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Tips & Techniques

I don't know how to dig up bulbs?!?!?!?!?bulb help please!

16 years ago

OK, I know how to dig them up! I don't know how to dry them out to keep and share with people! I also don't know if I should cut irises after they bloom? I have cannas, tiger lillies, and irises that I need to dig up and save. I've looked on here but haven't seen exactly what I need to know. I need to know from cutting them back or letting them die down to how to dry them out and store them. If any one could help I would really appreciate it!!!!

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Comments (4)

lucia59
16 years ago
Why do you have to dig them up?
You don't have to cut irises after they bloom. I just leave mine and they do fine. (Just my way of doing it...others have their own ways.)
I know with cannas they have to be lifted in the fall in colder climates, but the other ones are all perenials and survive just fine without lifting.
hope this helps
brighteyes
16 years ago
karri25, I am in also in zone 7. Your lillies and Iris will be just fine left in the ground. The only thing I cut down are the spent blooms and stalks, I leave the foliage.

The cannas are iffy. I do know someone who has a few overwinter but they are in a protected area next to the house. I have to lift mine (learned the hard way)

To lift the cannas I wait until fall when it starts dying back. Remove the leaves and put the tubers in a cardboard boxe and leave them in the shed. They have always done fine. My ex-MIL puts hers in 5 gallon buckets in the shed and hers do fine also. I just always worried that in the buckets they might rot.

Good luck

carey
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If your tulips are diseased you need to find out why. There are tulip disease which will persist and planting more is just throwing good money after bad. The symptom of distorted petals is typically down to poor bulb treatment the previous summer, possibly poor conditions over the winter, and occasionally insect damage. Diseases, other than tulip breaking virus, tends to affect the leaves quite badly. Lifting tulip bulbs over the summer is indeed a good thing to do if your climate and suitable are not ideal. Tulip bulbs in heavy soils can receive too much water over the summer which will cause them to be weak the following year. Or they may split excessively and never become large enough to flower. Hot humid climates seem to cause the same problems. You might want to leave some in the ground and lift others, just to see how well they do in your garden. If you are going to dig them at all then dig them now, or as soon as the leaves go yellow, and store them cool and dry over the summer. Replant them in November, or maybe October, once the soil has cooled down but before it freezes solid. You can plant annuals in the same area but it isn't ideal for the tulips. Some people deliberately overplant to hide the dying foliage. This is bad because the foliage needs maximum sunlight to recharge for next year. Beds with annuals also tend to get watered quite a lot over the summer, again not good for the tulips. These are two of the reasons why tulips often repeat poorly. If you are going to leave the bulbs in the ground and overplant, think about doing it fairly late to give the leaves as much sun as possible, and think about using plants that don't need extra water and fertiliser, like Cosmos or Iceplants.
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Describing the shape and color of the bulb will help. What are the children shaped like? Look at the bulb carefully and describe it like you were writing and essay and wanted the class to guess what you were writing about. Some bulbs have an onion like skin. Tulips have a darker skin than a daffodil so you could say It is shaped similar to a medium large onion with a greenish skin and thick opening with brown dead wide stalks or stems where leaf petals will grow. Oh, this might be amarylis would be my thought. Or a lily would be many white petals or scales on the bulbs and so forth. TOO MANY BULBS NOT TO HAVE AN IN DEPTH DESCRIPTION.
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Comments (5)
ticksmom, this is my first year having cannas survive in the ground outdoors, and I am finding the same thing as you - the sprouts are not where I expected. Since the tubers form big clumps, it would make sense that new plants would sprout from the outer edges of the clump, which is what I think I see happening outdoors. I know when I store the tubers, the outer ones seem to sprout best. As for the containerized cannas, the roots are more prone to freezing because the container is above ground and not insulated by the earth. The general guide is that a plant in a container is one to two zones less hardy than in the ground, which puts your cannas in the equivalent of a zone 6 or 5, which is iffy at best. bananananny, I'm in Westminster and I have many shoots up in the ground already - actually some have been up for a week or two. I have clay and I usually lose them to rot too, but it was a warm winter and a mild spring.
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katzswoman
16 years ago
karri,
Are you wanting to give someone some or do you want to move them or divide????More information, I'm also in zone 7 and my cannas do fine left outside.
Martha
teenagegardener_1992
15 years ago
okay,
for irisis this is what i done I planted mine in plasitic crayon containers with cut outs in them you know for the roots to go through and put dirt and everything in and around them, when you first planted your iris they will be fine you really don
t have to divided them unitl like the 2 and third year of having them what you do is put the plant up by digging up around it very carfully not to damage the bulbs pull it up divide the bulbs the ones you want oto store put in a brown paper bag and store in a dark cool place like your garage if you have one. then to plant back some bulbs take a mound of dirt in the hole and drape the roots over the mound and be sure to remove the leaves and everything do this only during the fall when they start to go dormant for winter but during the spring u can leave the leave on and cover back up with dirt but if its fall dont plant it too far down or else they will rot! i dont know what to tell you on the others

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