Forcing Bulbs Made Easy
Forcing bulbs is one of the more enjoyable indoor gardening projects. In simple summary,
you are convincing a spring bulb that it has slept through the winter months and encouraging it
to awaken into full spring bloom, even though the snow is piling up outside your window.
Your reward is a colorful bloom and scent during otherwise grey and drab days.
What better way to beat the winter doldrums!?!
Forcing bulbs is not too difficult. It just takes time, patience and a little advance planning.
And yes, you can buy potted bulbs already forced and ready to grow. Keep in mind forced bulbs are a great
gift too.
Best choices for forcing bulbs indoors:
• Paperwhite narcissus
popular bulb, grows in soil or gravel (left picture)
• Hyacinth
fragrant spring-time favorite; requires about 12 weeks for rooting; can be forced in special hyacinth jars using only water (left picture)
• Amaryllis
popular Christmas plant (plant bulb in early November, no cooling necessary)
• Crocus
requires 12-14 week rooting period; bulbs can be potted in gravel and water for different effect
• Colchicum
excellent for forcing, can even grow on a window sill without soil or water; begins blooming in about two weeks
• Muscari
requires 16 week rooting time; pot plenty because they're small
• Iris
especially Iris reticulata are easy to force, but need careful attention to drainage; require about 15 weeks for rooting; don't hold iris bulbs too long before potting; tall-stemmed iris are less suited to forcing
Easy Steps to enjoy your indoor winter flower garden with forced bulbs:
Select the bulbs you are going to force. Use you artistic skills to mix and match the right blooms with the right pot. Use a good potting soil that drains well.
Quick Tip: Make up several pots for a continuous bloom.
After making the pots, water thoroughly until water emerges from the holes at the bottom of the pots. Let excess water drain out.
Most bulbs require a "chilling period". This is a time when the bulb is dormant in a cool environment, simulating it's natural underground winter home in cold soil. Most bulbs need this chilling period to force them to bloom. A couple exceptions to the rule are paperwhites and Amaryllis which do not require a period of chilling.
Chill your bulbs by potting them up and placing the pots in a cool location. The ideal temperature for chilling is 40 degrees, keeping them as close to this temperature as possible. Do not let the bulbs freeze.
Chill your pots for 12 to 15 weeks. This is the minimum period, but they can be chilled for more. Different bulbs will require varying periods for chilling.
Note: You can chill bulbs before potting.
Check on the pots from time to time. Make sure that the soil has not dried out. It should be slightly moist, but not wet. During this period, your dormant bulbs are not quite dormant. They are quietly building their root system so they are ready to explode out of the ground when you bring them indoors.
Important Tip: While you can chill bulbs in a refrigerator, they interact with many fruits in your refrigerator and will fail to bloom.
After the minimum chilling period has been reached, bring your pots in. Place them in a warm, sunny window. The warmth is your bulbs' signal to awaken. As soon as they emerge from the ground, they will need light to grow and bloom.
So, right about now you are probably wondering about how long a particular bulb needs to be chilled and how long the growing period is to reach the blooming stage. Well, you guessed the answer.... it depends. It depends upon the particular bulb.
To find the answer, simply refer to the
Forcing Bulbs Timetable
.
Last Tip: To extend the blooms, move the pots to a cool location at night and while you are out of the house.
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