN THINK ABOUT because I'm afraid of the answer. I wanted to do this project, moving the raised beds, last year but ran out of time. But I purchased a couple of hundred bulbs last autumn but never planted them. At first, I kept the unplanted bulbs in the bags in the garage where it got cold and FORGOT ABOUT THEM. They were kept dry but they were subjected to freezing temperatures. Then in the spring, fearing the heat of summer and still UN-Able to find the time to plant, I moved them into the basement where it is cool and dark. I don't see any mold or any thing on the bulbs; they were kept together with one another in brown paper bags. A few of them have some growth coming off of them, but it's small. Is there still hope for these bulbs to produce in a year or two if I plant them now???

Any special tips for planting given my unique situation??

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

Donna
14 years ago
If there's growth coming out of the bulbs, they're still alive (miraculously :). Plant them, but don't expect many, if any, blooms this first year. Any of the others that are firm, and not dried out, hollow, or molded have a good chance of being alive too. I cannot help you with your moving project. We use tulips as annuals in the south.
iris_gal
14 years ago
Those old reblooming tulips are a treasure. I planted a double lavender 3 or 4 years ago and left it in place. Some bloom the 2nd year, none 3rd, and last year gorgeous again. Those splitters grew to blooming size!
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Coltranem, if the garlic stores well, and is healthy except for its size, that does eliminate some of the more destructive garlic diseases mentioned above. I take it that the bulbs were larger in past years? If so, the problem may be (a) nutrient depletion, or (b) environmental conditions. You can test for (a) by adding a balanced fertilizer to the bed prior to planting, or by getting the soil tested (the Extension may offer testing at low cost). Since you make your own compost, you might consider fortifying it with manure, to increase its nutrient content. Growing a particular crop in the same place year after year can deplete some of the micro nutrients (minerals other than N-P-K), which is another reason that rotating location is recommended. (b) sometimes just comes down to weather. Garlic which is otherwise healthy will be small if it is stressed by conditions not to its liking. Waterlogged soil in Spring (due to excess rain and/or poor drainage) will cause stunting, as will drought. Wet conditions stunted most of my garlic last year; I moved the garlic to a better-drained location because of that, and had much larger (but not yet full sized) bulbs this year. My thoughts keep coming back to excess soil moisture, especially because I had problems with using leaves in the past. The leaves matted, and the soil beneath them dried out so slowly in Spring that it was virtually mud. The garlic looked unhealthy, so I ended up pulling that mulch off to allow the soil to dry. You might want to try a more breathable mulch instead, such as straw or hay... and even that might need to be pulled back if rainfall is excessive. Ekgrows, sorry to hear about your garlic. I know how that feels... I & many others in the Upper Midwest lost all of our garlic several years ago to Aster Yellows (there is a great thread about that on the Allium Forum). What looked like a good harvest rotted during curing. :-( Fortunately, the conditions which brought about that infection are unlikely to recur. I hope you have better luck with new stock.
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vetivert8
14 years ago
Those 'cold and hot bulbs' - if you have a utility bed somewhere, you know - a vegie plot that you won't need until later in the growing season (the one you normally set aside for growing the winter greens would be excellent) - plant out into there.

Go through your overlooked bulbs and check for any that have gone 'corky'. I know you said you've missed the mould but sometimes they can dry out quite badly. Plant those separately. After a similar situation earlier this year I'm not that ready to write off the little and shrivelled.

Plant out in straight rows and label them - big, all-weather labels. Plant as deeply as you usually would. Keep your green thumbs crossed. Some might fail. Some might manage a leaf. Some will shock and surprise you with flowers.

I was late planting this year (May-June) and the bulbs weren't 'new from the packet'. Little pips - like your cloves, and some shrunken specimens I had few if any hopes of seeing do anything. No fridging whatsoever.

Most of the early Doubles showed up and flowered. Those that didn't flower have healthy leaves. The greigii did brilliantly. A totally 'oh well.Give it a go' black parrot bulb about the size of the top of my thumb - flowered graciously. Menton, poor shrunken blobs - are currently in flower, tall, strong and bouncing back from the spring winds. Others that I put in to 'plump up and grow on' - are budding.

The only ones that seem to grump for me are the Darwins. They mutter for two years or more before they relent and flower.

For the big project, I'd pick the 'best' bulbs to plant out - and put the others into the cutting garden. Might as well have some for eye candy and plenty for the vases ;-).
pondbucket
Original Author
14 years ago
Excellent, I'm planting them out right now! I'm not putting anything to waste.
What I'm unsure about I'll put off to the side in a bed and use it for cut flowers. Why not?

Old Bulbs & Smaller Bulbs

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Donna

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