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A fun activity for the winter bound gardener is
to force some spring flowering
bulbs to bloom out of
season. It is fairly easy to do and you can have
bright flowers around on those cloudy, cold winter
days.
Here are some simple steps:
-
Plants to Force - You can
force
tulips (Tulipa),
daffodils (Narcissus), grape hyacinth
(Muscari),
hyacinth (Hycinthus) and many other bulbs. However, be sure
to check out a particular cultivars status as a
forcing plant. Not all bulb plants are suitable
for forcing so be sure that yours are before you
start.
-
Planting the
Bulbs - Place the bulbs in a plastic pot like
the ones you get with your landscape plants. Be
sure it has holes in the bottom for drainage.
Fill it about 50% full with potting soil and
then place several bulbs on the soil. You should
crowd in enough bulbs to cover the entire
surface area. Finally, fill the rest of the
container with the same material that you used
for the bottom. Do not add fertilizer to the pot
since it will not help the plant in this
instance.
-
Chill the Pots -
Tulips, daffodils and many other (but not all)
species of bulbs need to go through a period of
cold temperature to trigger the formation of the
flower bud and stem within. To force these bulbs
to flower, you need to keep them in a cool (35
to 45 degree) place for a minimum of 13 weeks.
This can be done in a root cellar or, for most
of us, a refrigerator (not the freezer).
-
Growing - After
the chilling requirement has been met, you
remove the pots from the cold. Place them where
they will indirect sunlight and start to water
them like a standard houseplant.
-
Flowering - It
should take about 3 or 4 weeks for the plants to
grow to mature size and flower. Keep the plants
in a cool place to lengthen the flowering
period. If they get too warm, such as in direct
south sunlight, the flowers may shatter and fall
apart.
-
After Flowering -
When the blooms all fall apart, most bulbs may
be planted out in the garden to bloom the
following year. Unfortunately this is not true
for tulips. Once they have expended all their
energy to flower, they seem to be unable to
rebuild it after being forced. So, just put the
tulip bulbs in your compost pile.
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Scheduling |
From start to flowering will take about 16 to 18
weeks so you need to back track to figure out when
to start the chilling. For example, if you desire
flowers by the end of January, you will need to
start the chilling around October 1.
It is a good idea to stagger the starting dates a
bit so that all of the bulbs don't flower at the
same time. Start chilling a few pots one week and
then a few more the next and so for a full winter of
available flowers.
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