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How to Plant Chilled Bulbs
About Forced Bulbs
There are secrets to how florists force bulbs to grow flowers just in time for events and holidays and how they plant bulbs that bloom whenever they want them. Fortunately, anyone can do it.
Forcing is a way of tricking bulbs to grow in ways that are much like they normally do, but at a different time than they would naturally bloom [for more details, see: Forcing Bulbs].
Planting Forced Bulbs
Now, you’ll learn to plant bulbs that have been chilled—held for certain lengths of time at a cool temperature—over water and in soil.
After-planting care is the last step in the forcing process. Chilling, planting, and post-planting care make sure every one of your plantings will bloom when you want—just like they do for florists [see: Caring for Forced Bulbs].
Step-by-Step Instructions
There are three common methods used to plant chilled and forced bulbs:
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- Forcing bulbs over water,
- Forcing bulbs in soil, and
- Forcing tropical bulbs.
Gather your chilled bulbs, either purchased from a grower or ones you’ve chilled yourself [see: Forcing Bulbs]. Examine the three planting methods. Assemble the materials shown, and follow the easy steps for each planting technique:
Forced Bulbs Above Water
How to Plant Bulbs Forced Over Water
In a clean, medium-height glass vase or other container, place a bed of polished stones or glass beads at least as deep as the bulbs are tall.
Orient each bulb with its flat side to the pot, pointed end up, and basal plate down. Position each bulb in turn, pressing it into the stone or glass-bead bed. Nestling bulbs into the stones helps hold them upright. Continue until all the bulbs are packed tightly, supporting each other.
Pack all spaces between the packed bulbs and their neighbors with more stones or glass beads. At least two-thirds of each bulb should be below the top of the stones to help support them when they sprout and their stems emerge.
Fill the container with water to a level just below the base of the bulbs, avoiding the bulbs coming in contact with the water. Chill them for the length of time recommended for the species [see Forcing Bulbs].
Forced Bulbs in Soil
How to Plant Forced Bulbs in Soil
Cover the container or pot’s drain hole with porous landscape fabric, rocks, or pieces of broken pottery to prevent it from filling with soil and clogging. Fill your container with potting soil at least 3 in. (75 mm) deep. Use your palms to compact it.
With the soil level at the correct planting depth for the bulb species, tightly pack bulbs into the container. Orient each bulb’s top upward and its basal plate to the bottom. Press each bulb into the soil to set it firmly in place. Fill around the bulbs with potting soil, then cover them to their final depth. Firm the soil with the palms of your hands.
Saturate the planting with water, then allow it to drain. If the bulbs were treated for forcing, maintain them at the recommended temperature and length of time for the species [see: Forcing Bulbs]. Following any treatment, keep the soil damp until sprouts emerge and care for the container until it is ready for display indoors.
Forced Tropical Bulbs
How to Plant Forced Tropicals and Evergreens
Shield the pot’s drain hole to protect debris or roots from entering and clogging it by covering the bottom of the container with a layer of pea gravel, 1 in. (25 mm) deep.
Fill the container with potting soil until it is 4 in. (10 cm) deep. Tamp it firm with your fingers to eliminate any air pockets.
Set a large florist’s amaryllis or other tropical or evergreen bulb into the soil at the center of the pot. Backfill around the bulb with soil up to its shoulder. The soil should reach approximately to the rim of the pot.
Using your fingertips, tamp the soil snugly around the bulb. Tamping should lower the soil’s height about 1 in. (25 mm) below the pot’s rim. Add soil and repeat tamping if needed.
Saturate the soil with water. Allow it to drain thoroughly. For the florist’s amaryllis shown, set the pot in a shady spot. Hold its temperature at 65–70°F (18–21°C), watering regularly to keep the soil barely moist. The bulb will sprout. Place it in strong, indirect light to grow and bloom.
Forcing Hyacinths
Enjoy the fragrance of attractive and colorful hyacinths all winter long.
If you buy individual hyacinth bulbs, select large bulbs that are heavy for their size.
Seat the bulb in a hyacinth glass, pointed end up. Note the position of the base of the bulb, remove it, and fill the glass with water to a point just below the bulb’s base, then set the bulb back in the glass.
In addition to single bulbs, many garden and other retailers offer hyacinths during autumn. All these are ready-to-plant, pre-chilled as kits, often including a hyacinth glass.
Read More
After-Planting Care of Hyacinths
Next put the glass into a dark, well-ventilated spot: a refrigerator, basement, or garage at 40–50°F (4–10°C). Avoid exposing the bulb to freezing temperatures.
Check the water level every few days, add more whenever the level falls too low.
In about 12 weeks, the bulb will fill the glass with roots and develop a shoot. Bring it indoors to a spot with indirect sunlight, 72°F (22°C). After the leaves expand, it should be moved to a warmer location until its growth accelerates.
When the foliage turns green, place it in full sunlight. Your hyacinth will bloom for 2–3 weeks.
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