Bob:
Let’s bring this up on daffnet for general discussion. I never can get enough info on potting _for this climate. Most of the info comes from your part of the country, though there is a good document on the web from Minnesota.
Also, should one take any special precautions if one plants late – like now? Should one let the roots develop in a warmer area before putting them in the chill? What is the effect of freezing (and thawing) when the bulbs are in the pots?
This is the type of question to which good answers should be archived, and we’ll do that when we have the new forum here.
Here is part of an email I just sent to a local friend who also responded:
“Al:
I did buy a few and put them in pots. I have a few to pot today. The pots are on the back porch which has felt warm enough, but this morning I found that some of the tops were frozen already. I had plans to move them on the back porch near the house. Now I may have to take them to the basement in the crawl space. … How cold do your pots (under the house or in the garage, as I recall) get? The guides, mostly from other climes, all say 13-15 weeks in 35-55 degrees. then 3-4 weeks in light and sun. That would put our timing still just about right. ”
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George and Bob, There’s an article about growing daffodils in pots, and one on forcing, on the ADS homepage. The last paragraph in the article on growing in pots is important for those of us who live where winters are severe:
For those of you who live in an area where there are severe winters, (temperature drops below freezing), you will need to store your potted daffodils either in a green house or garage. When the temperature is not dropping below freezing, bring the pots out of storage, place in a location where they will receive full sun and water the pots thoroughly.
Living in Ohio, I’m one of those. :-) I’ve been growing things that send up growth in the fall in pots the last few years, with some success. A pot (3 bulbs) of ‘New Charm’ 10 W-W originally potted up in 2006 has foliage well up, and probably 5 or 6 or more buds coming on each bulb. Last year, Bill Lee received some bulbs (8 or 9 different cultivars) in December which he couldn’t plant, so I volunteered to pot them up. The attached photo is of a pot of ‘Mary Gay Lirette’ potted up in December and blooming in early April. I use a mix of Pro-Mix and granite grit for all my pots, using close to half and half of each. I don’t use fertilizer in the mix. The bulbs that stay in pots from year to year get weekly or bi-weekly watering with a 12-12-12 liquid feed. (As a side note, some of the bulbocodiums and triandrus seem to benefit from a watering that includes a fungicide occasionally.) The bulbs planted last December were to be dumped after the foliage died down and then returned to the local daffodil society for distribution. Since the flower was already in the bulb, there was no need to fertilize. The bulbs were planted in layers, so that the pot was completely full of bulbs. The pots were kept in the garage during the coldest weather, going outside when the temperature was above freezing. I wasn’t trying to force these bulbs into early growth. Forcing requires strict attention to timing of cold periods, etc. I was just growing the bulbs in pots, and bloom time wasn’t important.
Mary Lou
Would single stems cut from the blooms in these pots be eligible to be entered in shows?
They’ve had “reasonable protection”, but would that only apply to miniatures?
Loyce McKenzie
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