Content
It is important to preserve hyacinth bulbs so that you can continue to enjoy this beautiful plant next year. They are dug up in the summer so that in the next season the perennial will develop successfully and bloom beautifully.
When to dig
To preserve hyacinth tubers, you need to dig them up in a timely manner and provide the right conditions until spring. Specific dates depend on the climatic characteristics of the region and variety.
First, wait until all the buds wither. After this, the inflorescences are cut off, but watering the plants does not stop. It is abandoned when the leaves completely wither. At the same time you need to dig up the bulbs. This is usually done in the last ten days of June or early July.
In hyacinths of the first and second years of life, it is recommended to remove even the arrow where the bud is formed
Processing hyacinth bulbs after digging
Before storing hyacinth, the excavated material must be sorted. Select bulbs of medium size, but with a diameter of at least 6 cm.They should be dense and heavy. A prerequisite is absolute health. Too large a size or looseness means that the inflorescence will not be as beautiful as we would like.
To successfully store hyacinths in winter, it is important to thoroughly dry the material. If moisture remains on the scales, the risk of rotting will increase significantly. To dry, the raw materials are placed in the shade, in a draft.
How to preserve a hyacinth bulb after forcing
To successfully store hyacinth bulbs, you need to artificially create certain conditions. They provide the formation and accumulation of elements that affect the growth of shoots. Temperature and humidity are important.
Temperature
To successfully store hyacinth bulbs, prolonged refrigeration is necessary. The temperature regime is changed gradually.
The first two months the material is stored at 20 °C. In such conditions, the scales dry out well. You can speed up the process by raising the temperature to 30 °C. In this case, the raw material must be covered with sphagnum moss. It will serve as protection against drying out.
Over the next month, the room temperature is gradually reduced. The indicator is adjusted to 18 °C.
For the last week of storage, the temperature should be reduced to 9-10 °C. They do this smoothly, since a sudden change in regime creates stress for the perennial. In the future, this may affect growth and flowering.
Humidity
To successfully store hyacinth bulbs before planting, you need to provide them not only with the correct temperature conditions, but also with high humidity.To maintain it, the material is moistened as necessary with warm water using a spray bottle. Be sure to do this in the initial stages, when the temperature is maintained high. If the tubers are stored in sphagnum moss, then it should also be moistened.
In addition to maintaining high humidity, it is important to ensure good ventilation in the storage room
How to store hyacinth bulbs in the refrigerator
It is acceptable to store hyacinth bulbs at home in the refrigerator. It is optimal to place it on the bottom shelf.
It is not recommended to store hyacinth at home in a refrigerator with the No frost function after flowering. This option implies that the humidity level in the chamber is lower than necessary. The problem is solved by wrapping it in sphagnum moss. There is another option - to organize a top layer of peat in a container with tubers. It needs to be moistened daily with warm water using a spray bottle.
If you store onions of different varieties, then it is worth labeling them - this is important for quality control of different types and planning a beautiful planting
Recommendations from gardeners
To successfully store hyacinth after cutting, you need to follow not many rules. It is also worth listening to the recommendations of gardeners:
- If during storage children have formed around the bottom of the onion, they are separated, dried and planted separately. They need rearing for 4-5 years.
- Flower shoots are cut off until the seed box has formed. When it appears, the bulb will not have enough nutrition.
- If the hyacinth is young, then it is better to remove the arrow before the buds open. Next year the flowering will be more abundant and longer.
- Bulbs are stored in ventilated containers. The container should not be airtight; polyethylene should not be used.
Conclusion
You can save hyacinth bulbs by digging them up and providing the appropriate conditions.If you do not touch the underground part of the bush, frost resistance and immunity will decrease, flowering will become scarce and rare. Degeneration of the bulbs is possible.
