My Bulbs Are Not Blooming

A tulip is a flowering bulb plant.

Home gardeners bring flowering bulbs into the home garden for their ease of maintenance, interesting blossom shapes and vast array of vivid colors, but when these otherwise easy to handle plants fail to bloom, it can leave enthusiasts scratching their heads. Fortunately, if your bulbs are not blooming, you are not dealing with a disaster. You just need to spot check potential problems and consider whether you are providing your bulbs with the optimal care they need for growth.

Things You'll Need

• Spade
• 5-10-10 fertilizer
• Mouse repellent
• Mesh wire cage

Instructions

1. Grow bulbs in locations that provide approximately six to eight hours of sun exposure since shaded conditions can cause bloom failure.

2. Cultivate flowering bulbs in moist, well-drained soil. Maintain good drainage to avoid the wet conditions that can lead to rot and a lack of blooming. Dig down to your bulbs to determine whether they appear decayed, and then improve soil drainage if needed.

3. Examine the bulb's appearance once you have dug down to view it. Look for straggly green leaves without a bulb, or simply a missing bulb, as evidence that you may have rodent visitors eating your bulbs. Protect your bulbs from rodents, particularly mice, by use repellents or plant multiple bulbs in topless mesh wire cages so tunneling mice cannot reach them, according to University of Illinois Extension.

4. Fertilize your bulbs with a 5-10-10 fertilizer when you plant them, since leaves break through soil and as bulbs bloom, but avoid using fertilizers high in nitrogen since this can lead to bloom failure and may result in bulb rot.

5. Check the depth that you planted your flower bulbs. Determine the appropriate depth for your particular bulb, typically within a range of 5 to 8 inches, and replant at the correct depth since shallow planting may result in flowering problems.

6. Plant wound-free, quality bulbs from reliable sources and keep them away from garages and apples when storing them since noxious ethylene gas fumes can keep them from blooming once planted, according to University of Illinois Extension.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear gardening gloves when utilizing digging tools to prevent injury.

References

• University of Minnesota Extension Service: Spring Flowering Bulbs
• University of Illinois Extension: Bulbs and More
• University of Illinois Extension: Bulbs that Refuse to Bloom