repotting

[mark smyth]

All my potted bulbs are in 1L tall pots in a mix of bought weed free top soil, grit and some Q4. When I knock this out the big bulbs are easy to find but the smallest are very well camoflaged when covered in soil particles. The pot contents are wet anyway so a quick wash in a sieve to remove soil, sand and fine particles will not do any harm. No worse than the down pour on Thursday when the drains couldnt cope with they water coming off the roof and flooded in to the garden. I've repotted 410 and another 120 to go I'm not changing the way I do it now.

[Gerry Webster]

With regard to narcissus species, the late Kath Dryden advised as follows:  “They are repotted fully.......every three to five years and top dressed in between. In the case of rapid splitters .....lack of disturbance discourages splitting.” I follow this advice.

In the case of bulbs with tunics which disintigrate slowly ( e.g.,  tulips) it may be a good idea to repot  fairly often simply in order to clean them up. Some crocus may also benefit in like fashion.

[mark smyth]

here is a before and after shot taken just now to illustrate why I wash the corms

Gerry Brian Duncan the daffodil breeder lifts an divides all his collection every year. I had an email from him today asking if I would like to go and help in his bulb shed

[David Nicholson]

If it's any consolation Mark I wash those of my bulbs/corms that stay outside the year round when I re-pot. It seems to be the only way I really see what kind of condition they are in to chuck out any soft ones given my wet climate. Some of them were like emptying out a pot of very damp porridge. I don't wash those I grow under glass.

About another 50 pots to go before my re-potting is finished. Given how wet it has been this year (and last) I was fearfull about losses but so far have lost only Crocus baytopiorium, C. goulimyi and C. cartwrightianus albus where I failed in my own system of using a yellow label to remind me of species that need to be kept on the dryer side. C. speciosus and pulchellus in particular were showing root and noses.

[mark smyth]

I can send you a couple of each of C. goulimyi and C. cartwrightianus albus. I need to check tomorrow. I promised corms to someone else and mislaid them 

I too had corms filled with porridge 

[David Nicholson]

Mark, if you have them to spare I would welcome them. Let me know please.

[David Nicholson]

Just finished the re-potting exercise and, given the very variable weather it seems to have taken an age this year. Would have been quicker if I hadn't been banned from using the kitchen when it rained!!

What have I learned?

1.If you are going to use a yellow label in pots requiring a dry/dryish summer rest then be consistent. I lost a few pots of Crocuses in particular because I forgot to implement my system. 1a. For taxa you are growing for the first time ALWAYS (not just sometimes!) check the Bulb Log/Forum/books etc. to make sure you know that a dry summer rest is needed.

2. You try to grow too many pots-be a bit more selective (I tell myself this every year but never learn).

3. To eke out a shortage of greenhouse space I bought one of those three tier plastic frames with a polythene cover from the local garden centre this lead to some bulbs being kept too dry too soon (especially Iris reticulatas and some spring flowering Crocuses) leading to some very small corms and bulbs. Be consistent with your watering.

4. Don't loose interest once you've grown and photographed a plant. Wield the paint brush and get some seed and don't just leave it to the bees.

5. Improve the information you write on a label-that will save you the need for umpteen trips indoors to check on the computer and will also mean fewer moans about muddy boot marks all over the kitchen floor and the stair carpet. Also, write the information on the label CLEARLY, this will mean fewer expletives when you can't read your own writing.

6. Pay as much attention to enjoying them as you do to trying to grow them. It's meant to be enjoyable not stressful.

7. If you think you will need 2 bags of grit/sand/compost buy 4 because you face a 20 mile round trip when you find you are running out because you refuse to buy from the garden centre down the road. This is especially true in the case of compost where you face a round trip of some 150 miles.

[Paul T]

An addition to #5 ..... buy yourself some easy slip-on outdoor shoes (I have something called 'Crocs' that slip on easily, are made of a polythene so can be washed etc, but have a full toe so keep my socks dry!  ).  I have a pair outside the back door and a pair outside the front door..... that way there is an "outdoor shoe" that I can slip on when I go outside, and change back into slippers etc when I come inside again.

Depending on the pots, you can also label the pot instead of using a label.  I write on my black plastic pots with a paint pen.  This means I can write more information if I want (particularly on seedlings) and no birds/mistakes etc can shift labels.

[mark smyth]

I use a paint pen on black labels. I was in a garden today and was very distracted by the white label graveyard.

[mark smyth]

Getting ready for the first heavy rains of autumn I moved all my Pelargoniums and replaced them with pots of autumn flowering bulbs.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Impressive line up Mark !!  

Thanks for the "Bulblog" David !  A lot of useful information there going from growing bulbs to keeping a good household..     The latter being a subject badly neglected by our unsurpassed BD !   

[fleurbleue]

Very good advices David, I shall try to apply them in future