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sjw

By Sjw

gloucestershire, United Kingdom Gb

I have quite a few pots with bulb, daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths. Last year they didn't seem to flowers as well, if I change the compost now will that help or am I better to discard bulbs and buy fresh.




Answers

 

It will make no difference next Spring, as the bulbs built up there next year growth this Spring.

When the bulbs are finished, it helps to feed them and wait for the foliage to die down naturally.

Some bulbs don't do as well as they age.

How long have you had these bulbs?

25 Sep, 2014

 

What Alextb above said - but I just want to add that we had a very mild winter, and most bulbs require cold to induce sprouting and flowering, so if you did feed while the foliage was present last year and let the foliage die back naturally, that might partially explain fewer flowers. as for Hyacinths, I always find they end up after a few years looking more like bluebells, so buying new ones every 2 or 3 years or so seems necessary.

25 Sep, 2014

 

We repot all our bulbs in pots every year once the foliage has completely died back - in fact we were just unpotting arisaemas. This gives you a chance to check the state of the bulbs (or in this case tubers) and dispose of any that don't look healthy. Repotting in fresh compost also gives the bulb a better start. Can only emphasis what Alextb and Bamboo have said.

25 Sep, 2014

 

Talking about repotting bulbs when should I repot nerines? In late winter when the flowers have disappeared?

25 Sep, 2014

 

I'm quite a lazy gardener and never dig my bulbs up for storage. Feeding seems to have done the trick especially with tulips. This year, I decided to leave most of the daffodils unfed so as to see how much difference it makes. Although my garden is not big, I find that there are just too many to feed, and after all the council daffs never get fed yet always give a good display.
Bulbs in pots, for me, do well in the first year (because they are already full of all the nutrients they need) but even after feeding don't do as well the following year.
If yours didn't do well last spring, i would chuck 'em out and buy new ones especially if they haven't been fed. I've had great bulbs from Poundland and this year had some massive hollyhocks which I got from a 99p shop last year. This autumn I've bought some spring bulbs from a grower. Spring will tell whether they were a good buy.

25 Sep, 2014

 

MerlinBD we don't do anything with bulbs in the ground… but those in pots need care and attention. Particularly as what we are growing is not available from Pound shops or local GCs. If you want your bulbs to thrive in pots you need to look after them and feed them. If, on the other hand, you view them as something disposable then, obviously you don't need to. In our case some have been grown from seed and taken 5 years to get to the point of flowering… so we will do all we can to ensure they stay with us and flower the following year.

25 Sep, 2014

 

I take your point MG especially as you grow from seed - you're so patient! - and have more unusual bulbs in your pots. I think I would be horrified at the thought of throwing carefully nurtured bulbs out. Mine are bog standard but I still love them and get excited when little green tips start to poke through.
However, my experience of planting in pots has been disappointing even though they have been fed after flowering. Perhaps tomato food is not an ideal feed and maybe I should lift them and replant in autumn.
Since Bulba educated me about tulips a few years ago, I have grown to love them and they come back every year. All in the ground though, not in pots. This year I've bought some white fluted ones and am dying to see them bloom.

26 Sep, 2014

 

Half strength tomato feed is what we use on our bulbs in pots Merlinbd, we start the minute the flower dies back and keep feeding once a week until the leaves are just about dead.

26 Sep, 2014

 

Thanks for another tip MG. I'll remember that for next year. Well I hope I remember!

26 Sep, 2014

 

Put it on your calendar… It's what I'd have to do :)

26 Sep, 2014

 

Will do!

27 Sep, 2014

sjw
Sjw
 

Thanks for all your replies, will repot in next week see how they perform in spring and feed them. Will invest in some new ones as well. Thanks all

27 Sep, 2014

 

You're welcome Sjw

28 Sep, 2014

How do I say thanks?

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