Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

What to do with bulbs in containers that have flowered?

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Problem solving
Hi

I potted lots of different bulbs in pots which flowered at different times.(tulips, daffodils and iris). Theyve now flowered - but what to do with the bulbs? Someone told me to dry them out and put them under the stairs. Is that right?

Thanks

«1

Posts

  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    For the last 3 years I've fed them as they are dying off and left mine in the pots for the following spring @tuffnelljohn
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I take mine out of the pots, soil intact and put them in a compost bag or similar to die down,  you’ve  got your pots to use again then.
    You can put them out of site, make sure you put holes near the bottom of the bags, in case they get water logged.  When the green has died down all together, you can lift the bulbs, compost the soil and keep them until September to plant again if they are daffodils. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    I like the idea of containers flowering.
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Lyn said:
    I take mine out of the pots, soil intact and put them in a compost bag or similar to die down,  you’ve  got your pots to use again then.
    You can put them out of site, make sure you put holes near the bottom of the bags, in case they get water logged.  When the green has died down all together, you can lift the bulbs, compost the soil and keep them until September to plant again if they are daffodils. 
    Thanks Lyn. 

    I could do with repurposing those pots, so this good to know.

    So I wait until September and then plant outside in the garden - or back in the pots? (I suppose it doesnt matter). What about the tulips and iris bulbs - are they now dead?
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @tuffnelljohn.   September is the time for daffs, can plant them back in the pots or garden.  Whichever you like.
    I would put the tulips in the garden because some don’t bloom another year, depends on what they were. November is the time for that.   Once  you plant any of the bulbs in the garden you just leave them forever.  The daffs will multiply on they’re own.
    I have no idea about Iris never  grown them. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Thanks Lyn! I will do that.  :)
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    They get a feed,then down the bottom of the garden behind the green house..same with summer bulbs.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The Iris are like the tulips - assuming they're the little reticulata ones. They tend to diminish over time. When I grow them, I look at them as more like annuals. 
    I plant the daffs out if I don't want them to stay in the pots - you can do that right away if you have a space,  or - if you want them for a pot display again, but want to use the pot over the next few months, you can stick them in a spare pot of any kind, feed them while they die back, and stick them somewhere out of sight. No need to store them.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ve never fed a daffodil bulb,  I thought they stored all they need in the bulb itself,  they seem to do better in subsequent years. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • AthelasAthelas Posts: 946
    I planted 40 or so Iris reticulata in a large pot with tulips last year (they flowered this February/March) — when I emptied the pot to take out the spent tulip bulbs, nearly all of the iris bulbs were gone, nothing left but a bit of the net-like membrane
    Cambridgeshire, UK
Sign In or Register to comment.