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Tulip and daffodils in containers failing

jerilampertjerilampert Posts: 2
in Problem solving
After the second year and thousands of dollars spent on failed bulbs, I need some help. I have a roof deck garden, and all of the planting is done in containers. I planted out my bulbs around christmas time, and had one of two things happen. Either the bulbs just rotted away in soil, or I got a few scraggly looking leaves, but no blooms. The second year I added extra perlite so that the soil was very free draining, but everything failed. I've had success before, I don't know why the bulbs have failed the last two years. 
Can anyone offer any advice? 

Thank you,
-Jeri

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited May 2022
    Hi @jerilampert and welcome to the forum  :)

    Can you help us out with a bit more information ... whereabouts in the world (roughly) are you and what's the climate? 
    What are the containers ... do they have plenty of drainage holes?
    What type of bulbs are they? Are the tulips species or the taller sorts. 
    What sort of planting medium are they in and how deep are you planting them?

    My first thought is that I plant daffodil/narcissus in September.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    How deep are you planting them?
    If they're too shallow they can fail. 
  • jerilampertjerilampert Posts: 2
    edited May 2022
    Dovefromabove I'm in the US, New York City. Technically zone 7, I have to garden for zone 5 because the roof is a harsher environment. I've run the gamut of different types of tulips and daffodils, big ones, small ones, species, etc.  I've tried different sizes of pots, from 10 in to 16in, all planted according to the sellers depths. The growing medium is a generic potting mix with extra perlite added and the pots have plenty of holes. One year I had success and the other two complete failures. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Thanks @jerilampert .... that helps .... I think you're definitely planting the daffodils too late.  I'd get them planted in September/October.  

    I know some folk plant their tulips in December to reduce the risk of Fire Blight, but as you're using bought in potting medium it should be free from infection, so I'd get tulips planted in Sept/October too.  

    Hope that helps ...  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If the bulbs are rotting, it also suggests you're over doing the watering. It's always drier in a pot, than in the ground, but they shouldn't rot easily. Are they sitting in saucers? 
    Are you lifting and storing them afterwards? The species tulips and the daffs don't need lifted - you can leave them in the pots, and just give them a feed as they die back.
    You can do that with all of the bulbs, but many tulips aren't as good the following year anyway, whether left in the pots or lifted. The storage has to be right if you lift them too. 
    Again - be careful about how much water you give them, especially after they're finished.  :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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