Planting Fall Bulbs NOw?

hi there guys, i hope some of you more experienced bulb planters can help me. i got into bulbs in a big way this fall. bought a ton, actually several thousand, bulbs and still havent gotten them all planted! i have daffs, freesias, dutch iris, and a bunch of tulips and hyacinth (those are chilling in the fridge). i saw some more fall bulbs on clearance at my local Sears, of all places. the bulbs looked good and firm, some had some small amount of budding. i hope to get the rest of my bulbs planted in the next few weeks. there were a few varieties at sears that i would like to try, but i am worried they would not do so well now. what do you guys think? will my already bought bulbs probably be alright planted this late? thanks for your help,

tracie

I need an answer here too anybody?

I bought a box of misc. bulbs back in the fall. They have been stored (forgotten/neglected) on my back porch all winter. Just noticed they are sprouting. I was going to plant them in pots and see what happens. I have quite a few large plastic pots that I was just going to plop them into and wait. What do ya'll think will happen? Possible blooms this year but then what? After blooming can I put them in the ground after the foliage dies off.

Tracie, maybe we can both get our questions answered.

Melanie

i hope so! my grape hyacinth leaves have been sprouting for quite a while. just noticed today that a few have buds! they are really short though. i am not sure what is going on.

tracie

I've got some extras that have been languishing in my garage (first family concerns, then a bug that knocked me off my feet for a month). While it's not heated, it's insulated, and since this is MD and not WI, they probably weren't quite cold enough. I just managed to get the rest of the apples out of the garage fridge, so now the bulbs are in there, but they still aren't in pots. I don't know if I have any hope of blooms this spring or not (just got a little booklet from an "expert" that says 8 weeks of chill for little bulbs, 10 weeks for daffs & tulips, but he's talking about potted bulbs), but I'm hoping that if I get them planted at some point they'll at least send up foliage and survive until next year.

When growers sell "pre-chilled" bulbs in spring, I wonder exactly what that treatment entails? Clearly, the bulbs aren't potted up. I'd think conditions might be similar to Melanie's back porch... ? I need to do some research...

Don't worry about the grape hyacinths; they're just doing their thing. You can toss a little mulch on them before the temps dip again if you like... but I think that advice (which I've read several places) is more to make gardeners feel better than anything else... LOL

why do you think they are so short, though? i mean really short, like a few inches high. they are blooming right inside the middle of the leaves. these have been in the ground for a couple of months. i was really hoping for a big show, planted about 400 grape hyacinth and 240 species tulips mixed together. these grape hyacinth are tiny, as well as short. oh well, this is really my first year with bulbs, i am sure the show will be even better next year.

tracie

They will stretch.....don't worry.

For the show to be even better next year, make sure you fertilize them, OK???

Bleek! What's the scoop on "pre-chilled" bulbs? What do the growers do to them? Or will that take us too much OT for this thread... maybe I should Dmail you?

hey there, you! i did fertilize them with bone meal, sprinkled it in the bottom of the hole as i was planting. when you say "stretch", what exactly do you mean? is it odd that they are blooming now? i would love to know about "pre-chilled" bulbs, also. i have a bunch of tulips and hyacinth chilling in the fridge, as suggested for my area. how do those bulbs have enough time to grow and bloom since they are held in the fridge for so long? thanks so much for sharing your vast knowledge! LOL nice to hear from you. :-)

tracie

Grape hyacinths start out short, and they have little blue buds/blooms, and you think, oh, that's it. I guess they're OK. But then they get taller, and the buds open up more, and the blooms get brighter and fuller.... Oh! Now I see why everybody raves about their grape hyacinth borders! I like the way their display lasts a while, but it does start out slowly. Sometimes I'll get a few extra early buds, and then they'll just stall out & not do much until spring.

good to know! yeah, thats kinda what i thought. like, whats the big deal if this is it? i didnt realize that the bloom stalk would grow taller. thanks

tracie

Critter said: "I don't know if I have any hope of blooms this spring or not (just got a little booklet from an "expert" that says 8 weeks of chill for little bulbs, 10 weeks for daffs & tulips, but he's talking about potted bulbs), but I'm hoping that if I get them planted at some point they'll at least send up foliage and survive until next year."

Critter I think you answered my question. My back porch is enclosed but not heated. It's gets pretty darn cold out there, by NC standards that is. So my bulbs have been chilled. Into the pots they go and i will hope for the best.

Thks, Mel-

Just to be clear, the author of the booklet was talking about planting bulbs in pots and *then* chilling them for 8 to 10 weeks (minimum)... since they'd be potted up, they'd be developing roots during this time also.

Ah, very good point. Well I'll still see what happens, I'm only out about $10 bucks if nothing happens. That's real cheap compared to other things I've bought and killed. Hum, that didn't come out sounding just right.

This message was edited Feb 3, 2008 8:27 AM

I think the key here is the fall rooting time. I have read that especially tulips (and likely other spring bulbs) have to develop special roots in the autumn in order to develop properly, so a cold period with no fall rooting might lead to a disappointing performance in the spring. I would think however they'll get back on schedule the folowing year. I know some companies like Breck's sell bulbs you can plant during the springtime but they're already preplanted in soil or some other medium and then go into your garden. Aggie, I have lots of grape hyacinth leaves usually from August onwards but they normally bloom here in March.

My first spring bulb (a species crocus) opened yesterday!!

Thanks Steve, I won't get my hopes up in seeing anything other than foilage. Maybe this fall I'll have a spot picked out where I can get them in the ground.

Thanks Steve, I won't get my hopes up in seeing anything other than foliage. Maybe this fall I'll have a spot picked out where I can get them in the ground.

I didn't get all my bulbs planted in the fall in 2006. I stored them in cold/dark until Feb/March. Then I potted them up and put them outside basically trying to trick them into thinking they were breaking dormancy in the ground. They all came up and flowered. After flowering I carefully transplanted them into the ground. This spring will tell if this worked or whether I "forced" them. I did this with snow crocus, chinadoxa, and siberian squill

This message was edited Feb 8, 2008 2:05 PM

Thanks for that very encouraging post! Perhaps all is not lost with the bulbs in my garage fridge...

"They all came up and flowered."

Hooray!

"Where there's a gardener, there's a way" :) Let us know how it works out critterologist. I will post on whether mine return this year or not.

No reason they shouldn't return... "forced" bulbs generally will come back the following year as long as they have a chance to grow some foliage afterwards to replenish the bulb.

Whoooo hooo that's good to know.

Gosh, maybe I'm going to get my hopes up now. I will follow up and let everyone know if mine come up or not.