Bulbs in pots - keep them there or plant out?

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Hi I wonder if someone could give advice please?

I have some tulips & daffs in pots at the moment.

Do I just leave them to die off and re-flower next year - or do I need to transfer them out of the pot in order for them to come back? I'm wondering if there will be enough nutrients in the small amount of soil to support them to grow again.

Can you tell I have no clue?

Thanks in advance.

[MadSprocker]

I think they should be ok in pots. You could top up with compost if needed.

[pleasethankyouthankyouplease]

Mmmm- I think you're supposed to take them out and dry them off a bit. I think the soul in the pits needs changing or " feeding" too ? could chuck the bulbs in other parts of garden ( if you have) and then some might come up next year. I'm not exactly green fingered Gertrude so feel free to totally disregard me!!

[pleasethankyouthankyouplease]

Soul. Or soil.

[pleasethankyouthankyouplease]

Pits .or pots?

[bookbook]

mmm - they will 'cope' , but I tend to replant in the garden and get new. I've left them once a few years ago, but they looked a bit sad

[Ferguson]

Daffs are easy, and should go into a garden border. Take OFF seed heads, but leave foliage to die off naturally, until is yellow and soft, and only then cut them over.

Tulips should also be dead-headed, but 'experts' say they should be lifted, dried off, and stored, to replant in autumn. If you can't be bothered with all that, then they can also go in a garden border.

In both cases, improve the soil with manure, leaf mould etc and put on a bit of general fertilizer, to give them nutrients for next year.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Thank you everyone for the replies, you're fab. I'll de-head as suggested once dead then plant in the garden. Whereupon I'll forget what I've done and get a nice surprise next spring!

Soul pits. 😀

Thanks again.

[LBOCS2]

I left mine from last year. The iris have done well again, but the daffs came up blind, and the tulips have put out foliage but I'm yet to see anything in the way of flowers. I'll redo them for next year, but I think not leaving them is the way forward!

[TheNoodlesIncident]

They'll be making next year's flower buds inside the bulb after they have finished flowering, so deadhead them (to stop them wasting nutrients on seeds) and feed them with tomato food until the leaves go yellow.

If you do plant them in the border, plant them deep, at least three times the height of the bulbs.

[PurpleRibbons]

My daffs came up in a trough two years running but this year they've come up blind. I want to reuse the trough for lettuces in the summer so I'm going to plant them out.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Hi Purpke if they come up blind (I have some that have done this) is there any hope for them next year do you know?

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Purple sorry

[PurpleRibbons]

No idea I'm afraid but my mum said they might do better if I move them, it's worth a try!

[shovetheholly]

Blindness is often a matter of not enough sun: a blind plant has basically 'decided' it doesn't have enough energy to flower, so it'll just push some leaves up, and try to photosynthesize and store enough to flower next year. Might be where they are (is it shady?), might be that the leaves were taken off too early last year, or that they weren't given enough water after flowering and died back too quickly. It can also be caused by not deadheading, because as noodles said, that diverts resources that should be going back into the bulb towards seed!

I'd give them a really good feed/plenty of water over the next few weeks, put them somewhere sunny now, and then uproot and replant them when they have died back. The main thing is to get their energy built up again so that they feel more like flowering next year. It can be difficult to do this once blindness sets in, though.

[PurpleRibbons]

Mine are definitely in a sunny spot but I think I probably did cut them back too early last year. Is it ok to cut them when the leaves have wilted and gone yellow?

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

shove thanks v. much - will try. I'm wondering if maybe they're overcrowded in the pot. Will plant out for next year.

Good luck with yours too purple.

[shovetheholly]

Yep, overcrowding could do it ilove

purple - It's best to leave the leaves until they come away from the ground of their own accord with a very, very gentle pull. They will be totally floppy by this point and will have gone through yellow to a kind of dessicated beige!

Don't tie them either - that reduces their capacity to photosynthesize by cutting out light. Just leave them to do their thing, even if it looks a wee bit messy for a couple of weeks (plant some tulips/alliums so you have something else to look at!!)