Forcing Bulbs for Winter Bloom (flower, grown, how to, south)

[thatgirlhiding]

Hi all,

I'm forcing flower bulbs and trying to coordinate them so they bloom on April 5th. I planted all of them in pots and put them in my basement. The varieties of plants are:

- Hyacinth
- Crocus
- Tulip (Orange Parrot)
- Narcissus (Paper White)
- Daffodil

I have a couple questions:
1) I understand that there needs to be a chilling period of at least 8-16 weeks, depending on the bulb. Is it problematic if I chill them longer than that? Just doing the math, it might be more like 20 weeks before I take them out of storage to try to get them to bloom.

2) My basement is chilly, but I'm not 100% sure about how cold it is. I'm sure in the deep winter it's below 55 because it's uncomfortable to go down there... but... how important is it for the temperature to be below 45? Should I get a thermometer to be sure about it?

3) The hyacinth and the narcissus I'm forcing in vases with water. When they're in storage, should I have water in the vases? Or should I just water them when I'm ready for them to grow?

That's it!

[brokencrayola]

I wouldn't have the hyacinth and narcissis in water while they are in cold storage. When I forced bulbs I had an old refrigerator that I plugged in, planted the bulbs and put them in there until ready to remove, I then made it a slow process to get them in a little warmer then little warmer room. It might be hard to get them all to bloom exactly when you want them, good luck.

[J&Em]

Leaving the bulbs in water, and in the dark and cold, will only end up rotting them. I don't think your current plan will work for what you want to accomplish.

The chilling period is different for different bulbs and even if you follow it to a tee it is rare for the bulb to open on an exact date. You'll find most places that advise on forcing will give you a general window of about 2 and sometimes 4 weeks from the time of first chilling them. When they are done by the specialists the bulbs are refrigerated in special units for an exact amount of days, often followed by bringing them to a specific temperature and amount of daylight and then bringing them to the actual blooming setting. Some varieties also do far better than others, not every daffodil type will respond to the forcing method and the same goes for other bulbs.

Most forcing is done to get the bulbs to grow and bloom early, not late, so it is harder to find information on how to do later blooming bulbs. The chilling time is what sets the clock for the plant to begin its growth cycle so planting and chilling them now will start them far sooner than you want. They need to stay dry and cool not chilled until sometime in December for many of the bulbs. I've done some forcing in the past and understand the horticulture behind it but I'd rather point you to some good references to make it easier for you to read up and do.

This is the best non technical guide I could find with a great timing chart for chilling: How to Force Bulbs to Bloom Indoors and Out of Season - Garden Helper, Gardening Questions and Answers

Home Forcing of Daffodils (Narcissus) This explains the importance of the chilling temperatures and times and you should read this carefully. It also has a good list of the daffodils that can be forced and when (early and late).

Another timing guide that should help: G6550 Forcing Bulbs for Indoor Bloom | University of Missouri Extension It is the only one that has any reference vase grown forcing at the very bottom.... note again the bulbs cannot be IN water.

This is a more general guide that covers the temperature issue again: HGIC 1556 Forcing Bulbs Indoors : Extension : Clemson University : South Carolina

Some beautiful pictures of how to pot for having leaves and blooms that fill a pot the right way this is a great reference: Confidently Forcing Bulbs - The Best Ever!