Re: Bulb abuse
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Bulb abuse
- From: B*@aol.com
- Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 08:04:49 EDT
In a message dated 7/21/98 4:29:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time, mtalt@clark.net
writes:
<< When I dig up bulbs in summer, I just replant them immediately. Actually,
I do this whenever I've dug them - after bloom, with or without foliage,
dormant - whenever. I've never understood why one is supposed to store
them and then plant in fall. Anybody know? I get bloom the following
spring from re-planting in summer. The only time I don't get bloom is when
I've dug daffs while they still had foliage, and that's not all the time -
sometimes they even bloom the following year after that. Of course, there
are some bulbs, like Galanthus, who seem to prefer being dug in the green.
>>
Marge, I certainly agree with this treatment. Since bulbs in nature stay
underground all the time, that seems the best place to keep them and when I
dig a clump to divide I do replant immediately those that I am keeping. I
think there are two major reasons one would want to store them after digging:
(1) the place you want to replant them is not ready yet and (2) you're going
to give them away or put them in a plant or bulb sale or exchange. I have
several thousand daffodil bulbs at the moment that I am storing for our local
daffodil society's fall sales around town. I have washed each clean with a
hard spray from the hose and then soaked them in a benomyl solution for about
an hour to inhibit rot. A little dash of formalin in the water for any
critters in the bulbs. This is not quite how the professional growers do it
as they have equipment for also giving a hot water treatment to be sure the
nematodes (the harmful ones can devour a bulb in a season and then go on to
the neighboring one) are dead. But I don't have the equipment for that.
After the soak I dry them in a single layer on a screen in the barn where they
get some air circulation and protection from the sun (hot sun will cook the
blossom bud inside the bulb).
If someone will remind me I'll report in the fall on how well this treatment
worked.
Bill Lee
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
