Watering: When?

[JPB]

When should I start watering again my one year old bulbs? (They have been in a dry summer trest):

Fritillaria verticillata
F. stenanthera
F. collina
Korolkiwia sewerzowii
Calochortus bruneaunis
Gladiolus illyricus
Narcissus cantabricus

Thanks a lot in advance, HAns

[Darren]

Hi Hans,

I'm sure that you will get varying views on this but I start to water my one year old bulbs in mid - late august (around now), which is earlier than for the adult ones. Seedlings are more tolerant of water and less tolerant of drought in pots than mature bulbs. My mature Korolkowia (frit) sewezowii were already rooting strongly when I repotted them last weekend. European Gladiolus such as illyricus don't tend to like very dry summer conditions anyway, same goes for Frit verticillata. The Calochortus and F. stenanthera I might water later than other bulbs if adult but seedlings should be OK watered now. This is also when I sow and water bulb seed.

To summarise - I watered all my one-year-olds last weekend.  

I will water the adult bulbs the first weekend in september except Calochortus, Tulipa, some Corydalis & Juno iris which will be in October/November.

[JPB]

Thank you, Darren, for your most helpful post!!! It will be a busy weekend for me

Cheers, Hans

[Maggi Young]

Yes, get busy with the water Hans.... give them a good soaking.

[JPB]

A good soaking: YES!

[Lesley Cox]

That second sentence in Darren's post is VERY IMPORTANT! First year seedlings of almost any bulbs are not tolerant of very dry conditions. Not the way mature bulbs are. Even frits or irises which require a long summer dry rest, like junos for instance, do not like to be bone dry in their first year. My answer is usually to have them just SLIGHTLY damp, or dry for only short periods with a shading cloth over them so they are cooler than they would be if fully dry and exposed to full sun. (All my bulbs and seedlings are outdoors, so they get what comes from the sky.) For years, after drying off the pots of little seedlings, I couldn't understand why, when the new growth should have been starting, I found there was nothing at all in the pots. They had just faded away instead of remaining fresh and plump. If the drainage is good, the little ones should stand slight dampness through their first "dormant" season.

[mark smyth]

watering this weekend! I'll have to get repotting finished today. Lots of Crocus lying in empty pots