Dormant bulbs

Adam Fikso adam14113@ameritech.net
Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:54:07 PDT
Rimmer de Vries's comments touched me as bringing up a topic we've not 
touched on since I've been on this list, i.e., putting a bulb into the sun 
for days to restore it.  I've done this over and over with all manner of 
bulbs-- believing that some sort of response must have been enabled  in over 
a few million years ro allow bulbs to survive after avalanches, being 
uprooted from other causes, i.e., predation by really big vegetable eaters, 
earthquakes, rivers shifting their beds,  etc.  I've found it useful when 
other things fail; regard it as somewhatg prophylactic for situations where 
moving out of season coulld risk rot,etc.

Re the daffodils he mentions, I'd let them sit for days--even up to 10 days 
to assure their continued growth and recovery in the fall-winter regrowth 
cycle--laying down roots and beginning to set forth on a Hymenocallis 
caroliniana that I left in a bag out too long so that a chipmunk decided it 
might be worth eating. I am now cooking in the sun for 4 hrs. day for about 
2 weeks.  I may lose most of this year's growth, but. I'll plant it in about 
a week and see


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "r de vries" <oldtulips@yahoo.com>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Dormant bulbs


Jane:

The Daffodil growers dig bulbs 6 weeks after blooming and immediately put 
them in mesh bags and let sit in the sun for a few hrs. then store in cool 
well ventilated area. It seems that if you try to replant them and water in 
they will rot, as narcissus do not grow new roots until the cool soil of the 
fall.

I suspect you are growing miniature narcissus , i dug my miniature narcissus 
when the foliage was yellow to gone and re planted them in barely damp mix 
in my frame under glass or a sheet of plywood with ventilation under it. , 
but i do not think you need to wait that long, just let them dry out a 
little- few hours in well ventilated area

I know there are some daffodil enthusiasts in this list, Bill Lee? please 
chime in

Rimmer de Vries
SE Michigan



--- On Sat, 6/26/10, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> wrote:

From: Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [pbs] Dormant bulbs
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Saturday, June 26, 2010, 1:01 PM

I agree with Arnold's intuition and Lauw's professional opinion that any 
bulb should be put back into soil as soon as it's feasible. When I was 
selling surplus bulbs from my collection, I kept those without permanent 
roots in paper bags for a few weeks, but I kept them in a cool, dim room (my 
dining room -- no dinner parties in August!). Those without tunics and those 
with permanent roots I put in very slightly moistened vermiculite in plastic 
sandwich bags inside the paper bags, and also shipped them in vermiculite.

I have a related question now that I hope one of our professional growers 
can answer. I need to lift a lot of narcissus and colchicum bulbs to move 
them to my new garden. Our region has just experienced the wettest late 
spring ever recorded, and the soil is much damper than it would normally be 
at this time of year. My instinct tells me that I should leave these bulbs 
undisturbed until the soil dries out, even if their foliage has withered. Is 
this right, or can I lift and replant them even if there is still some 
moisture in the soil? The soil here is well drained gritty loam, but not 
sand. And should I spread out the colchicum corms in a dry place after I 
lift them, or can I just put them in paper bags for 4 to 6 weeks?

I'm also lifting some erythroniums and trilliums soon, but I'm going to pot 
them up immediately. My potted bulbs in the frames (which are presently 
being dismantled, no doubt to the detriment of some of the bulbs that got 
more rain than they would want) should be able to stay in their pots until 
the deep beds in the new bulb house are ready to receive them in August.

At least the awful weather (it was also very cold) seems to have delayed the 
emergence of the bulb fly so long that the narcissus foliage that would 
usually attract it is completely withered and removed. I had also protected 
the sternbergias and galanthus with Reemay (under glass) and with a 
topdressing of gravel or bark, respectively (in the open).

Thanks,
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA







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