Spring-blooming bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths can be forced with the help of your refrigerator, giving you the chance to enjoy a hint of spring in the middle of winter. You'll need clay pots small enough to fit into the vegetable crisper of your refrigerator. - Fill the pots half full of good potting soil.
- Set the bulbs in the potting mix, pointed ends up and side by side, as close together as possible.
- Cover the bulbs with potting soil to within 1" of the rim of the pot.
- Label the pots with the types of bulbs used and the date planted.
- Place the potted bulbs in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator (figure A). Don't store fruit and vegetables in the crisper at the same time: they give off ethylene gas that may damage the bulbs.
- After the appropriate period of chilling (for tulips, eight to 10 weeks; daffodils, 12 to 14 weeks; small bulbs such as crocuses, grape hyacinths and freesias, four to six weeks), bring pots indoors to a cool, sunny room, ideally at a temperature of 55 to 65 degrees. Warmer temperatures may cause the plants to have weak stems.
Even if the bulbs seem to be growing rapidly, chill them a minimum of four weeks. Well-developed roots will show through the drain hole at the bottom of the pot. Stagger removing the pots from the refrigerator so you can enjoy a longer period of bloom. Once the pots have been removed from the fridge, keep the soil moist, and give the pots a one-quarter turn every day to keep the stems straight as the plants turn toward the light. After the plants have finished blooming, you can discard and compost the spent bulbs or plant them outside, giving them a dose of fertilizer once they're in the ground. Tip: - If you'd like to plant the bulbs you forced outside instead of putting them in the compost, remove the faded flowers, cutting them off near the base. Leave the leaves on, and plant the plant in the ground outdoors. Then fertilize and water it to keep the leaves green and healthy as long as you can, stopping only once the tops begin to dry.
RESOURCES :
Instruction books and materials
The Lamp Shop
Concord, NH 03302-3606
Phone: 603-224-0005
Fax: 603-224-6677
Email: lampshop@juno.com
Website: www.lampshop.com
For bulbs from Brent and Becky's Bulbs
Brent and Becky's Bulbs
Gloucester, VA 23061
Phone: 804-693-3966
Fax: 804-693-9436
Website: http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
For bulbs from the Van Bourgondien Brothers
Van Bourgondien Brothers
Babylon, NY 11702-9004
Phone: 516-669-3500
Fax: 516-669-1228
Email: blooms@dutchbulbs.com
Website: http:www.dutchbulbs.com
For bulbs from Dutch Gardens
Dutch Gardens
Lakewood, NJ 08701
Email: info@dutchgardens.com
Website: http://www.dutchgardens.com
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