Easy Bulb Forcing Guide
Foring bulbs indoors
easy STEP-BY-STEP instructions to bring color to your home this winter.
I love a good hard freeze in the wintertime. There is less mud, and I get a good solid freeze on my to-do list. But it doesn’t take long before I miss fresh flowers in my house.
I suspect if you’re reading this, you are a fellow flower lover who is missing them too.
So, how can we fix our flower withdrawal in winter?
Well, you will be happy to hear, it’s a pretty easy fix.
Forcing bulbs inside is one of my favorite ways to bring fresh blooms to the cold months. It’s a relatively simple process that involves some magic. Basically, you’re tricking the bulb and speeding along the natural cycle by mimicking the warmth of spring in your house.
Before we dive in, here is a little bit about a bulb’s life cycle. There are many bulbs that you can force indoors to bloom, but we are going to focus on Tulips because they are my favorite.
To start the process, just like the cold outdoors, they need a period of cold, 12--4 weeks at 35-45 degrees. As the Tulips chill, it triggers a biological process that produces glucose within the bulb. That glucose is then what they draw energy from to bloom. Bulbs are these incredible little bundles of life. They have everything inside that little ball to turn into a beautiful flower.
As you know, I love the no-fuss way of gardening. I enjoy experimenting with new things, but I like to keep it simple. Unfortunately, gardening has a lousy PR rep and intimidates newbies right out of trying. Gardening is just one big experiment after another.
Okay, let’s dig in...
Forcing tulips:
Start by selecting your bulbs. Early varieties work best for forcing. You can look on the label of the Tulip and look for “Early Spring.” Other ones will work, but I think the early ones are best because they are already eager to get a jump start on spring.
Here is where you get to make a choice, aka experiment. You can choose to chill your bulbs in a mesh bag or pot them up and chill them that way. There is no wrong choice; I have done both ways with success. I typically chill them in a bag because I find it easier to store them in my refrigerator.
Once you decide, here are a few ideas for where you can chill the bulbs.
You can chill them in a cool basement, an unheated garage (if it doesn’t drop below freezing), outside insulated with a pile of leaves or mulch, or in a refrigerator. If storing them in a refrigerator, make sure there are no fruits in it, which releases ethylene gas which will interfere with the flowering process.
The ideal chill time for Tulips is 10-12 weeks.
Chill in September, bloom in January
Chill in October, bloom in February
Chill in November, bloom in March
And so on...
Fill a clay pot, or any pot will work as long as it has drainage holes about half full of potting soil. Quick sidebar, if you are looking for a cute clay pot idea, you can check out my previous blog post on how to create a Fabric Flower Pot.
Place the tulips pointy side up, almost but not quite touching each other. I like to think of egg carton spacing. Then cover them completely with soil, leaving about an inch of room below the pot's rim.
Since my bulbs were chilled in a mess bag, once they are planted, I will place them in my sunroom and keep them watered well.
If you are going to plant them and then chill in your selected spot, check on them each week. If the soil is completely dry, water moderately.
You will start to see small shoots coming up, but don’t be concerned if not. Once the 12 weeks are over, move to a warmer spot with indirect sunlight for a few weeks, continuing to water as needed.
When buds start to form, move the pot into direct sunlight. They will also need to be watered more frequently as they begin to bloom.
It should take 3-4 weeks from coming out of chilling for them to bloom.
While these directions are for tulips, they also work with other spring bulbs, such as crocus or hyacinths.
I always get this question about planting them outside; unfortunately, they are spent once the bulbs have finished blooming. Add them to a compost pile or toss them out for chipmunks to find and get yourself some new bulbs in the fall.
Starting the week of Valentine’s Day, we are offering a limited amount of pre-chilled Tulips to try for yourself. You can grab your set here.
Thanks for experimenting with us and following along.
