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Indoor Bulbs and Forcing
Bulbs in Your House
It’s easy to plant and grow bulbs indoors in pots with soil as foliage plants or force them to bloom out of season over water to enjoy their flowers.
One of the most delightful midwinter treats you can enjoy is filling your home with greenery, aromatic, and colorful blooming bulbs.
Forced Bulbs
Make growing bulbs an all-year hobby that provides green houseplants and adds color to your winter home by learning easy forcing techniques.
The most popular bulbs for indoor use are forced spring species: crocus, daffodil, hyacinth, iris, paperwhite, and tulip, but nearly every bulb is a candidate for becoming a houseplant.
Remember the summer bulbs, too—cyclamen and lily are two household favorites—and the evergreen and tropical species—amaryllis, tuberous begonia, and perennial ginger.
Naturally, it’s best to plant bulbs in soil so they can complete their entire life cycle by awakening out of dormancy, growing, blooming, and reproducing.
Because bulbs store nutrients necessary for growth before they enter dormancy, however, they’ll sprout, shoot, and bloom with little more than water to sustain them.
That’s the basis for forcing—making bulbs bloom out of season—a special planting technique florists use [see: Forcing Bulbs and Planting Forced Bulbs]. Bulbs also can be forced indoors, growing them in soil in containers.
Bulbs as Foliage Houseplants
Bulbs treasured for their beautiful and unusual foliage—iron-cross begonia, caladium, elephant’s ear, and Jack-in-the-pulpit are a few—make great year-round container plants, as do their topical cousins.
The technique of planting bulbs in soil in containers is even quicker and easier than forcing bulbs. The only the twist is the need to let them grow outdoors in the right weather and temperature conditions until they are ready for display indoors.
Indoor Conditions and Bulbs
Proper indoor conditions—light, temperature, and air circulation—are as important for bulbs as they are for other perennial and flowering houseplants.
Most tender bulbous plants grow naturally in regions of the world where weather conditions are mild to warm with periods of both wet weather and dry.
Spring Bulbs Indoors
Indoors in typical homes, try to closely copy these conditions as closely as possible by managing your spring bulb container bulb plantings by following these rules:
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- Store them in their containers in soil while they are semi-dormant in humid conditions in a temperature range of 40–50°F (4–10°C), depending on species.
- After planting, increase the temperature for several weeks to 65°F (18°C), so they can break dormancy and grow their roots.
- Once the bulbs’ roots have grown, move them to indirect sun in a temperature range of 68–72°F (20–22°C).
Throughout, protect bulbs planted in containers and growing indoors from overly dry air or direct air blowing from home heating and air-conditioning vents. Mist their foliage periodically with water whenever they become dry.
Tropicals and Evergreen Bulbs
Tropicals tend to bloom in repeated cycles, while tender evergreen bulbs usually have only one bloom cycle per season. The time between these active cycles are periods of semi-dormancy.
Wait until flowers fade and growth slows before dividing them. Tropicals and evergreen bulbs need such care when they become crowded and roots begin to emerge from their containers. Both are clear signs that the plants should be given larger homes.
Sunlight
Give all your indoor bulbs bright, indirect sunlight—it limits their growth of foliage and stems. A south-facing window is an ideal location.
At times when direct sunlight creates too-warm and drying conditions, move your bulbs to a spot near a light-colored wall where they will get filtered sunlight.