Bulb beginner........help!

A few weeks ago I was at the store and noticed some of the bulbs were marked down. I decided I would try my hand at it because I love flowers so much. I bought some clematis, phlox, and ranauculas bulbs. I am growing in pots and followed the instructions on the pack or what I interpreted of the instructions. I put them in miracle grow potting soil, placed them the depth specified and put them in full sun with some other plants I have growing. Is this my mistake...the sun? I also watered them...or is it this? I dug them up today only to find no growth at all on the phlox and clematis and very little on the ranauculas (which were also mushy). I am evidently doing something wrong. Can someone offer some tips or a really good book for beginners that will spell it out plain for me? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

It's possible that the plants you purchased were close to being or already dead. Marked down bulbs and plants can be a wonderful bargain but also a big gamble (I love a bargain too).

When buying bargains like this make sure that the bulbs or roots are firm and plump and that there are no powdery bits in there as that's a sign that fungus could already have set in. If there is any growth at all then it should be green (any brown leaves and avoid like the plague) and only small, anything that has been sprouted a long time could suffer shock when transplanted, gasses build up in the bags and sudden exposure to air can bring on problems. Pot them up asap whe you get home and pop them in a sheltered area with no direct sun or in a draughty place for a week or two. If it looks dead, it probably is.

Best advice though for a new gardener is to buy them when they come into the shops, more expensive I know but you have more time to get it right for them. If you only have a small budget (like most of us here) then growing from seed could be a much cheaper option or SASE for freshly dug plants that some of our kind members can help you get started.

Hi Princess,

The plants have to become acclimated to the soil and the temperatures before you can expect growth. I wouldn't be digging them up. I don't think the plants like it and when you dig them up you are destroying the tiny hair roots that plants manufacture so absorb the water and food.

Most plants are killed by overwatering. I'd stop watering right now and just be patient. When you lift a pot now you'll see it's heavy from the watering. Give it a week and lift the pot (don't dig up the plant) and when they start to feel light you can resume watering. I wouldn't feed them either at this point. Wait until they're well established and even then fertilize at half strength. Keep them in sun if that's what the directions say. Clematis must be one of the world's slowest plants to show signs of life.

Baa is right about paying more but getting first choice plants.

Try ignoring them a little while you read a good book on gardening. One day you'll walk in and see new growth. Patience! Patience!

Thanks for the tips. I had stopped watering thinking I was doing it too much. It's so hard to have patience, but I am trying! thanks.

Ranunculus are tricky to start. They like cool temperatures and rot very quickly in wet soil. After many losses I have learned to start them in soil that is barely moist and I don't water again until the soil is dry or the leaves are well up. I like the look of a large pot filled with ranunculus but I whenever I try to plant a bunch of tubers in one pot they tend to rot - too much moisture. I have had much better success starting the tubers individually in 72-plug flats and then transplanting them into a large pot or basket after they are well developed. I hope some of them come up for you. Ranunculus are so beautiful. Scheepers offers them in groups of pastels, picotees or bright colors.

H20 - I planted them outside, last fall, when my order arrived. Still no signs of them. When I went to dig up a weed in the area I did dig up one growing bulb but that was more than three weeks ago. Should I keep on hoping?

Arlene

If it's not rotten, keep waiting.

Any idea of their bloom time? After tulips? We're at the end of tulip time now on Long Island.

Ranunculus are only hardy to zone 7. I am in zone 5b so I dig mine up each fall and store them inside over the winter. I start them indoors in late winter/early spring to transplant out in May. If you have one growing from a fall planting and you are zone 6 or less, you are very lucky! At this point about all you can do is wait and see if more come up but I am not too optimistic about it. :^(

This site has information on ranunculus cultivation. Keep in mind that the information is for growing them in England, which has milder winters and springs than we do. http://www.rhs.org.uk/publications/pubs/garden0203/ranunculus.asp

Thanks for the hyperlink. I read every word of it and appreciate it. I put them in an area where I had planted baby mums in late August, believing the mums would have plenty of time to get well rooted in: obviously I was wrong. I have the remains of nine dead mums along with the one oldie that will live longer than I will. So now I have this nice, neat, free of weeds, cultivated lightly, area by a post light where two old clematis are happily growing. As soon as God shows us the sun again we'll begin planting out and the mums are going. If the rananculus comes up, good. If not I'll view them as compost and let them rot (which they probably have done already). Arlene