Expert: Long Island Gardener - 2/14/2007

Question
I want tulips in pots outdoors, I have not yet planted any.  Can I just plant them in the spring and leave the pots outside, or do I need to start them sooner and leave pots in the garage for the "cooling effect"?  When the tulips are done for the season I will be using the pots for summer annuals.  I will re-do the tulips every year.
 P.S.  I live in zone 5.  Thank You!

Answer
Rachelle, If you want to "force" bulbs, which is what your project is called, you have missed the boat for Plan A.

Plan A is merely difficult.  You buy your bulbs in fall, pot them in pots, and "plunge" them into the ground for winter.  You can also put them in a garage or unheated basement, somewhere it is going to be around 40 degrees F for prolonged periods.  Then you remove the pot from the cool location and gradually expose it to sunlight and SLIGHTLY increased temperatures.  It sends up a stem and blooms, and so you pat yourself on the back.  Mission Accomplished.

But you cannot do that now because it is no longer Fall, it is almost not Winter.  Bulbs need prolonged cool weather in order to survive.

Enter Plan B.  Next to Impossible.

Pot your bulbs in a pot and "plunge" them in the ground.  As the weather warms, you can put them in the refrigerator.  Make sure the pot has excellent drainage and the soil is light and loamy.  Give it as much cold weather as you can.

Now for the part that makes this harder than Plan A.

You have to give it warmer temperatures.  But they must be cold enough to keep the bud intact.  Or it will "blast".

Very hard to do with Spring weather so unpredictable.  With the full sun that is needed for it to fluorish.

Don't bother fertilizing.  It's the soil and the pot and the temperatures that make the difference here.  Fertilizing these is a waste of money and time.

Most experts discard their spent Tulips when they are finished blooming.  Assuming they got lucky and they bloomed.

Yes, this is a very big hat trick, Rachelle.  No way to make it easy, either.  We're dealing with living things and acts of God and weather.  No room for error.  But somewhat easier in Zone 5 - count your blessings!

Use a Terra Cotta Pot if possible - it breathes better and therefore reduces anaerobic bacteria in the pot.  They sometimes go on sale but when greenhouses go out of business they have to get rid of their Terracotta pots, too - I've seen them both on craigslist.com and ebay.com.

Any questions?