Hyacinths are one of the early flowers that bloom immediately after warm weather sets in. But the plant fades just as quickly. Therefore, summer residents often face the question of how to keep hyacinth bulbs healthy for planting next year.
Do I need to dig up hyacinths every year?
Like tulips, it is advisable to dig up hyacinths every year.If you do not do this after flowering, the flower may not bloom at all next year. Therefore, digging up hyacinths must be carried out.
If you do not dig up hyacinth bulbs, you may encounter the following problems:
- The bulbs become less resistant to frost.
- Plants get sick more often.
- The planting material degenerates and blooms worse.
- Problems arise with the propagation of bulbs.
In addition, some varieties of hyacinth reproduce very poorly. You can help them right at the moment of digging. Cut the bottom of the onion crosswise with a sharp knife. The cuts are dried and put into a room where the bulbs will be stored until spring.
When to dig up plants?
In order for hyacinth bulbs to remain healthy by spring and germinate next year, they must be removed from the ground in a timely manner for the winter. Digging too early will prevent the bulb from receiving nutrients from the soil. You should also not delay this process.
Since hyacinth is an early flower, you can dig up the bulbs in mid-June. But again, you shouldn’t focus only on deadlines. There are other signs that it is time to remove the plant.
Hyacinth should be dug up after the inflorescences have faded and the upper third of the foliage has turned yellow. It is not advisable to wait until the bush is completely dry. When digging, the stem may break, making the bulb more difficult to remove. Also, if the husks are very cracked, then at the time of digging, the children may accidentally come off and remain in the soil.
Rules for removing bulbs from the ground
If the bulbs are dug out of the ground correctly, the flowers will delight you with their unusual blooms for many years. You can keep hyacinth bulbs blooming for up to 10 years if you dig them up correctly.
A few days before the expected date of digging, the plants stop being watered and fertilized. The excavated planting material is cleaned of soil residues and washed in warm water. Then lay it out on newspaper to dry.
When the bulbs are dry, they are sorted out. It is important that healthy and damaged bulbs are not placed together in the box. If they show signs of damage, then such planting material is thrown away. Excess scales are carefully separated (especially if there are babies on the bulb) and thrown away.
After all the procedures for preparing hyacinths for winter, you need to choose a container in which they will be stored. This often determines how successfully hyacinths overwinter.
Storing bulbs at home
The most difficult thing when growing hyacinths is to keep the planting material healthy after digging. To do this, it is necessary to provide favorable conditions. The rest period is 3-4 months. During this time, it is necessary to prevent the appearance of mold and rotting of the planting material.
Bulb storage consists of three successive stages:
- The dug up hyacinths along with the foliage are laid out in a dark, cool room and kept there until the foliage turns completely yellow. During this time, the leaves will give all the nutrients to the bulbs.
- Then the foliage is cut off and the planting material is laid out in plastic or wooden boxes in one layer.
- For the first 8-9 weeks, hyacinths are stored at temperatures from +20 to +23 degrees. The seeds are covered with sphagnum, which retains moisture and prevents the surface of the bulbs from drying out.
- Then the temperature is reduced to +18 degrees and the boxes are kept in such conditions for about 4 weeks. During this period, it is necessary to maintain a high level of humidity, so sphagnum is constantly sprayed with a spray bottle.
- In the last week before planting hyacinths, the temperature in the room where the pots are located is reduced to +10 degrees.
It is undesirable to sharply reduce the temperature, as this can harm the seeds. A constant decrease in temperature helps to increase the frost resistance of hyacinths, and after transplanting into the ground, it is easier for them to withstand cool outdoor weather.
Another nuance that needs to be taken into account when storing hyacinths in winter is the appearance of mold. With excessively high humidity and improper storage conditions, seeds can become moldy and infect healthy specimens. To prevent this from happening, you need to constantly check the boxes, and if damaged specimens appear, throw them away immediately, and treat healthy ones with potassium permanganate.
Timing for planting bulbs back into the garden
By the end of winter, you need to start preparing to plant flowers in open ground. The timing depends on the region of residence; in different climatic zones, cooling occurs at different times. Hyacinths are planted in late September - early October, when the soil has not yet frozen and the weather is relatively warm outside. In warm growing regions, the timing of planting hyacinths back into the beds is shifted by several weeks.
Soil preparation
Before planting in open ground, the soil is first prepared. The soil for flowers should be well-drained and fertile. Heavy and acidic substrates are not suitable for this crop.
It is not recommended to apply fresh manure before planting. Not only will such fertilizer lose most of the nutrients during application, but due to its concentration it can destroy the seeds.
They begin to prepare the area for planting in August-September. The soil is dug up and weeds are removed.The soil needs to be dug up to a depth of 30-40 cm. Then potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are added to the soil.
Before autumn planting, it is not recommended to apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Nitrogen stimulates growth, and this is not advisable to allow in the fall, when plants need to prepare for winter.
Seating scheme on site
You can plant the planting material in any order, the main thing is to leave a distance between the bulbs of at least 15-20 cm.
The process of planting hyacinths:
- Dig a hole in the ground 10 cm deep.
- Pour humus into the bottom of the hole.
- Place the bulb in the hole and cover it with soil.
- The top should be completely covered with earth.
- Pour generously with warm water.
Seeds are planted deeper in loose soil than in heavy soil. Newly planted hyacinths should be watered generously, but not overwatered. Subsequent waterings are carried out as needed.
In regions with high humidity, the planting process is a little different:
- Dig a hole 20 cm deep.
- Pour humus into the bottom.
- Then add a layer of river sand (3-5 cm).
- Set the onion out and add another layer of sand.
- Fill the hole with soil.
This method of planting will protect the bulbs from rotting and the development of infections.
After planting a bed with hyacinths be sure to mulch. First of all, this measure will protect the flowers from winter frosts. In addition, the soil will always be moist, and weeds will not appear in the garden bed in the spring.
When to plant hyacinths indoors
At home, forcing hyacinths held in mid-September. Only large onions are suitable for this. Before planting, they are stored in a dark room at a temperature of +17 degrees.
During forcing, the planting material is not buried; a third of the bulb should be on the surface.For forcing plants, light fertile soil based on peat and river sand is used. You can also add one part of leaf soil. Place drainage at the bottom of the container.
Then the containers are placed in a cool room at a temperature of +6...+7 degrees. If you plan to get inflorescences by spring, reduce the temperature to +5 degrees.
In such conditions, the plants are left for 10-14 weeks. After which they will sprout. The main thing is that they should not be exposed to sunlight all this time. Watering the soil is also not necessary.
The second stage is transferring the containers to a warm room with a temperature of +15...+21 degrees. Regularly moisten the soil and prevent it from drying out. After a few weeks, place the containers in sunlight. You need to place hyacinths in a warm room in the sun after they have a green arrow with an inflorescence.
When can bulbs be left in the ground?
It is not always necessary to dig up hyacinth bulbs every year and plant them back in the ground by winter. Although it is better to do this regularly. It is not necessary to dig up a flower every year if the growing region has a warm winter. But even in this case, digging will have to be done at least after a year. If you don’t do this every year, you will still have to dig up the plants and plant the children so that the beds do not become overgrown and there is enough space for the bushes.
It is also not necessary to do this if the bulbs are still very small and have not even bloomed yet. In the first year after planting, they can be left in the ground for the winter. And next year dig it up along with the rest of the seeds.
