In last week’s column was a reminder to plant spring blooming bulbs in the garden within the next few weeks. Today’s column has some suggestions for gardeners who just can’t wait for the spring to experience the early blooms of spring bulbs. Spring blooming bulbs can be forced to bloom indoors.
Exact environmental conditions have to be met to force early blooms, but these are easy to meet indoors. The conditions are temperature, moisture and cold. The easiest bulbs to force are the ever-popular Paperwhite narcissus, crocus and hyacinth.
Start with healthy bulbs, the larger the better. Largest blooms come from the largest bulbs. Many catalogs and some nurseries sell pre-conditioned bulbs, which makes the forcing easy. Paperwhites are available now at nurseries, greenhouses, and home improvement stores and ordered from catalogs like Gardener’s Supply (gardeners.com), Easy to Grow Bulbs (easytogrowbulbs. com) or Dutch Brown Bulbs (dutchgrown.com).
To start your own, pot in a shallow container. Glass and ceramic bulbs without drainage are the usual containers filled with glass balls, pebbles, marble chips or sterile gravel; otherwise fill with a loose potting mix that is fast draining. Glass containers are fun because the root system is visible.
Place bulbs in the pot flat end down and pointy end up. Roots will emerge from the flat basal plate. Odd numbers of bulbs make the prettiest display. Place bulbs far enough apart so that sides do not touch. Add enough glass balls so that bulbs are covered halfway. Once roots are produced, bulbs will be anchored in the balls. Add only enough water to come up to the bottom of the bulbs, as bulbs that are covered with water will rot. Keep the water at the base of the bulbs the entire blooming period.
Once bulbs are positioned in the container and water is added, place the unit in a cool, dark location. The cool temperature and darkness promotes rooting. Once shoots appear, move to a bright, sunny location. It is critical that the shoots receive full sun. Bulbs that do not receive full sun, will have long, lanky flower stalks, that will flop and be unattractive.
Most bulbs require about 12 weeks of chilling at temperatures between 32° and 40°F. The signal that bulbs have had sufficient chill hours is the appearance of a healthy root system and young shoots.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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