How to Store Unplanted Bulbs

Tulip bulbs will multiply every year.

Spring bulbs are easy to cultivate and add spectacular color to home gardens and urban landscapes. There are hundreds of different species of spring bulbs. They vary in size, blooming time, shape, color and culture. All flowering bulbs fall into the classification of geophytes. This classification includes true bulbs, tuberous roots, rhizomes, tubers, corms and enlarged hypocotyls. Each type of geophyte is somewhat different, but all have the primary purpose of preserving the life of the plant. By selecting early- and late-blooming species, enjoy the color and form of spring flowers for up to four months of the year. Storing unplanted bulbs properly ensures they will be ready for the next planting.

Things You'll Need

• Garden gloves
• Garden fork or spade
• Sawdust
• Peat moss
• Paper bags

Instructions

1. Inspect your spring blooming bulb plants and remove dead flowers. Once the leaves yellow and die back in late spring or early summer, the bulb is dormant. Do not cut off the dead foliage -- the nutrients are feeding the bulb and producing new bulbs. If you do not plan to dig the bulbs this season, leave the leaves in place to die back naturally.

2. Examine your flower beds that contain bulbs. If the plants are stunted, produced few flowers or are uneven in size, then it is time to divide the bulbs so that when replanted, they will have room to grow and spread. Bulbs normally should be dug up and replanted every five years to prevent overcrowding.

3. Use a pitch or spading fork to lift the bulbs from the soil.

4. Separate the clumps of bulbs gently, knocking off excess soil. Rinse off any soil that remains on the bulb. Lay the bulb on a newspaper in a dry location until thoroughly dried. When dry, store in a paper bag in a dark, well-ventilated location. This method is best for tulips, jonquils, crocus and daffodils. Replant in the fall to a depth that is four to five times deeper than the size of the bulb.

5. Leave soil on canna, caladium, dahlia, begonia, ismene and achimenes bulbs. Store these types of bulbs wrapped in a damp layer of untreated sawdust or peat moss. Rinse the bulbs in water prior to replanting.

Tips & Warnings

• Discard any bulbs that show signs of worm or insect infestation.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Bulbs & More
• North Carolina State University Department of Horticulture: Spring Flowering Bulbs

Resources

• Tulip World: Spring Flowering Bulbs