Summer Storage Of Bulbous. Terms Of Excavation And Disembarkation. Storage Conditions. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

Among the summer duties of gardeners, one of the most important is the timely digging of bulbous plants. After the end of flowering and the ripening period of the bulbs, the main "stars" of spring - tulips and primroses with small-bulbous flowers - need digging for the summer. Not all plants are dug up annually, but it is the storage outside the soil during the hottest months that allows you to preserve the best varietal specimens in most spring-blooming "stars" and achieve the most spectacular flowering. The technology for storing bulbs in the summer has its own strict rules and terms. The process of digging and ripening outside the soil does not forgive carelessness, especially in terms of the selection of conditions.

Content:

• Why are they digging bulbs for the summer
• Dates for digging bulbous
• How to dig up bulbs in summer?
• Sorting and final cleaning of the bulbs
• How to store bulbs?
• Conditions that need to be created for dug out bulbous
• Condition check is the key to success
• Terms of storage and planting of bulbous

Why are they digging bulbs for the summer

After flowering, almost all spring stars from the bulb family leave the garden scene, even their foliage gradually disappears. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, like other early flowering bulbs, after flowering, go to the stage of bulb ripening, and then to a full dormant period. During it, all the favorite stars of spring are extremely vulnerable to excess humidity, temperature changes and other delights of an unstable summer in regions with harsh winters.

As a result of the spread of rodents on the site, which love to feast on bulbs, dampness and decay, the formation of too small children that cannot independently survive in the soil and withstand the winter, some of the plants inevitably disappear.

The only way to ensure you see your favorite bulbs next spring is to dig them out for the summer. Plants will not need it with the same frequency, but even the most unpretentious bulbous plants sooner or later need it.

Digging is also the key to luxurious flowering: the process of setting flower buds and stimulating flowering in all bulbous plants requires strict selection of conditions at the dormant stage. And in open soil, it is impossible to control temperatures and provide the required dryness.

Frequency of summer bulbs digging:

• a daffodil or muscari is dug up only if they want to propagate the plant by vegetative methods and get a high-quality harvest of flower bulbs, with signs of deterioration in flowering with a frequency from 1 time in 3 years to 1 time in 5-7 years;
• crocuses are left in one place for up to 5 years;
• tulips are dug up either annually for modern hybrids, or once every 2-3 years for old varieties;
• the same frequency is suitable for the imperial hazel grouse;
• hyacinths need an annual excavation;
• more rare white flowers, kandyk, snowdrops, pushkinia, chionodox are dug out with a frequency of 4-5 years.

Dates for digging bulbous

Aspiring gardeners often find it difficult to find the perfect time to dig up bulbs. This is actually one of the simplest steps in the bulb conservation process. About a month after flowering, the leaves of bulbous plants begin to turn yellow and gradually dry out. This process is the main signal that you can start digging bulbs with early flowering dates. There are no deadlines for digging, but it is carried out not before at least a couple of upper leaves turn yellow and always before there is no trace of the greenery.

If you allow all the leaves to wither, you may not find the location of the bulbs at all or damage them when digging up "at random". The only exceptions are daffodils, which are just waiting for the beginning of lodging of leaves, and crocuses, which can be dug out all summer even after the foliage has wilted (the places are marked in advance with pegs).

Dig up different bulbous not at the same time. Crocuses are the first to ripen, followed by tulips (from early varieties in late June to late varieties in July), followed by hyacinths and hazel grouse, then snowdrops. Muscari and daffodils are the last to be dug (sometimes in the second half of August). Summer digging begins in early June and lasts not only the whole of July, but can also continue in August for plants that are planning to immediately transfer to a new location.

The easiest way is to determine the exact digging time for tulips. These bulbs prefer to dig out at the stage of formation of a dense protective scale around the bulb, indicating the completion of the ripening process. And you need to focus on the degree of wilting of the leaves, corresponding to it - the moment when the upper leaves of tulips turn yellow. You can't wait for the foliage to dry completely. One of the signs that it is time to dig up tulips is also considered the ability to wrap the stem around two fingers - the flexibility of the shoot.

How to dig up bulbs in summer?

Digging all bulbs for the summer has its own universal rules:

1. Digging tulips and other plants is only possible in dry weather.
2. During the digging, you need to work carefully, digging out the plants with a supply of soil, trying to minimize injury to even small roots.
3. Digging is carried out with a bayonet shovel or pitchfork, prying the soil at a distance from the plants and deeper than the level of the bulbs.
4. From the soil, you need to choose not only large, but also the smallest bulbs, carefully checking whether you have left plants in the ground.
5. If the soil is too wet and sits tightly on the bulbs, do not remove the substrate immediately after digging. Immediately after removing the plant from the soil, only light, dry soil is manually removed. You cannot beat onions.
6. The final cleaning of the bulbs is carried out only after they have passed the drying stage in a darkened place in the fresh air or in a room with constant ventilation. The standard duration of the procedure is 2-3 days for tulips and crocuses, 5-7 days for hyacinths, 15-20 days for daffodils. No matter what plant we are talking about, the bulbs should not be stacked in several layers and too tightly. This placement not only increases the likelihood of the spread of rot, complicates inspection, but also creates a favorable environment for the spread of mold. For drying, it is better to scatter the bulbs in one layer, maximum two. It is most convenient to dry the bulbs in nets and baskets.
7. The digging process is completed with the final cleansing of soil residues and the separation of all baby bulbs from the mother plants. Do not rush to remove roots, peduncles, peel bulbs.

Sorting and final cleaning of the bulbs

Sorting is just as important a prerequisite for the correct preservation of the dug out bulbs in summer as is the selection of ideal conditions. In no case should unselected bulbs be sent for storage. The time that you save on the selection process will turn into big hassle during the planting season or a violation of the decorative composition of the compositions.

In order to sort the bulbous needing a summer break, you must:

• immediately select damaged, rotten, too small non-viable bulbs (do not rush to discard the smallest children, but they will need to be grown in separate groups for 3-5 years in order for them to release a flower arrow);
• sort the bulbs by size, combining bulbs of large, medium and small diameter into separate groups;
• complete sorting by sorting out the planting material by flower color or varietal characteristics.

After sorting is complete, carefully remove the dead scales, dust, peduncle and roots from each bulb by hand.

After cleaning, as a preventive measure, it is advisable to keep the bulbs for 30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide. After disinfection, they must be dried in a shaded and well-ventilated place.

How to store bulbs?

Many people consider wooden boxes to be the ideal container for storing dug up bulbs. Loose fruit crates or any containers made of slats or plywood are perfect, as are other natural, "breathable" containers, boxes and boxes, and even paper or canvas bags. Some store bulbs in hanging nets and even stockings.

Arrange the sorted and prepared bulbs in the selected containers or wooden boxes and immediately place them in the conditions necessary for the correct storage of each individual plant.

Conditions that need to be created for dug out bulbous

For summer storage of bulbs, it is enough just to choose comfortable parameters. The main thing that should not be allowed is high air humidity or extreme dryness (optimal parameters are from 45 to 60% humidity) and excessively low temperatures.

The bulbs should spend the summer in a dark place with temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius. The optimal temperature is 23-25 degrees, stable room indicators. But it is always better to clarify specific parameters for individual plants, checking the recommendations for each variety and species. So, daffodils prefer cool conditions of 17-18 degrees in the first 2 weeks and only 8-10 degrees thereafter.

At first, hyacinths like to be in hot conditions (from 25 degrees), and after 2 weeks - at a temperature of 17-18 degrees. They can also be quenched at 10-12 degrees for 2 weeks before planting. For tulips, cultivation is often recommended during storage outside the soil during July and August at a stable temperature, and then gradually lowering the temperature to 12-15 degrees Celsius.

Such a decrease in air temperature before autumn planting contributes to a more efficient and productive process of both adaptation and preparation of plants for winter. But this technique is completely optional, although it does increase the endurance of crops.

One of the most important conditions for the successful preservation of bulbs until autumn planting is good ventilation, frequent ventilation of the premises. Stagnant air is dangerous for all bulbous plants stored outside the soil in summer, as much as high humidity, leading to early germination, the spread of pests or diseases.

But you should also pay attention to other parameters of the summer vacation of your favorite bulbous plants:

1. The temperature of keeping the bulbous should be stable and controlled. Within the outlined ranges, it is better to maintain a stable environment without sudden fluctuations.
2. Bulbous plants should be stored in a shaded place, they should be protected from bright light.

Condition check is the key to success

During the entire storage period, be sure to regularly check the bulbs and their condition. It is necessary to carefully inspect each bulb, turn them over, check for damage or signs of disease, immediately rejecting damaged specimens from other plants. It is impossible to ensure storage of bulbs without constant monitoring.

Terms of storage and planting of bulbous

Tulips, hyacinths and other bulbs are stored from the moment of digging to autumn planting for more than 2 months. It is advisable not to keep daffodils outside the soil for more than three weeks, and it is better to plant snowdrops, muscari and spillage at all immediately after drying and sorting. Other small bulbous (crocuses, chionodoxa, pushkinia, white flower) can be left for 1 month or until planting in September.

Planting bulbs in autumn also corresponds to the alternation of plant development cycles and practically repeats the order of digging. Tulips begin to be planted from the end of August, crocuses from the beginning of September, hyacinths and daffodils only at the end of September.