Bulbs that rot are usually planted in cold wet poorly drained soil. What you suggest is possible, but it would be better to correct your bulb culture to avoid the rotting problem. Al

Thank you for taking the time to respond, i thought i did everything right when i potted the bulbs up i used potting soil added LOTS of perlite to increase drainage and when i planted them i didnt water them because the soil was slightly moist anyway so i cannot understand why they would rot and go slimey and some of them had thick green/blue mold on them even after they had a sprout coming out of them. Is it possible the soil could be too hot? As they are in direct sunlight and some of the containers are only 8" maybe they are getting too hot? Do you know of the optimum temperature for summer bulbs to grow?

Thanks!

jerem - which summer bulbs, please?

I'm guessing Gladiolus. Personally, I'd skip the perlite. And any potting mix that is peat-based or is sort-of powdery. Both of these tend to hold a lot of moisture even if the top looks 'dry'.

If you want to try with a sandy mix - don't use sand.

Go for sharp grit about 5mm that you might find at a builders' supplies depot. 7&10mm mix is probably too coarse.

Go one handful of grit to two of potting mix, or even bagged commercially made compost. Mix together thoroughly in a big gardening bowl (easier than buckets).

Use small pots. Two to three inches because they are only starter pots after all. Not for the total grow cycle.

Barely cover the bulbs with mix. An inch over the top should do.

Water them once. Put in a warm and sheltered place out of direct sunlight - where you'll be able to see them at least once a day.

Pick a 'sacrifice bulb' and label it. That's the one you check on. Even shake it out of the pot so you can check the roots. After about a week or even two.

Either pot on or plant out before the roots sneak through the drain holes, - of which there need to be many.

If it's something like Gloriosa, be very prudent with the water and give no more unless the mix is near-dry. When the leaves are showing, give more water, a well-fed and well-drained location, stakes if needed, and plenty of light/warmth.

The bulbs i have are:

Crocosmia Lucifer
Anemone De Caen
Ixia Corn Lily
Tigridia
Acidanthera
Triplet Lily
Purple Ranunculus
Zephyranthes Fairy Lily
Tuberose

I just ended up potting them up in potting soil in 10" pots, the soil was slightly moist and i didn't water afterwards. I also dusted the bulbs and soil around it in sulfur to maybe help it from mold. I REALLY hope these dont rot or die. Time will tell, ill update when i figure out if they live or die :) Thanks!

If you are not watering at planting time, do they receive any water before green shoots appear?

I water well at planting so the soil makes good contact with the basal plates; no more water until growth shows.

de Caen anemones & Ixia are fall planted here for spring bloom. Not considered summer bloomers.

I was only planning on watering when either the soil is noticeably dry or when i see some growth, this is my first year growing bulbs so im a newbie at it but the last couple pots i potted(using cheaper supermarket bulbs) all rotted and molded before growing. I wasn't sure if it was because a) cheap bulbs b) watered too much or c)to warm so i bought some better quality bulbs at a bulb shop and was not going to water as i did previously to try to keep them from rotting/molding on me. If im going about this all wrong that would be great to know, its a learning process and it takes time to go from knowing nothing about bulbs to actually trying to succeed. Today i tested to soil tempature of the bulbs i potted and they were around 90F is that too hot? Could that cause the bulbs to rot/mold?

Have a great day.

Jejem,

Thanks for clarifying you are just beginning with bulbs. The type of pot used makes a difference. Dark plastic is going to get very hot in the sun. Since you getting 90 degrees I would place them in semi-shade or shade and do NOT water again until growth appears!!! High temps + moisture = rot.

Now for the bulbs you have. Many are spring bloomers so it is likely you were supplied with last season's stock. Spring blooming bulbs will begin shipping in late summer/fall. Find bulb information (regarding bloom time) at the library, used book store, or online. Re-reading your list I think most are spring bloomers. Most are also tender/semi tender and will not survive zone 5b winters. Any bulb from So. Africa is not for your climate.

Summer blooming bulbs include gladiolus & dahlias which I think also have to be dug for winter in your zone.

Since you already have these tender bulbs, put the pots out of sight. If no growth appears by September, they are probably no good. Loosen the soil on top to check. If they are still firm I would water once again and allow to almost dry out before moving indoors. Overwinter them in a basement or garage. Ones you can leave outside for spring bloom include chionodoxa, tulips (use Darwins for naturalizing), crocus, some alliums, lilies and daffodils.

A google search on hardy bulbs will give more information. Remember it is your job to be informed, not the seller's.

Leave the Ixias dormant for now, potted up. Shelter from strong sun and, if it should chance to rain - don't worry so long as your mix is free-draining.

I know this might sound a little weird...if you have friendly weeds such as little pansies - let them grow in the pot over the summer. They help to blot up any excess moisture. Avoid Oxalis, if you can. Ixia spawn is tricky enough without adding 'could-be' lookalikes. Not the greatest in pots, though they will flower. Did the packet mention colours at all? Or was it 'mixed'? There is one that comes later than the others with delicate mauve flowers but they all need to be growing over the winter. For comparison - mine are currently up 12" and more, gleefully ignoring the repeated downpours. :-(((

Same with the Anemones.

The Tigridias might surprise you with a late run. See if you can manage just morning sun.

The Brodaieas. Hmmm. Maybe. They're not fond of sharing space or being over-shadowed, I do know. And they're lovely when flowering. Worth persisting.

Acidanthera are well worth persisting with as they flower later in the season. (Well, they do here.)

And the Zephyranthes can pop up any time. They're quite drought tolerant and come into flower after autumn rains. Z citrina is gracious enough to flower for many months - from spring into a zone 9 winter and they are splendid in pots, if you can obtain them.

For summer, and in pots - see if you can get hold of 'bedding dahlias'. They're quite tough, don't mind pot life, and are generous with flowers. Not particularly fragrant, IMO, but they make up for it by flowering for ages. And they can be kind to kind beginners who feed and water them and snip off the dead heads.

You might also want to look at Agapanthus and Hippeastrum, both of which flower over summer. And Agapanthus will be easy with the temperatures. You can get dwarf versions, and they do well in pots.

I moved all of my pots out of direct sunlight into shaded area to try to keep them from getting too hot, maybe that's why they were rotting and molding because of the heat? I checked on some of the bulbs in the potting soil to see if they have any activity and i noticed some of the fairy lilys with some white roots coming out the bottom, but the anemomes were kind of soft and looking like the may be starting to rot, the buttercups haven't changed at all but the tigridias might be getting moldy, i couldn't tell if the powdery stuff on them is mold or the sulfur i dusted them with. Is there a soil temp i should try to keep them at until they start growing to keep them from rotting or molding? Thanks!

If this is double-telling - my apologies. Plants form bulbs to survive long hot dry spells. They can survive for months without water, as a bulb. They can do so in quite small pots, although some species will object and shrivel/die.

Anemones seem to have this 'thing' about being wet at 'the wrong time'. They go like chewing gum and collapse. If they're planted at the right time and go through their foliage season they seem to be largely immune. Try growing them on out of season in a home garden - and they turn to mush. Often. It's a gamble.

As you are concerned about the effect of high air temps on your soil temperatures there are steps you can take.

One is 'double potting'. You take a pot that's bigger by at least an inch all round than the one you've got planted up. Part fill it with soil, or coarse untreated sawdust, or fine gravel. Put the plant pot in. Fill in the gaps between the two pot walls and add some of the filler as a mulch over your plant pot. The outer pot acts as insulation. It MUST have very good drainage - lots of generous holes at the base.

On a larger scale - make a raised bed using whatever you have on hand (it doesn't have to be beautiful) - bricks, old planks, small logs, rocks... As tall as your pots. Put them in and fill in the gaps with sawdust or soil or grit. It has to let water and air through. Bulbs despise standing in damp while they're dormant (with some exceptions).

The plus about this system is that you can put up a frame and drape it with shade cloth, too. Or fleece, or some sort of glazing, for over winter.

It's hard to say which temperature would suit. Underground is usually cooler than above ground - even a few inches down.

When a bulb is dormant - like the buttercups - dry matters more.

Often, when a bulb has grown in a pot, or in the ground, it tends to form a 'habitat' that suits. The roots rot away and leave little 'drains' and the decomposed material also holds a small amount of residual moisture that binds the soil. The rotted leaves also change the nature of the environment around the bulb. It's similar to a cocoon of insulation, from what I've seen.

With freshly planted bulbs that won't be there until after the first growing season - which makes them vulnerable to excess damp, moulds, and planting that is too deep or shallow.

Is the sulphur working to suppress the mould?

And that was great news about the roots!