Growing Daffodils in pots
Its easy enough to grow Daffodils in pots but can they be kept in the pots for several years
Well, it seems there are mixed views on the subject. I was always left in doubt whether it would be a success or not.
I had 12 sturdy pots with a 28 cm diameter. Jetfire was the Daffodil I settled for, at about 12 inches tall it is ideal for this rather windy area. Fifteen of these bulbs were planted into each pot, the compost was made up using 50% John Innes No. 3 and 50% of a good quality general garden compost.
These pots were planted up in mid-October and looked excellent come Spring.
Preparation for keeping the bulbs in the pots after blooming
Before I carry on about the preparation of these bulbs in their pots, I will just mention We are now in March 2021 and the show of these Jetfire Daffodils in their second year is excellent, in fact I think they are actually better than last year.
Well to continue, after flowering, was over last year I didn’t want to go through the usual routine of removing the bulbs and storing them and then having to replant them again come Autumn.
Keeping the pots in a sunny position, I dead headed them, leaving the stems and other foliage to completely die down naturally.
The dying down process (Photosynthesis) in itself ensures bulbs are strong enough to give a good show the following year, however, mother nature doesn’t object to a helping hand in certain circumstances.
Whilst the foliage was still green and plentiful in late April I moved the pots to a utility area in the garden which gets a reasonable amount of sunshine.
I gave a high potash liquid fed using Richard Jacksons Flower Power. This was carried out at three fortnightly intervals.
When all the foliage eventually died back completely, I turned the pots on their side to prevent getting water logged. I left them like this all Summer, checking occasionally to make sure they had not completely dried out.
October 2020 arrived, and it was time to move the spots where they could get the most Winter sunshine.
One final thing to do and that was to remove the top two inches of compost from each pot, sprinkle with bone meal and top up with fresh compost.
Will the results be the same next Spring 2022 with this routine, I will keep you informed all going well.
Thank you Pam, wonderful to hear from you.
Well done, Alistair. Your experiment worked with beautiful results. I wish you years of happy daffodils. P. x
Well Brenda, seems I am holding a lot of faffing about for no reason at all.
Good idea Nadezda,, read, read Brenda’s comment, much simpler than I suggest.
I have grown all my Spring Bulbs in pots for years and just give them a good freshen up when I see growth. I do this because I was fed up not remembering where they were planted when foliage died back and I hated the dead foliage making the garden border look untidy. Seemed very simple as I just remove pots after flowering and hide them away again. Yes I do feed too.
Thanks for your experiences Alistair. I always think to not dig up daffodils every fall. I want to try doing the same way and leave the pots into the greenhouse during the winter.
Tete a Tete, another of my favourites, Jetfire is also worth trying Ellen
Tulips in bloom already, beats my Daffs Francie.
Alistair, your daffodil pots are a smashing success! You were so careful with them. I looked up average winter low temperatures in Aberdeen and found 34-35 degrees F. In February we had a cold spell down to -10 degrees F, here in Missouri. I did buy three pots of pink tulip bulbs in late February and potted them with the pansies and now they are ready to bloom. That was cheating but made me happy to see them.
That’s interesting, thank you. They look beautiful. I have given up on the tall daffodils, they have flopped all over the place. I’m only planting tête-à-tête from now on. They are much more sturdy!