Bulbs in pots

Hello, I am a new member. I purchased many pots of narcissus, in active growth and flowering, at a bulb sale of bulbs used in a bulb show in March. The foliage has now dried up and the bulbs are still in the pots. I would like to leave them there and plant them in the fall. Should I keep them dry or moist? Any other advice?
Thank you!

7 comments for “Bulbs in pots

  1. Hello Tracey,
     
    You should keep the bulbs in pots until the foliage dies down. It is normal, immediately after flowering, to place the pots in the coolest, shadiest part of your property. Let the pots dry off naturally and keep them dry. Any moisture or heat and the bulbs will rot. I would tip the bulbs out of their pots as soon as the foliage dies and store the bulbs in mesh bags until it is time to replant them. It may take a couple of years for them to start flowering again as the bulb loses a lot of vigour when grown in pots.
    Hope this helps.
     
    David Adams
    Christchurch.
  2. Hi David. I am fairly new to Daffodils also but I am surprised by what you say about moving pots into shade.
    In your reply to Tracey you say to move the pots to a shaded area after flowering,are you saying that the effect of the “sun on the leaves process ” through out the after flowering period has no effect on bulb production and quality.Up to the time of cutting the blooms for showing my pots are always in the shade.after that I have been moving the pots to a sunny position believing this would benefit bulb production.Am I wasting my time?
    Best Regards
    Ivor Clark


  3. Ivor:
    We grow in pots almost exclusively.  We leave the pots in full sun during the post-bloom period until after the foliage has yellowed and dried. We taper off watering as the foliage begins to yellow. When it is quite dry we clean off the dry leaves and move the pots into the shade to help keep the soil temperature down during our hot summer months.  The pots are black plastic.  Shading them during the dry season keeps the soil temperatures at least 10 degrees cooler in the summer afternoons.  So no, I don’t believe you are wasting your time to have a sunny period for rebuilding the bulb, but if your climate has high summer temperatures, you may benefit from shading during dormancy.  The few pots that receive part-day shade during the post-bloom period seem to grow less vigorously than the ones in full sun.
    Melissa

  4. Hello Ivor,
    I guess you may be correct in that leaving the bulbs in full sun gives better vigour to the bulbs for next season. Whilst writing this Melissa has posted one answer to your question. Growers in the UK who grow so many bulbs in pots would surely answer your question better than me.
    My original thesis is based on the risk of basal rot to bulbs that are drying off. Maybe the less intense sun in the Northern Hemisphere allows greater time in the sun. Here, where our sun is very intense just after flowering, I think it would be unwise to expose the pots to this heat whilst there is still moisture in them. It may depend on the climate in your locality.
    Dave
  5. Thanks Melissa and David for your response.
    To David I didn’t consider the extreme heat you get down under making it difficult to cool the pots.
    To Melissa thank you for your reply, and making a few helpful points. My average summer temp here in Central Southern England is around 70f sometimes it goes up to 80f but more often than not is under 70f. I do give the pots a good soaking about every 4 or 5 days during dry spells with a low strength high potash injection I do this until the foliage starts dying back. I will now continue with this procedure.
    Many Thanks

  6. Hi Ivor
     
    They were my old cold frames which were built in a bank as my garden slopes, They are blocks high which is the retaining wall and 2 blocks high at the front. They sit in full sun as these were orginialy used for growing on my exhibition chrysanthmums from February to mid May. They were then used to grow my one up sprays during the summer months. There is 6″ of well weathered clinker ( about 40 years old) in the bottom covered with an 1″ of washed sand and the a finale layer of Phormisol ground cover. The one used by garden centres to stand their plants on.
    In the autumn the pots are put into the frames directly onto the Phormisol pot thick and then covered with a peat Pearlite mix, it is pushed between the pots and then a 4 -5″ layer over all the tops of the pots. In the spring once the pots have been taken out of the plunge the peat is raked level and trod to firm it up. I use the frames to stand some of the pots on to slow the growth down if the daffodils look like they are coming a little early and I finish one or two of then off in them as well. I have a scaffold cover over the frames which I put PVC roof sheeting on to keep the weather off the blooms, This is where most of Terrys Div 5-9 are grown in pots once the shows are over the covers are taken off and they stay off to the following April. Because the pots stand on moist peat which is below ground level they are kept cool the leaves are in above the frame front face and are in the sun all day. Therefore I get maximum growth while my bulbs think they are in the ground.
     
    Roger

  7. Thanks very much Roger
    I didn’t realise the importance of keeping the pots cool during the period after flowering until all the foliage has died down. I see you say your plunge beds are in full sun,Therefore this winter I will build some sort of retaining wall to surround and cover the pots with compost to help keep the pots cool.
    Once again many thanks for being so free with your cultural information I am sure it is much appreciated by all.
    Regards
    Ivor

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