Do I need to dig up daffodil bulbs - step-by-step instructions for digging and thinning

Bulbous plants are popular among gardeners. Daffodils are especially in demand in the garden, because they are one of the first to delight with their flowering, and their cultivation does not require special conditions. When to dig up daffodil bulbs and when to plant them is of interest to all beginners. Daffodils lay flower buds in the summer - read more about all this in this article.

Do I need to dig up daffodils every year?

These flowers are quite delicate and do not like to be disturbed too often. They prefer to grow for a long time in one flowerbed, on average 4-5 years without transplanting or dividing the bulbs.

It is not recommended to dig up tubers before 5-6 years of being in the same soil. As an exception, you can take planting material 3 years after planting. However, it should be borne in mind that many varieties may weaken and not bloom within the prescribed period next year, and some are in a “dormant” state even for 2 growing seasons after transplantation.

Important! Even after the leaves fall, daffodil tubers do not stop breathing and losing moisture.
Therefore, you need to dig them up and have time to plant them in 1-2 months.
There is no need to remove the flower from open ground for the winter every year and store it until the next season.

This procedure is allowed only in the following cases:

1. Planned transplantation and reproduction.
2. There are suspicions of root diseases or they have been detected.

The plant tolerates winter frosts well and loves peace. Any unnecessary actions to move and separate bulbous nests for no apparent reason can lead to its death.

Preparing daffodils for storage

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In order for the bulbs to be stored well, they must be properly prepared for this procedure. To do this, after digging, the daffodils are laid out under a canopy or in any other cool and dry place in the shade, leaving to dry. When the top shell dries, the soil can be picked without any problems.

Important!

To quickly remove soil from the bulbs, do not soak them in the same basin of water. After all, if one bulb is sick, the disease will be transmitted to everyone else through the water. It’s better to dry the bulbs, then the soil will crumble on its own.

Clean bulbs are inspected for damage

Clean bulbs are inspected for damage. If there is damage, you must immediately put such bulbs in a separate box. Soft bulbs are not suitable for further cultivation; they can be discarded immediately. If there are signs of rot or pests, you can try to cut them back to healthy tissue and sprinkle the cut area with wood ash, but the chance that such a bulb will take root is small. Most often, gardeners simply throw away or burn damaged planting material.

All healthy bulbs should be washed and soaked in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15 minutes. After this procedure, drying is carried out. The bulbs are stored in a ventilated, warm place for 2-3 weeks.

Interesting!

To make it easier to navigate, it is necessary to sort the bulbs by variety before inspecting, washing and drying. If this is not done immediately, the varieties will be difficult to distinguish later.

Do I need to dig up daffodils after flowering?

In those regions where climatic conditions in winter lead to a decrease in soil and air temperatures below -18°C, narcissus bulbs should be removed after flowering. Under such conditions, the tuber is not able to produce useful substances for the formation of buds and simply dies.

After flowering, you can dig up and store the bulbous material in a dry, dark place for the winter when:

• the plant shows obvious signs - the flowers have become small, the leaves have become dark yellow;
• 3 years after planting, the nests have grown greatly and interfere with each other.

The most suitable time is summer (June, July). It is necessary that at least 50 days pass after the end of flowering. This is the very period when all processes that lead to the formation of tubers completely end. Before planting next season, planting material is stored in nutrient soil.

How spring bulbs grow

All early bulbous flowers listed at the beginning of the text belong to different families:

tulips - lily;

daffodils - amaryllis;

crocuses - iris;

hyacinths - asparagus.

However, in addition to early flowering, they have several common properties.

First, the mother bulb annually forms daughter bulbs, which are “pushed” upward towards the warmth and sun, while at the same time it gradually goes deeper into the ground until it disappears completely. The more complex and beautiful the hybrid, the faster this substitution occurs. In some species varieties, the mother bulb remains viable for only 2 seasons.

Secondly, the formation of large and full-fledged flower buds for the next season, for example, in tulips, occurs at a temperature not lower than +20-22 degrees. In the soil at the depth of the bulb, such temperatures occur only in the geographic regions where botanical species grow, but are unattainable in Russia, with the exception of perhaps the southernmost regions.

Third, the above-ground part of the plant dies off completely when the bulb goes dormant before the next season. Spring bulbs are invisible during this period - they are difficult to dig up for transplanting to a new place, and can be easily damaged when loosening the soil.

In summary, it makes sense to dig up spring bulbous flowers in order to preserve their varietal characteristics, obtain large flowers and simplify the process of planting new flower beds for the next season. An additional argument in favor of digging is the problem of monoculture cultivation: when one type of plant remains in one place for a long time without replanting, it accumulates diseases, attracts traditional pests and depletes the soil, drawing out from it the microelements it needs.

How and when to dig up daffodils

Nests of bulbs grow greatly by the fourth or fifth year of life, they are crowded and due to this flowering is reduced.

The following signs that the flower exhibits will help you find out when it is necessary to replant:

• yellowed leaves during the growing season;
• the size of the flower has become very small;
• the bush has decreased in height;
• the buds dry out;
• constantly drying out and breaking off the tips of the leaf plate;
• the number of leaves or bulbs on the plant decreases;
• lodging of the bush is observed;
• there are obvious signs of disease (growth slows down, roots darken, bulbs rot and dry out, plaque appears on the scales, etc.).

Most often, they begin to dig for replanting when the tubers grow strongly. Which is directly affected by the variety and growing conditions. A good period for this is early spring or mid-autumn. Do not rush to dig up the flower before the leaves turn completely yellow. The process of accumulation of nutrients must completely occur. This may take 2 months, and in damp weather it may take even longer.

Important! The dug up planting material is cleaned of damaged, rotten, pest- and disease-affected bulbs. Healthy

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wash in running water and leave for 15 minutes.
in a solution of potassium permanganate (dark pink) or fungicide. There are several specific rules for digging up daffodils:

1. Use small garden forks to avoid damaging the bulbous nests.
2. The remaining leaves of the excavated material are cut off and the roots are left.
3. Dry in a cool, dark place with good ventilation without direct sunlight for 30 minutes.
4. The dry tubers are shaken off the ground.

Video: How and when to dig up daffodils

The bulbs retain their viability if the scales do not dry out completely even when all the roots fall off. So that the plant practically does not feel the transplant, you need to dig it out with a lot of soil and carefully.

Dates for digging bulbs: favorable and unfavorable days, tables

Daffodils are not dug up immediately after flowering has finished. It is necessary to give the bulbs time to accumulate nutrients. Then they will be better preserved until planting in the fall. The readiness of daffodils for digging can be judged by the appearance of the bush:

• the leaves have turned yellow;
• the stems wither, causing the nest to fall apart;
• the tips of the leaves dry out.

The bulbs are dug up without waiting for the tops to dry completely. Otherwise, it is difficult to determine where the nest is located. Digging at random can damage the bulbs.

By the Moon

Daffodils can be dug up and stored until planting in the fall in 2022 according to the lunar calendar. According to astrologers, it is better to harvest bulbs during the waning phase of the moon. Additionally, zodiac constellations are taken into account. The bulbs store well if they are dug up when the Moon is in the sign of Taurus, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Leo or Gemini.

By growing region

The timing of digging up bulbs depends on the climatic conditions of the area:

• in the south of Russia, daffodils are harvested at the end of June;
• in the middle zone and in the Moscow region, bulbs are dug up until mid-July;
• in the Urals and Siberia, daffodils begin to be harvested in early August.

You can’t delay digging up daffodils. Young roots appear on the bulbs, which are easily damaged during digging. Such specimens will not take root after planting in the fall.

How to store bulbs before planting

If you do not plan to immediately transplant into another soil, you can store them at home until autumn (September) in boxes in a dark, cool, ventilated room. It is strictly forbidden to store seed material in plastic bags. Under vacuum conditions, the core will quickly rot.

Did you know? There was a tradition in Prussia

—
the newlywed took daffodil bulbs from her parents’ house and grew them in her new home.
She took good care of it, since it was believed that the well-being of the family depended on the condition of the flower. It should only be stored in open boxes in well-ventilated areas or under a shelter in the garden. The plant produces a poisonous gas that can simply suffocate the bulbs and also harm the health of people or animals.

It is necessary to create coolness so that the roots do not germinate before the due planting date. Optimum temperature +17… +20°С. Flowers are unpretentious to storage conditions (like tulips) and can be planted in open ground both in autumn and spring. On average, it is allowed to keep seed in storage for 1-2 months.

Read more about the timing of transplanting daffodils.

Recommendations and common mistakes

Although transplanting daffodils is not associated with significant difficulties, inexperienced gardeners often make mistakes. When breeding a crop, it is recommended to adhere to several useful rules:

1. The transplant procedure should not be delayed excessively or performed too frequently. In the first case, not only will the splendor of daffodil flowering decrease, but the size of their tubers will also decrease. In the second situation, the culture will be subject to constant stress. After the next transplant, it is not recommended to touch perennial daffodils for three years.
2. It is better to move the crop from place to place in late summer or early autumn. In the spring, the procedure is carried out only in extreme cases; replanting daffodils after flowering in June is also undesirable.
3. If you had to move the bulbs at the beginning of the season, the work should be done immediately after the snow melts and the soil has minimally warmed up. Perennial daffodils require at least a month to form roots. If the procedure is carried out late, the crop will not bloom either in the current season or in the next one.

After transplanting, perennials need regular watering. However, the amount of moisture must be carefully controlled. Plants should not be flooded; in waterlogged soil, the bulbs will begin to rot and die even before roots form. The soil should be moistened as it dries; during the rainy season, additional water should be completely abandoned.

After transplantation, the perennial crop requires periodic feeding. It is necessary to use phosphorus-potassium preparations. The plant cannot be fertilized with manure - it burns the roots and bulbs and causes the death of the plantings.

After autumn transplantation, daffodils cannot be insulated before the onset of cold weather, otherwise they will begin to rot and rot.

When is the best time to plant

To see beautiful buds next season, it is best to plant the plant in the fall. The soil should be warm and well-watered in advance. It is necessary to take into account what the weather will be like on the day of planting, including the presence of precipitation; the best option is to plant on a cloudy day, before rain.

In order for the bush to take root sufficiently, it is advisable to plant it before the first frosts set in 3-4 weeks. The main thing is to control that the air temperature does not drop below +10°C for several weeks after the tubers are planted. You can monitor temperature fluctuations using a thermometer. If it has decreased, the seedlings should be covered with fallen leaves.

For the middle zone, the optimal planting time is the second ten days of September. For regions with early frosts and a more severe climate, the best period is late summer.

Treatment of tubers against diseases and pests

Daffodils, like most other bulbous plants, are susceptible to the development of fungal diseases:

• Penicillium rot leads to irreversible consequences. The tubers rot quite quickly that the gardener does not even have time to do anything. Infection occurs through contaminated rain/irrigation water or if the bulbs have been stored at low temperatures.
• Sclerotinia is accompanied by the formation of black dots on the bulbs, around which a dense white coating forms a little later. Bulbs affected by the disease die and do not sprout.
• Botrytis (among gardeners it is called gray blossom). It is difficult to identify the disease because during its development, black spots form under the scales on the tuber. Infection occurs in most cases through the soil and through contact with infected bulbs.
• Fusarium or bottom rot. The pathogen infects the plant through the roots. The bulb becomes soft as the disease progresses. A white coating also forms between the dark brown scales. If detected early, the progression of the disease can be stopped.

Note! To prevent bulbs from being damaged by rot, the gardener must follow certain safety measures. Before putting them away for the winter, you need to thoroughly disinfect them. To do this, the bulbs are soaked for 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (manganese).

Appearance of diseased narcissus bulbs

Disinfecting daffodil bulbs in autumn

Tubers can be processed not only in the fall after digging in preparation for storage, but also before planting.

The approach to combating diseases and pest attacks must be comprehensive.
Not only the correct treatment of tubers, but also the prevention of the development of pathologies is of great importance. Daffodils are unpretentious and cute plants that, during their flowering, delight the eye with bright colors. Thanks to a large number of advantageous features, this flowering crop grows in almost every garden plot.

Is it possible to dig up daffodils in August?

It is not advisable to dig up a flower in August, since this is the most favorable period for planting it, especially the second half of the month. It is at this time that active root growth occurs. When extracting and replanting narcissus tubers, you should know that the buds of future flowers are formed when the soil warms up to +16...+18°C.

On average, 2–4 bulbs are formed per year. The signal for digging and replanting is poor flowering of the plant. It is allowed to dig up after 4–6 years, but not earlier than three years after planting, only if planting material for propagation is obtained. Under other circumstances, it is better not to touch the flowers. They are capricious and love tranquility, otherwise they may not bloom next season. They take root well for a long time in the same soil.

Features of growing daffodils

Before you figure out when to dig up daffodil bulbs, you need to familiarize yourself with the general features of growing this plant in your garden.

When to dig up tulip bulbs after flowering

Narcissus is an unpretentious plant to grow and care for, but there are subtleties that you should definitely know. Bulbs should be planted in a place protected from drafts and with plenty of sunlight.

Important! Daffodils should not be planted in areas where other bulbous crops or perennial chrysanthemums grew a year earlier. The most suitable place is after legumes and cucumbers.

The plant loves neutral soil, which has been previously fertilized with rotted humus. If the soil is alkaline, then dolomite flour must be added to its composition; with increased acidity, the indicators are normalized with wood ash. Sand and peat are added to clay soil, and mineral/organic fertilizers and black soil are added to sandy soil.

The place for transplanting daffodils should be open and dry, since high humidity can provoke the development of fungal diseases.