Bulb Care and Storage
Bulbs Need the Right Stuff
Proper storage of bulbs means cleaning and curing them, careful packing, plus having the right conditions for light, temperature, and moisture.
After bulbs are lifted from the garden, those with tunics should be cleaned and cured in a shady, warm, dry location with good air circulation [see: Bulb Basics].
Curing and Hardening Bulbs
Most tunicate bulbs need a temperature range of 70–75°F (21–24°C) with low humidity and darkness.
In 3–4 weeks, any remaining foliage will shrivel. It should be detached and discarded. This curing process helps harden the bulbs and prevents any lingering fungus spores from reproducing.
Hardy Bulb Storage
Once hardy bulb varieties have cured, cut away any foliage, divide, and place them into cloth or net sacks. Hang the sacks in a dry, dark location.
Keep your stored bulbs at a temperature range of 45–50°F (7–10°C) and humidity of 25 percent or less. An unheated garage is one good spot.
Take the sacks down and run your hand through the bulbs every few weeks to rotate them and keep air flowing around them. Check for any that have softened or developed fungus or mold, removing any diseased bulbs.
Storing Tender Bulbs
Bulbs without protective tunicates, corms, and tubers dry out easily. So do some summer-flowering and tropical bulbs.
Dust those bulbs of clinging soil and set them in a bed of slightly moist peat moss, sphagnum moss, or sawdust. Once they are bedded, completely cover the bulbs with additional moss or sawdust.
Store them at a temperature of about 40°F (4°C), occasionally mixing and moistening the sawdust to keep them healthy and avoid dehydration.
Removal from Storage
Beginning about two months before you will plant, chill the bulbs in a cold, humid space. Many put the bulbs into a loose brown-paper sack with plenty of air holes, then store them in a refrigerator’s vegetable keeper.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Store bulbs while they are dormant until planting time. There are two steps: curing and the storage itself.
Curing completes the process of lifting and ensures that the bulb enters dormancy [see: How to Lift and Cure Bulbs in Dividing Bulbs and Roots].
Storage conditions depend on the specific bulb type: either in an airy, dry location, or packed in slightly moist peat. Check the required storage conditions for each species of bulb [see: Bulbs].
Gather a tarp or burlap sack; soft brush; nylon-net sacks; moist peat, sphagnum moss, or sawdust; and a porous storage container, then follow these easy steps:
How to Cure and Store Bulbs
Cure the lifted bulbs on a tarp or burlap in a dry, protected, well-ventilated, shady location with moderately warm temperatures for at least 5 but no more than 14 days.
After curing, strip off withered foliage and roots, and brush away any clinging soil. Loosely pack bulbs with onionskin-like tunics in a net bag or an open basket of dry peat.
Loosely pack dahlia, flag iris, and other easily dehydrated bulbs in a porous container partially filled with barely moistened peat. Cover them with more moist peat.
Store the packed bulbs under conditions of light, humidity, and temperature recommended for each species.