Growing Bulbs

Growing flower bulbs in gardens can be at times a challenging task to be performed. We have to be cautious about the type soil, amount of sunlight and watering. Very often the bulbs die due to water clogging or poor drainage system of the pot. I had bought some bulbs last summer. I barely knew there name when i bought them. Then it was an year long experimentation with bulb and finally after loosing a few of them i was able to see the results of all my inputs.

So basically to grow any plant we require four fundamental elements:

1. Soil

2. Water

3. Sunlight

4. Fertilizer and pesticides

We have to make sure that the soil for growing a bulb is pourous enough. The soil needs to be well aerated and loose enough to drain excessive water. We must ensure that the soil should have good water holding capacity but no water clogging is allowed. To make the soil porous we should add a good amount of vermicompost, well rotted organic compost and sun dried cow dung manure. Addition of compost to the soil not only makes the soil porous enough but enhances the nutrient content of the soil. Select a container deep and wide enough so there is enough room for lateral and longitudinal growth of the bulbs. Bulbs have tendency to divide hence a wide enough container doesn't restricts the division of the bulb. Once the bulbs seems to be root bound in the container, we should start dividing the bulbs and plant them into separate containers. After the bulb has flowered, reduce the amount of water and leave them in the container for 2-3 weeks so that it regains all its energy it wasted in producing flowers. At this dormant stage we should start separating the bulbs into different containers.

During flowering phase add adequate amount of water and keep the plant where it recieves good amount of sunlight. Soon after flowering move them to a cooler place and cut short the amount of water as the bulbs tends to go to dormancy at this stage.

The nutrient content of the soil is enriched by the compost and the manure present in the soil itself. I have added oilseed cakes and neem cakes so as to control pesticides. Addition of compost tea at regular intervals encourages healthy growth of the plant.

Below are some of the plants i have grown in my terrace garden.

Wonderful peace lilly.

Curcuma bulbs have finally bloomed. 

Kaempferia flowers display an exotic color combination of wate with purple. Definitely an attention seeker.

I have been growing amaryllis for years. Every year they surprise me with their vibrant flowers.

Hope you will find this post informative. Keep visiting, i will soon be back with my next post. Till then Happy monsoon and Happy gardening!