Bulbs To Force For Christmas

To begin the forcing process soak your hippeastrum bulbs in water for a few hours before planting.

Bulbs to force for christmas.

This is commonly done to hyacinths. This means they re easy to force into flower simply by exposing the dormant bulbs to water. This will help to re hydrate them more quickly thereby kick starting the growing process. Method 1 place the potted bulbs in a black polythene bag and stand them in a cellar or dark corner of a shed or garage check regularly and water if there are signs that the growing medium is drying out or that the vase needs topping up bowls or pots without drainage holes should be tipped on their.

Forcing hippeastrum is best done towards the end of september if you want to be sure of flowers in time for christmas day. All that the bulbs grown inside need is protection against the worst of the wet and cold. Fill a pot with compost and sit the bulb on top. Amaryllis which can be purchased as bulbs in the fall or as blooming plants in december has become a popular year end gift.

Dormant bulbs can be purchased from local nurseries and flower shops as well as from online bulb purveyors such as brent and becky s bulbs and white flower farm. If you can get hold of ordinary garden hyacinths early enough in autumn you can prepare them yourself. With many bulbs ordinary garden varieties are fine. Amaryllis like being pot bound.

Around christmas most stores sell only white and red that s all i ve ever found. Start withholding fertilizer in august. Your foray into paperwhite growing can start one of three ways. This is true for crocus bulbs fritillaries anemones tulips and narcissi bulbs.

Plant a succession every two weeks from the beginning of september until mid october to provide fragrant blooms from christmas onwards. Allow 1 3 of the bulb to be above the soil. Prepared bulbs have been pre chilled to force them to flower at christmas or early in the new year. Cultivate christmas cheer with our bulb forcing guide.

Hyacinthbulbs can brighten up the darkest days of winter and are very easy to grow. When choosing a pot to plant your amaryllis bulb in choose a pot less than twice the diameter of the bulb. How to force amaryllis bulbs for christmas. Then when you bring your plants indoors in september or october place the pot in a cool spot with indirect sunlight.

Soak the amaryllis bulbs for a few hours to help rehydrate the roots and speed up the growth process. You can order other colors online. Prized for its willingness to produce large lily like trumpet blooms which generally last indoors for several weeks amaryllis is a fabulous choice for holiday centerpieces. Prepared hyacinths need to be kept below 9 c for six weeks while unprepared bulbs need 10 weeks.