Bulb Care (2024)

FAQs

What is the best way to care for bulbs? ›

Don't water shallowly as the bulb may be planted pretty deep and the water needs to soak the roots thoroughly. Add about one inch of water every week after the plant starts flowering if the rainfall is not adequate in your area. It is important to note that shallowly planted bulbs will rot if over-watered.

Now that your flowers are spent, you can reduce watering, allowing your bulbs to get the message that the growing season is over. When the leaves have dried up, you can lift and store your bulbs if desired, or cut off the leaves and let the bulbs stay in the ground until it's time for them to start growing again.

Water the Bulbs well following planting. This will help settle the soil in the planting bed plus provide needed moisture for the bulbs to start rooting. Fall planted bulbs must root before cold weather. Avoid over-watering at planting time since this can result in bulb rot.

What to Do With Tulips After They Bloom To Encourage Re-flowering. To encourage your tulips to bloom again next year, remove the seed heads once the blooms have faded. Allow the foliage to die back naturally then dig up the bulbs about 6 weeks after blooming. Discard any damaged or diseased ones and let them dry.

Bulbs are beautiful harbingers of spring. Most flower bulbs thrive in full sun, but what if you have a mostly shaded landscape? Don't despair -- there are flowering bulbs for partial shade, although few bulbs will thrive in heavy shade.

Soak fall-planted bulbs for 12 hours in warm water before planting. This moisturizing method works with tunicate-type bulbs (neatly enclosed round or teardrop-shaped bulbs) and is not suitable for lily or other bulbs with loose, fleshy scales.

The trick to ensuring bulbs are safe and happy all winter long is to keep them uniformly cool. So after you plant, it's valuable to put mulch on top of the soil. Not only does mulch keep the bulbs uniformly cool, but it also inhibits weed seeds by cutting off the light that encourages germination.

Watering Daffodil Bulbs

Water well when you plant the bulbs in fall as this will stimulate the roots to begin their growth. Keep the soil moist over the winter and continue throughout the blooming period as necessary. Stop watering about 3 weeks after the blooms have passed and allow the foliage and stems to die back.

While you do not need to dig and divide your tulips every year; they should be dug up at least 3-4 years if planted in the ground. If you are not digging them up yearly, make sure they are not in an area of the yard where they will be watered all summer. Too much water over the summer will rot/kill your bulbs.

Do Tulips Multiply? It depends. Some types are more likely than others to come back and spread, such as species tulips or Darwin hybrids, but it's never foolproof.

How long do bulbs last unplanted? ›

Most bulbs can be stored for up to a year, but tend to perform best when planted within six months of lifting. For tender bulbs, be sure to plant in the spring following the fall in which they were lifted-they will likely not have enough energy to survive past the warm season and into the following year.

To prevent bulbs from getting too hot, make sure to keep them away from the furnace, out of bright sunlight, not on top of the refrigerator or any other place that can get hot in your home. Ideal storage places in the home include a basem*nt, closet or utility room that stays cool but above freezing.

When the flowers begin fading, trim the flowers off the plant but let the leaves be. The leaves are crucial for providing energy to the plant and its bulb, so continue to water the plant as long as the leaves remain green. After the plant has faded and turned brown, immediately stop watering the plant.