Question from Bulb growers

[Farhan Ahmed]

So you are suggesting almost one year is okay...i think same holds good for freesia and rununculus.

[rafique]

In my views some desiccant in cardboard would play a significant positive effect on bulbs life. Farhan sb these are my views not the conclusions. i am sharing only for reference, so that we could be able to find some better storage methods for bulbs.
i think same is true for rununculus . dont have any experience of freesia.

[Farhan Ahmed]

Just sharing my experience of freesias. I got bulbs in Nov, 2012 from a nursery where they were stored with the dry foliage in a empty clay pot in full sun.....all of them sprouted and flowered even after such an abusive storage.

for rununculus i stored last year bulbs in a polythene bag at a dry/shaded place. Half of them sprouted.

For Dahlia i haven't attempted storage but whenever i removed the foliage and replanted/relocated them they sprouted again.

[Tahir Khan]

Just sharing my experience of freesias. I got bulbs in Nov, 2012 from a nursery where they were stored with the dry foliage in a empty clay pot in full sun.....all of them sprouted and flowered even after such an abusive storage.

for rununculus i stored last year bulbs in a polythene bag at a dry/shaded place. Half of them sprouted.

For Dahlia i haven't attempted storage but whenever i removed the foliage and replanted/relocated them they sprouted again.

All types of bulbs should be stored in paper bags or cardboard boxes or else they might rot, dust the bulbs, corms, tubers with fungicide power or lime powder (choona) and place them in a cool dry location they will be fine.

Freesias are the toughest bulbs in my experience even if you put them in a heated warm location they don't give up on the other hand anemones and ranunculus are very sensitive to mold and heat.

[KBW]

My additional question: What is wrong if we let the bulb sit in the soil if it has flowered? That's what Mother Nature must be doing for eons!

This is a very important question and should have been the start of discussion. Study of the natural habitats of bulbous plants will sure give us a better insight for understanding their dos and don'ts. BTW, a large number of bulbous plants that we see today have their grand parents still growing in the mountains of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Iran and CARs.

But term "bulb" is a general term. I think we will have better understanding of the care, plantation and storage of various bulbous plants if we discuss them as true bulbs, corms, rhizomes, tubers, fibrous rooted etc because all of them have slightly different handling procedures.

regards

[Farhan Ahmed]

. But term "bulb" is a general term. I think we will have better understanding of the care, plantation and storage of various bulbous plants if we discuss them as true bulbs, corms, rhizomes, tubers, fibrous rooted etc because all of them have slightly different handling procedures.

That leaves us with a difficult job of studying various bulbs in their nature environment. Can't somebody make it easier by sharing his experience of saving/storing bulbs that he has tried. Would save a lot of trouble.

Secondly we can not always follow the way of nature. Of course nature would not send bulbs through air travel from UK/USA to Pakistan(that too out of season) to be grown here

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

To the best of my knowledge;
Bulbs are of two types, those having a very thin layer of tissue between the leaves, like onion, Amaryllis, Daffodils etc, these resist desiccation and can be stored without any fuss, however at its normal time they will start sprouting, to keep them dormant maintain the dormancy environment. Bulbs like lilium will dry out and die if not kept in moist environment; same is true of tubers/rhizomes. Most corms can be stored dry at room temp. Glads are stored by industry in cold storage for sowing at intervals.

The un-treated bulbs from abroad will remain dormant if dormancy conditions are maintained even if their normal cycle is missed.
Arif

[Farhan Ahmed]

Bless you sir Thankyou. I think this is the most comprehensive reply.

And the most important point which i perceive from your discussion is to mimic the dormant environment of that bulb.
Thanks also for advice on untreated bulbs for transportation.

[KBW]

. But term "bulb" is a general term. I think we will have better understanding of the care, plantation and storage of various bulbous plants if we discuss them as true bulbs, corms, rhizomes, tubers, fibrous rooted etc because all of them have slightly different handling procedures.

That leaves us with a difficult job of studying various bulbs in their nature environment. Can't somebody make it easier by sharing his experience of saving/storing bulbs that he has tried. Would save a lot of trouble.

Farhan bhai, if you would have asked for a specific bulbous plant, you might have got a short specific reply.

The purpose of my comments was not to enhance the difficulty of the members in handling the bulbous plants or to de-rail the discussion in some un-fruitful direction. It was a sincere effort, as per the best of my understanding, to tame the discussion in the right direction so that we all stand more educated on the subject. I still believe that true bulbs growing in Hamalayan Mountains or high altitude cold deserts of Central Asia or an entirely different climate of South Africa can’t be handled the same way if we want best results / regular flowering over the years. Same applies for corms, rhizomes, tubers etc as they grow in a variety of climates ranging from cold deserts to tropical bogs. In certain areas they collect most of the water / nutrients during winter / spring because there is going to be hardly any rain in summers and in another area, they are surviving in bogs where they remain in the damp soil most of the time and in yet another area they get frequent rains but have a gritty well drained soil. All of them have developed different living habits due to a different habitat hence different handling. Not understanding the habitat, IMHO, is one of the major reasons for not getting optimum from our bulbous plants or failure in getting them flower every year. I learnt these things over the past few decades after wasting lot of money / effort and just wanted to share that experience with the fellow members. I apologies if I distracted / irritated the knowledgeable members by doing so.

My comments above are just to clarify my reason that why I wanted to categorize the bulbous plants before discussing them in detail and not to press on my point of view any further .

Secondly we can not always follow the way of nature. Of course nature would not send bulbs through air travel from UK/USA to Pakistan(that too out of season) to be grown here

Of course. I understand that

Best regards

[Hamad]

KWB do you have any experience with Nerines and Lycoris, I have few of them I m waiting for fall shall I plant them now or wait for the best?

Hamad