Daffodil Bulbs - How And When To Dig Up?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

If tulips can boast of annual renewal of bulbs, then daffodil bulbs are perennial creatures and are characterized by a longer and more complex development cycle. And in order not to break an already difficult cycle, it is important to learn how to properly dig up the bulbs of beautiful flowers

Features of the development of bulbs

The internal (or storage) scales of daffodils can live up to four years, and throughout this period the size of the bulbs will invariably increase. By the way, it is possible to start separating tiny babies from the formed maternal bulbs only after two to four years and only after the scales, in the sinuses of which these babies developed, have completely died out. Until that moment, all the babies form, together with the mother's bulbs, rather large two- or three-peaked bulbs, endowed with a couple of pretty flowers. That is why it is completely pointless to dig up the bulbs of beautiful daffodils every year, because the children in this case will not separate anyway.

When to dig up the bulbs?

It is necessary to dig up daffodil bulbs no earlier than three years after their planting. As a rule, they begin to be removed from the soil about fifty to sixty days after the final flowering (that is, later than tulips, even though daffodils bloom much earlier). By this time, the flower bushes begin to slowly disintegrate, and their leaves, although they remain green, lie down and turn yellow at the tips. As soon as these signs are noticed on the plants, it is necessary immediately, without the slightest delay, to start digging the bulbs. If this moment is missed, the leaves of the daffodils will continue to turn yellow and die off, which will inevitably lead to the loss of the bulbs.

How to get the bulbs out of the ground and what to do next?

The best way to extract daffodil bulbs from the ground is to pull them out by the bunches of leaves that are still strong enough: with this approach, the nests are completely removed from the ground, without losing the children.

The bulbs extracted from the ground need to be dried a little - for this, well-ventilated rooms are ideal, the temperature in which is about seventeen degrees. And you can dry the bulbs in the open air - in the shade under a canopy. Then they wait until the babies begin to separate from the mother's bulbs with a light finger pressure. In this case, it is important to take into account that only babies that have independently emerged from the common integumentary membranes will be separated. If they hold too tightly in their nests, it is strictly forbidden to forcefully separate them (when thin shells break, wounds form on the bulbs). Nests with undivided babies will have to be planted entirely later.

As soon as all the children are separated, you must immediately start planting daffodils. In order to make the plantings as homogeneous as possible, the children are planted for growing separately from the bulbs, and the bulbs are immediately sent to pre-prepared areas. It is highly undesirable to store them for too long, since daffodil bulbs, unlike tulip bulbs, have incredibly thin protective upper scales, and during prolonged storage, due to moisture evaporation, they can lose up to half of their usual weight. After planting, such bulbs root very poorly, are characterized by extremely weak flowering and tolerate the winter season much worse.

Some experts advise to start planting daffodil bulbs in September (and sometimes even at the end of the month) at the same time as tulips. However, for the conditions of the middle lane, these recommendations are categorically inappropriate. The latest date for planting daffodils in this area is the end of August. And an earlier planting not only perfectly helps to protect the bulbs from drying out, but also gives them the opportunity to have time to develop a powerful root system before the onset of frost. In addition, well-rooted daffodils overwinter much better and bloom superbly in the spring. However, despite this, they will not be hindered by a small safety net - so that the bulbs do not suffer in winters with little or no snow and frosty enough, immediately after the first freezing of the soil, all daffodils should be covered with dry foliage or peat, distributing this covering material with a layer of ten to twelve centimeters.

And since mice are not at all interested in daffodil bulbs, they are often planted next to tulip bulbs, which are a favorite delicacy of rodents.