Preparing My Bulb Defences
and the final sowings of the season
I know I am not alone in my love of Spring flowering bulbs, I also know I am not alone in facing the challenges of growing them. For years I heard tales from other growers of the annoyance of bulbs rotting or being eaten by rodents. During these conversations, I would always knock on wood when I said tentatively in my head “That sounds awful I am so thankful I’ve never really had that problem”. That was until last winter when someone must have advertised my bulb planting as the best place in town in the Michelin Star Restaurant For Rats Guide because the tunnel planting of Tulips and Fritillaria were devoured. This situation was compounded by the wet weather where runoff from the surrounding field flooded my outdoor Tulip bed. For a flower grower whose favourite season is Spring, this was not a happy situation. This year I am taking steps to try to prevent either or both nightmares from happening again, here’s how I am going about it.
Firstly to try to perturb the pesky rodents Iam sprinkling them with spices, and flavouring the surrounding areas with garlic and herbs. To many this may sound like Iam making these bulbs seem even more tasty but one thing Rodents don’t like is aromatic plants and seeds. Therefore there will be pots of Tyme and Mint around the tunnel and the beds containing the bulbs will be covered with chillies flakes and Paprika, and the edges of the beds will be sown with Garlic Chives, Corriander and planted with Garlic bulbs.
As I am not growing as many Tulips in the field this year I am going to plant them all in pots initially so that the bulbs are not swimming in the field again if we have another incredibly wet winter. I will cover these pots with chicken wire to protect the bulbs from pests. When the soil begins to warm in March I will move the pots into various positions within my flower growing area mixing them in with other plants. I have no intention of removing them from the pots just simply sink the pot to half its depth into the ground, to prevent them from blowing over when they begin to bloom and become top heavy. This is a technique that I foresee using quite a lot over the coming season for plants that I would like to grow but that don’t appreciate my heavy clay soil. Through planting in this way I will be creating these plants thier own little soil-controlled zone, to keep them comfortable.
As you will see above the tulip bulbs are planted closely together in the pots just not quite touching. Here there are approximately 10 bulbs to a 3 ltr pot and planted in a mix of soil and homemade compost. They are planted at the same depth I would have planted them if they were going in the ground, as with all bulbs this should be 3 times the depth of the bulb itself. I will now cover all the pots with chicken wire and protect them from anything that may fancy a nibble until they start to sprout though in Spring.
As well as the outdoor tulip planting going into pots I am also going to trial this with a Spring planting of Ranunculus. Ranunculus grows well for me in the raised beds of the polytunnel where the soil is lighter and enriched with a lot of compost, but they often struggle outside so again I will trial them with pot planting and sinking the pot in the beds in Spring.
Sowing The Last Seeds Of The Season.
Now the Clocks have gone back and the daylight is becoming limited seed sowing is beginning to wind down into winter. There are a few plants which prefer to germinate cold, and now is a good time to concentrate on getting these sown, these plants need cold nights to break them into germinating. If you have ever struggled to germinate Orlaya, Larkspur, Bupleurum, or Poppies it may have been that it has been too warm when you’ve sown them. This is the cool crew of Hardy Annuals try sowing them in November and see how they thank you for it.
Some seeds I always sow in November are Sweet peas, I find they like a long period of cool growth to produce strong sturdy plants ready to romp away when the weather warms in Spring. All types of peas like a good long root path, here we sow single seeds into deep root trays 3x15cm. There are lots of growers who will pre-soak these seeds or initially germinate them on damp tissue, but I take them straight from the seed pack to sow into compost and then give them a good water just like any other seed, and they seem to germinate fine with no special requirements. Some plants from this November sowing will be planted in the polytunnel in January to flower in May and the remainder will be planted outside in April to flower in July.
Winter Watering
If you are overwintering seedlings undercover don’t forget even though these plants are not producing the quick lush growth they would be in the warmer months they are still growing but they are just growing roots, not flowers and lots of leaves.
Most importantly another thing to remember is when plants are in pots or trays, particularly under cover they are totally reliant on you for all of thier needs. This includes water, and feeding. The compost in pots and trays won’t dry as quickly as it would in summer but it is always worth checking beneath what you can see on the surface to establish how much moisture is around the roots of the plant. If it is possible to see under your trays or pop the plant out without disturbing it this is the best way to judge watering. The rules about not watering in the middle of the day get flipped on thier head during winter. From October to March I only water in the middle of the day as it is normally very cold at dawn and dusk. Therefore the roots of small seedlings should be provided with water when any excess water has time to drain through before potential freezing at night.
Until Next time, for you and your plants may you stay cosy, well-watered, and away from pesky rodents.
Suzie