A week later

The pots of Caley bulbs have been out of the plunge for about a week and with six weeks to go until the CALEY Spring Bulb Show we to think about how best to treat the pots  in order to get them in the best condition for the show bench.

I left my pots alone for the first week and then gave them their first watering and a mild liquid feed. I used some homemade made comfrey liquid feed. You can us a diluted high potash feed such as tomato fertilizer. Potash helps to intensify the flower colour.

The 3 litre pots of Scamp Challenge bulbs are looking quite good and given that I only need two flowers, one for Gill and one for me there are plenty potential buds to choose from.

The 2 litre pots of Sabatini and Kiwi Sunset are at the stage of growth I would expect at this stage.

Sabatini and Kiwi Sunset

The pot of Dolcoath is very well advanced and is already showing flower-buds amongst the foliage. I will put it outside and a sheltered shaded spot just to slow down its development. The pot of Tru meanwhile is at the same stage of growth as the others.

Dolcoath and Tru

The pot of Jan Bos hyacinths is showing good strong foliage and relatively even flower spikes. It will be interesting to see what stage it will be at next week. The pot of Pink Prince tulips are a little taller than I would have hoped for at this point in time but for the moment I will leave them in the cold glasshouse along with the other pots.

Jan Bos and Pink Prince

So, not much more to say this week. I will return all the pots to the bench in the cold glasshouse except the pot of Dolcoath.

If you don’t have a cold glasshouse, stand the pots in a sheltered spot where they get plenty light and where you can keep an eye on them every day. Keep the pots moist but not saturated and keep turning the pots so that you get even growth from all the bulbs.

Good pottering
Stay safe

George