Learn how to cultivate captivating bulbs in the comfort of your home during the cold season by implementing the "forcing" method
Forcing bulbs is a delightful way to bring the beauty of spring indoors during the colder months. This process mimics winter conditions to trick bulbs into blooming early, allowing gardeners to enjoy spring blooms anytime.
Steps for Forcing Bulbs
Selecting Suitable Bulbs
Common bulbs for forcing include tulips, hyacinths, paperwhites, daffodils, and others like the strongly scented Muscari aucheri.
Chilling the Bulbs
Place the selected bulbs in a cool, dark environment, such as a refrigerator, at around 35-48°F (2-9°C) for a period of about 10-16 weeks. This chilling period mimics winter dormancy and is essential to initiate flowering.
Planting or Suspending Bulbs
Some bulbs, like hyacinths, can be placed in containers with water and pebbles so roots grow without soil, while others are planted in pots with soil.
Moving to Warmth and Light
After chilling, bring the bulbs into a warmer room with indirect sunlight to encourage growth and blooming. Temperatures around 60-70°F (15-21°C) are ideal. Keep the soil or water moist but not soggy.
Care and Timing
Forcing times vary but typically take 3-6 weeks from moving bulbs indoors to flowering. Proper moisture, temperature, and light conditions are critical for success.
Once in flower, extending the flowering period can be achieved by placing them in a cool location overnight.
Notable Bulbs for Forcing
- The 'Romance' crocus is a free-flowering bulb with an unusual primrose yellow color.
- Anemone blanda 'Charmer'* has pretty, pale-pink flowers with a light centre and divided foliage with pinky tones on the underside of the leaf, growing to 12-15cm.
- Crocus 'Ruby Giant'* is a showy and fragrant early cultivar, with purple hues and wonderful contrasting golden anthers, growing to 12cm.
- Galanthus nivalis 'Viridapice'* has single drooping flowers with a distinctive green blotch at the tips and grows to 15cm. It does not need to be forced as it flowers early and can be brought into the warm to get them flowering.
- Scilla messeniaca has up to seven leaves and an abundance of flowers on each stem.
- The 'Katharine Hodgkin' iris is a pale-blue, long-lived dwarf iris with wide, opulent flowers and sea-green veining.
- Muscari aucheri is a strongly scented bulb, with flowers that are 12cm in height and work well in a pot indoors to perfume a room.
- The 'Golden Fragrance' muscari bulbs are unusual and fragrant, turning yellow with age.
- Cyclamen coum f. pallidum 'Album'* is a spring-flowering cyclamen that grows to 8-12cm and has flowers ranging from dark magenta to the white form used in the example.
Tips for Forcing Bulbs
- When using a deep pot for forced bulbs, it is important to have drainage holes in the bottom and to fill the bottom third with crocs for good drainage.
- When planting forced bulbs, use 3-6mm grit as a thick layer in the bottom of the pot and then fill with a gritty loam-based compost.
- Position all the bulbs on the same layer with their crowns just below the surface, leaving the planter fairly full but ensuring the bulbs do not touch.
- Bulbs are vulnerable in small pots, so protect from frost - a temperature of between 1.5-10°C is ideal. Once foliage begins to grow, move them somewhere cool before bringing into the warmth and resuming careful watering.
- Start with clean pots and healthy, firm bulbs for forcing.
- It can be beneficial to initially plant all bulbs in small pots, then replant them in decorative containers as they bud.
Enjoying Spring Blooms Indoors
After ten weeks in cool, dark conditions, bulbs are brought indoors to flower. This process effectively "cheats" the bulb into blooming indoors out of its natural seasonal cycle, allowing gardeners to enjoy spring blooms anytime.
Placing tulips, hyacinths, paperwhites, daffodils, and other bulbs like Muscari противeri in a cool, dark environment for 10-16 weeks initiates their flowering process, mimicking winter dormancy.
Once chilled, these bulbs are planted in pots with soil or suspended in water with pebbles to encourage root growth. Proper temperature, light, and moisture are essential for successful blooming.
Spring-flowering cyclamen, such as Cyclamen coum f. pallidum 'Album', can also be forced indoors, offering beautiful flowers ranging from dark magenta to white.
With proper care, forced bulbs can extend their flowering period by spending cooler nights indoors. Home and garden enthusiasts can enjoy the beauty of spring blooms throughout the year, transforming their lifestyle, garden, and even home-and-garden decor with fragrant and colorful flowers.
