OT: Storing Bulbs, On Topic JI, SPU
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: OT: Storing Bulbs, On Topic JI, SPU
- From: "* A* M* <w*@Ra.MsState.Edu>
- Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 06:29:48 -0600 (MDT)
On Fri, 25 Jul 1997, Amy Rupp wrote:
>
> And we *have* to put bulbs in the fridge (like tulips); to get the
> artificial cooling. We are specifically told *in the fridge, the
> CRISPER* but in paper bags to allow breathing rather than plastic bags.
>
> So what gives?
> --
> Amy Moseley Rupp
> amyr@austx.tandem.com, Austin, TX, USDA zone 8b, Sunset zone 30
> *or* amyr@mpd.tandem.com
> Jill O. *Trades, Mistress O. {}
>
I was always told that bulbs (tulips) had to have forty days or
more in the fridge before planting and that one should plant on Jan 1!
The bulbs I buy usually come in the mesh bags so I store them 'as
is' in the mesh for forty days or more in the crisper of the fridge, but I
don't always plant on Jan. 1 because of the holiday!! The more chilling
they get makes for a better bloom. Occasionally, a bulb will
disintergrate but it does not rot. It just dries up.
I have chilled spurias and Japanese when they have arrived during
a period of heat, but as they are packed damp, they do well when it
finally cools off. Also give them a day or two of room temperature before
planting them outside in the sun. Make sure the packing material stays
damp while they are under refrigeration.
I have never refrigerated a bearded iris. I may try an inferior
seedling I plan to cull or something I have an excess of just to see what
happens, but I would not put a new acquisition in the fridge. I would pot
it and put it in the shade.
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS
