Just bought some bulbs in little pots from Lidl.
The instructions on the plastic tags are in Euro-pictures and don't really
convey much.
For Hyacinthus Orientalis Blue Star:

Picture of sun - full sun
{Flower} IX-IV - flowering from September to April
Height 20-30cms
Knife and fork crossed out - do not eat (darn).

Now the natural habitat for spring bulbs is generally cold wet ground and
these bulbs are three to a small tin bucket.
Small in that the three bulbs fill the top.
The pot is roughly 4" high and 4.25" diameter.
So there isn't that much growing medium for three large bulbs.

Given that the bulbs provide a store of nutrients but (I assume) not enough
water to grow a new plant I also assume that frequent watering will be
required.

Any idea if it is possible to over water?
My first thoughts are that they are used to growing in pretty waterlogged
conditions anyway so overwatering is probably less of a risk than
underwatering.

Not that watering is easy because the compost is proving difficult to wet.

So any guidance to growing spring bulbs indoors?

Cheers

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On 20/01/2012 11:45, David WE Roberts wrote:
Just bought some bulbs in little pots from Lidl.
The instructions on the plastic tags are in Euro-pictures and don't
really convey much.
For Hyacinthus Orientalis Blue Star:

Picture of sun - full sun
{Flower} IX-IV - flowering from September to April
Height 20-30cms
Knife and fork crossed out - do not eat (darn).

Now the natural habitat for spring bulbs is generally cold wet ground
and these bulbs are three to a small tin bucket.
Small in that the three bulbs fill the top.
The pot is roughly 4" high and 4.25" diameter.
So there isn't that much growing medium for three large bulbs.

Given that the bulbs provide a store of nutrients but (I assume) not
enough water to grow a new plant I also assume that frequent watering
will be required.

Any idea if it is possible to over water?
My first thoughts are that they are used to growing in pretty
waterlogged conditions anyway so overwatering is probably less of a risk
than underwatering.

Not that watering is easy because the compost is proving difficult to wet.

So any guidance to growing spring bulbs indoors?

Cheers

Dave R

As regards watering dry compost, add just a smidgen of washing up liquid
to the water, that will work, does for me anyway.

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:45:48 -0000, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

Just bought some bulbs in little pots from Lidl.
The instructions on the plastic tags are in Euro-pictures and don't really
convey much.
For Hyacinthus Orientalis Blue Star:

Picture of sun - full sun
{Flower} IX-IV - flowering from September to April
Height 20-30cms
Knife and fork crossed out - do not eat (darn).

Now the natural habitat for spring bulbs is generally cold wet ground and
these bulbs are three to a small tin bucket.
Small in that the three bulbs fill the top.
The pot is roughly 4" high and 4.25" diameter.
So there isn't that much growing medium for three large bulbs.

Given that the bulbs provide a store of nutrients but (I assume) not enough
water to grow a new plant I also assume that frequent watering will be
required.

Any idea if it is possible to over water?
My first thoughts are that they are used to growing in pretty waterlogged
conditions anyway so overwatering is probably less of a risk than
underwatering.

Not that watering is easy because the compost is proving difficult to wet.

So any guidance to growing spring bulbs indoors?

Cheers

Dave R

Have they been "heat treated" for indoor flowering or are they
expecting to be planted outdoors may be the key question and you
won't know the answer.

The pot seems very small for three hyacinths, though - I'd be thinking
of a 6-7" diameter pot for three. If you can tease the "root ball" out
of the pot whole, replanting might help but separating the three to
plant further apart will probably do more harm than good. The compost
needs to be kept moist. Best not to put them on a window sill that's
above a radiator - if it's too warm, the flowering period will be
much shorter.

Try adding a little washing up liquid to the water initially or stand
the pot in water that's just off cold (there are drainage holes I
hope). I keep a bottle of wetting agent around (something called
Wet-n-Grow) for the odd occasion I need to break a compost crust. Not
cheap stuff but I've been using the same bottle for about 3 years and
it's still over half full.

I'll guess that in a 4"ish pot, they won't be worth much after
flowering - you could try planting them outdoors when they've
finished, as they won't do indoors a second year, and if they do
flower it's likely to be around March but they may grow blind next
year and flower the year after.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

If a man is alone in the garden and speaks, and there is no woman
to hear him, is he still wrong?

Growing hyacinths is relatively easy - it's keeping them in good growth to flower next year which takes more care. Remember that in the 50's a common way to grow hyacinths indoors was in a hyacinth vase - a glass jar with a constriction. You filled the jar with water, and sat the bulb on the constriction. The hyacinth put roots down into the water, and used its own stock of nutrients to produce the flower and first leaves.

Therefore, I'd assume your chance of overwatering is slim provided you don't keep it waterlogged above the level of the base of the bulb. So try sitting the pot in a bowl of water (perhaps with a tiny bit of washing up liquid added) for a few hours. Balance a weight on the pot if it tries to float. Once the compost has wetted itself, keep it moist but not wringing wet.

After the hyacinths have finished flowering, continue to water and start feeding them. I'm not sure they're really worth growing on - they don't come back as well net year, they tend instead to look like rather brash bluebells. I tend to stick them in an out-of-the way bit of garden (of course, they might do better in a prime spot!)

As far as other bulbs go - daffs are easy, as are crocuses, but crocuses will give up any attempt to flower if they're kept too warm too soon - keep them outside, then bring them in when the flowers re ready to open.

"Jake" Nospam@invalid wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:45:48 -0000, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:

snip

The pot seems very small for three hyacinths, though - I'd be thinking
of a 6-7" diameter pot for three. If you can tease the "root ball" out
of the pot whole, replanting might help but separating the three to
plant further apart will probably do more harm than good. The compost
needs to be kept moist. Best not to put them on a window sill that's
above a radiator - if it's too warm, the flowering period will be
much shorter.

Try adding a little washing up liquid to the water initially or stand
the pot in water that's just off cold (there are drainage holes I
hope). I keep a bottle of wetting agent around (something called
Wet-n-Grow) for the odd occasion I need to break a compost crust. Not
cheap stuff but I've been using the same bottle for about 3 years and
it's still over half full.

I'll guess that in a 4"ish pot, they won't be worth much after
flowering - you could try planting them outdoors when they've
finished, as they won't do indoors a second year, and if they do
flower it's likely to be around March but they may grow blind next
year and flower the year after.

There are four pots - two are tin buckets (and there isn't a hole in my
bucket) and the other two are light wood with a plastic bag to hold the
compost - these at least seem to drain.
I intend to plant them out after flowering but don't mind if they take a
while to establish.
At £2 a pot they seemed a cheap way to brighten up the house during winter.

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")