I have daffodils from a pot that I purchased in bloom in January. I fertilized gently and allowed the foliage to mature. The bulbs are now dry. Do I keep them until them fall,or,plant them now?
This is a great way of increasing the number of spring bulbs in your garden but be aware that you may not get blooms for a couple of years. Bulbs that are forced for the December/January market use a lot of energy in order to bloom and because of the lack of indoor light at this time of year, they have to replenish before flowering again. When planting them into your garden, pick a sunnier location so that they can build up their energy reserves faster.
The above being said, below you will find the steps needed to successfully keep these forced bulbs going.
- In the pot, once flowering has finished, clip off the spent blooms.
- Grow on the leaves in a cool, sunny location keeping the soil moist, but not soggy – basically treat them as a houseplant as long as the leaves are green.
- After leaf die back, take the bulbs out of the pot, cut off the dead foliage and wipe them clean of soil with a dry cloth.
- This is the time to discard any that look damaged, rotten or very small.
- Store in a paper bag in a cool, dry, dark location until the fall when you can plant them at a depth of about 8 inches.
- OR, instead of storing them as suggested in number 5., you can plant them now, directly into your garden and keep them moist to encourage strong root formation.
These steps also work for crocus, hyacinth and tulips. Hope this is helpful.
May 1, 2021