Bulbs in Pots?

I am still somewhat new to DG and posted this message in two other forums before I found this one. I think I should have posted it here to start with.

I ran into a bulb sale on mixed asiatic lilies, tulips, bearded iris, crocus, ect. and bought a bunch of them. I plan to put them into pots and try to sell them at our small roadside market next spring. My question is, what size pots to use, how many to put in each pot, how deep do I plant them, ect.? We have a thousand or more bulbs of all different kinds.

I retired two years ago and this is a hobby for me and my wife (Thi Chi). We have grown and sold tomato and pepper plants to friends and neighbors for years but this is our first real try at flowers.

Thanks for any help you can give
George

Just went to the G/H and counted the bulbs that we have:
Crocus 890
Dutch Iris 250
Asiatic Lilies 240
Tulips 170
Bearded Iris 100
Siberian Squill 100
Striped Squill 75
Chionodoxa Luciliae 75
Anemone Blando 20
Hyacinths Orientals 3
For a total of 1,923 bulbs to plant, more that I though we had.

Please help with any info that you can.
Thanks
George

You have to work it backwards........What would your sell price be? Then figure out what you can afford to put in it. This then also will determine the size pot, since 3 Chinodoxa will look funny in a 6 inch pot.

Good luck.

Bleek, we have about 300 4" pots, 200 7" pots (all new), about 1000 1 gal. pots, a few hundred of 2 gal. and up pots (all used). The pots that I have cost us about 5 cent each, we will have to buy potting soil (about $8.50 for 3cu. ft.), and here is our cost for the bulbs:

Bulbs------------------Number--Total------Cost
Type-------------------Bulbs-----Cost------Each
--------------------------1923---$101.85----0.053

Crocus----------------890-------$19.95---0.022
Dutch Iris-------------250------- --$5.25---0.021
Asiatic Lilies--------240------- $25.20---0.105
Tulips------------------170-------$10.85---0.064
Bearded Iris---------100-------$26.25---0.263
Siberian Squill------100-------$4.40-----0.044
Striped Squill---------75--------$4.25----0.057
Chionodoxa-----------75--------$4.25----0.057
Anemone Blando----20--------$1.10----0.055
Hyacinths Orientals---3--------$0.35----0.117

I was hoping to get $1 to $1.50 on the 4" pots, and $3 to $4 on the 7" and up pots. So, what pots should I use for what, and how many in each pot?

Thanks for any ideas anyone can give.
George

Getting spring blooming bulbs to grow and bloom in pots is not an easy task. You will need to store the bulbs at around 40'f. Once potted they will begin to grow quickly and can get spindly and fall over. They need to be grown under controlled conditions consistenting of cool temperatures (45' - 50' f.) and little water for several weeks. You want to get some good roots established first before the plant pushes a lot of green foilage. If I was you I would do more research on how to properly force bulbs in pots. I would hate to see you spend a lot of time and money and not have any quality plants to sell in the spring.

I just received the White Flower Farm holiday catalog with a large selection of mixed bulbs in pots and baskets. While they are quite pricey from WFF, the pictures might give you an idea of interesting bulb mixes to try--(and you might be able to command a better price in your market for interesting bulb flower combinations...)

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/forced-bulb-gifts.html

I think the WFF baskets/pots are very attractive and so I have tried to plant a few different mixed bulb varieties in pots for both indoors and out. This is the basic method (from WFF) I used

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/forcinghardybulbs.html

Right now I have the bulb pots covered in clear plastic sitting outside getting at least their '40' days of chilling. Later some I will bring into a sunny window for early bloom. Others I will leave outside in a protected area for a normal spring bloom....I don't know if it will work...but if I can get them plenty of sun and keep them from rotting they will be OK I hope....

I know your idea is about a very large scale growing set up, but I thought the WFF pictures of do-able combinations might be of interest to you. Good luck. t.

Tabasco, thanks for the links, I did get some ideas from the links. We found some more bulbs on sale at the local Wal-Mart and ended up with 3,155 which we put from 1 to 50 in 759 containers ranging from 4" pots to 1/2 bushel baskets. Finished potting saturday 12/11/2004, we put the containers outside for chilling on the NE side of the house which is shaded most of the day. All total we have about $300 tied up in them, bulbs, pots, and potting soil, so if it does not work we will not lose a lot. Here is a pic of what we have.

Have A Great Day
George

Wow, it looks like quite a production. I can't wait to see your pics when they start to bloom...You must keep us posted on how the project goes!

So, does SC get cold enough for the bulbs to have their dormant period or is that not a factor? My bulbs are outside in plastic (covered to keep the excess rain out) pots and, of course, it's 17 degrees out and I'm afraid they are too cold! Well, as one of the websites I looked at said, 'with potting bulbs the home grower just has to experiment'. Mmmm....

Oh, and I thought of you when I was reading these two articles from The Bulb Lady (although it could be Too Much Infoirmation).

http://www.dutchbulbs.com/bulblady/april2001/weddingbulbs.htm

http://www.dutchbulbs.com/bulblady/nov98/containers.html

about timing forced bulbs, especially how to get simultaneous bloom timing with mixed bulbs in one container and also her 'secret' in the second article which may work for your project...

Also got hooked on the Sales and bought 12 amaryllis bulbs (from Brent and Becky's) to pot. So I'd better get to it! Have a great day. t.

George - I would definitely get individual pot markers in each of those pots right away. You'll be amazed at what squirrels and even birds will do with your markers and you sure don't want you large single ones to get moved or lost. Would LOVE to see pics of those blooming.

Geo,

I would say your best bet would be with the Asiatic lilies, IF you ensure you have good drainage and that the soil doesn't get waterbound. My experience with those in pots has been good. Hyacinths do well in pots also, though if you get too many warm days in winter, shoots may emerge early, especially if the pots are not deep enough so that the bulbs can be submerged several inches. The points "normal" made were very accurate, and most of the bulbs you mentioned require a cold period that pots can't always give whem, especially if subjected to constant temperature changes that we have in the south (they'd be fine in the ground in your area, I'm sure). Especially tulips are not known to be strong container plants without refrigeration, and sale bulbs like the ones in your picture are usually small and not very strong. But since you're not concerned with taking a loss, try this as an experiment and let us know what happens!

Hi, Geo--so, how are all those bulb pots doing? Shouldn't you be having some green showing by now?

Mine are still fairly dormant and it's cold here now, but I imagine your weather is pretty warmish, no?

Please post some pics! ;-) t.