Do you really have to dig up your bulbs in the fall? If so, when do you do it exactly. I have tulips and other bulbs that come up every year. But, I just bought some Gladioli bulbs today and the directions say dig them up in the fall.
2007-05-18 18:42:47 · 7 answers · asked by 354gr 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
the reason they say to dig them up is so the bulbs don't freeze, because they are very temper mental....just mulch over them and you shouldn't have to dig them up..
2007-05-18 19:12:38 · answer #1 · answered by Robert 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on the bulbs, where you live, and how much you mulch.
When I lived in Ohio (right on the border of zones 5 & 6), I "lifted" my cannas and gladioli if I wanted to save them (glads are so cheap that I would probably just buy new ones every year).
But now that I live in Oregon (zone 8), I just leave them in the ground and they come back with little problem.
Tulips are hardy both places and I would leave them in the ground. Most likely, you can leave the tulips in the ground without a problem too.
If you live in Zone 7, I would leave your glads in the ground, but mulch them heavily with straw or leaves. Even then, some or all may die depending on how hard your winter is.
If you're in Zone 6 or lower, you'll have to lift them for the fall. One trick is to dig a small trench, line it with chicken wire, plant the bulbs inside the chicken wire, then cover with a mix of compost and your native soil. Then, in the fall after all the foliage has died back but before the ground has a chance to freeze (probably November), just pull them all up by yanking up the chicken wire. Bonus is that it also protects them from burrowing rodents (dang voles just drive me crazy).
In the winter, I would get a peach basket or paper grocery bad and put some dry peat moss or saw dust in it, but the bulbs (corms) in it, and put that in your basement until it's time to plant in the spring.
2007-05-18 19:49:26 · answer #2 · answered by Deke 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gladioli Bulbs are a little different to the usual spring flowering bulbs. They get an insect called thrips that do damage to the bulb so it's better to did them up after they have died back from flowering. I lost all my gladoli bulbs by leaving them in the ground. So if you want to reuse your bulbs next year dig them up.
Hope you have a lovely display.
2007-05-18 20:04:15 · answer #3 · answered by i love my garden 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't dig em up! if u planted them properly....4 to 5 inches down they'll be fine! the reason everyone puts them in the fridge is to trick em into flowering the following year.... a regular winter will do the same thing! also if left undidturbed most bulbs will multiply too! at the end of the season just put down a layer of mulch.. 1 to 2 inches will good enough!
2007-05-18 22:06:01 · answer #4 · answered by Robert 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of people say that if you dig them up, they will bloom better when you replant them.
But, my response to that is just look at the yards that have tons and tons of the flowers that bloom every year...they are not dug up.
The directions say to do that will most bulb plants...whether you do or not is totally up to you...I know that I don't...
2007-05-18 18:50:50 · answer #5 · answered by cat14675 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
place in food crisper fridge them, spring replant.
2007-05-18 18:46:17 · answer #6 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IF THE DIRECTIONS SAY SO, I FEEL YOU SHOULD. IN END OF OCTOBER ? A NURSERY COULD GIVE YOU THE EXACT TIME.
2007-05-18 18:57:02 · answer #7 · answered by 10-T3 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋