I have a couple of pots of bulbs outside enjoying the summer, and I plan on spraying them with Schultz's 3 in 1 insecticide/miticide/fungicide before bringing them back indoors this fall... I'll also quarantine them for a little while before adding them to the general bulb population... just to be sure there are no nasty hitch hikers aboard!

I probably should have attended to the re-potting a bit earlier in the season, but I didn't have the time... so now, I'm slowly getting the bulbs that really need it re-potted into larger pots with fresh medium.

I plan on purchasing a few new bulbs this coming fall, and that will take care of my winter color... the bulbs I already have will most likely start blooming next spring... it will be interesting to see which ones bloom naturally and which will require more help before they'll flower on their own schedule.

Hi Anna! I bet if your ammies could just talk, they'd be thanking you right now for giving them the chance to grow outside which I really consider is the best for them. You are seeing a big difference in their growth right now with the leaves getting greener and bigger because of the sunlight they are receiving. This makes them manufacture the food/fertilizer you are feeding them a lot better.

Bringing them outside was very hard for me too...before. It is like letting go of your child when they are ready to leave your house to live on thier own. "Exposed to the elements" is so true. BUT, doing this would make them stronger. Regular spraying of insecticide and fungicide would almost take care of those bugs. If you are going to give them their 8 weeks dormancy/sleep, which I do, spray them with a systemic insecticide a few days before you cut all the leaves (Ouch!, this is a very hard experience but they appreciate this and gets rid of bugs too if they have some), then spray/drench the bulbs with fungicide and then store. If fed right now in their active growing stage, they should wake up like "Sleeping Beauty". :-)

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Thanks very much Jodi and Maria for your encouraging words - I feel like I made the right decision to take them outside (although some are still indoors in a very sunny window). I definitely will spray as advised before they all come in for their slumber.

Hi all, I made a big decision several weeks ago and took my babies outside. I was so afraid because of my bad experience back in 2000, but so far so good. They get morning sun and late afternoon shade. It has been terribly hot and some of the leaves are actually a bit discolored from the hot sun. Sometimes they are actually hot to touch, but then the shade comes. Everyone looks great so far. Even those bulbs my friend sent from her yard in FL are growing beautifully - don't expect them to bloom for at least another year, though. And Ludwig's Dazzler rewarded me with another scape of four flowers, which have now turned into four huge pods.

Maria, what do you use for your fungicide/insecticide (if you don't mind me asking)? Also, what is the deciding factor on when to bring inside? -- and that's when you cut off all those nice green leaves? I know Soultan does that, but then his go into a fridge. Mine just come back inside and go back under the deck in my little greenhouse where they sleep until about February. Then it's like unwrapping a gift as the buds start to appear -- I actually count them :-)

We are so fortunate to have this forum. It affords us of lesser experience the opportunity to learn so much, for which I'm very grateful, and to share so much.

I avidly read everything in this forum, and I peruse a few of the other forums for information, as well... GW is quite a wonderful community, and I've learned so much by reading and sharing! Just since last summer, I feel like I've grown immensely as a gardener, especially in my knowledge of bulbs! We're very fortunate to have this forum, and to have the myriad other forums to read for all of our gardening needs!

The outdoor gardens and proposed projects have kept me so busy this year, that I haven't had time to devote to my bulbs. I've been sorely neglecting them and their care... there are many that need re-potting, and I know that I should get some of them out to enjoy the summer sun... I'm just so fearful of insect and weather damage... I've already had snails feasting on my bulb seedlings! I may just bite the bullet and take some outside, so I can at least get my "jungle" straightened up and the windows cleaned!

Since I'm constantly fighting my illness, I can only work in small blocks of time... I clean the kennel every morning, do a few hours of garden work... then I must rest. If I feel decent after a rest, I may go back out to tackle a little bit more in the gardening arena. These past few days have just been way too hot and humid to spend more than a few short hours laboring outdoors, though!

I'm curious, too, as to what Maria and others use to clean up their potted bulbs before bringing them back indoors... and when they feel is the right time to bring them in... I know it must before frost, but how soon before? Do you have a set date you adhere to?

I spray them with Orthenex a week or two before my scheduled cut-off date when I bring all of them inside. Here in my zone, I set that at first week of November. Average low temps. during that month here in my area would usually fall in the low 40s. Their growth by that time would be a lot slower anyway, so might as well put them to sleep.

Once they are inside the garage, no more watering for maybe 2 weeks. This usually would make them drop their leaves. Some won't...believe me. Pink Star, which I experimented on last winter and did not cut the leaves, maintained her leaves the whole time from fall to spring.
Then it's time to cut ALL the leaves, mother bulb and bulblets. Clean the bulbs of dirt and old dried scales. Spray/drench with fungicide. I use Mancozeb as I have been adviced by a lot of sources to use fungicide that has copper or zinc. I do paint the cuts with Captan paste to kinda seal them. After these, I then let them rest (store). It takes me almost a whole month to put the whole collection to rest.

They will be the prettiest looking sleeping bulbs at first but eventually, they will dry out and shrink a bit. Some bulblets would even put out new leaves and would refuse to sleep. Don't worry about this for once you repot them and start to water them in spring, healthy bulbs WOULD wake up.

Ok, here's a series of pics I just organized:

Ammies in late summer/fall before they were put to rest.
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Winter resting bulbs in the garage. Not too pretty anymore but they are fine if you did the pre-storage stuff.
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Forced to awake ammies inside the house late winter/early spring.
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Some ammies waking up in their own time Spring '08. They do not wake up all at the same time. I had some waking up till June.
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And here's a link to last year's post about storing you might want to read.

Here is a link that might be useful: Storing Bulbs with Mr. CB

Thanks, Maria! Great information! I wish I had a good place to put my bulbs to sleep... but, one garage is not heated and will definitely freeze... the other garage is attached to a heated kennel, and the temperatures will fluctuate too much... perhaps the basement would be better. It's rather dark, and it's cool and above freezing all the time.

In my situation, I think it's best to re-pot as many bulbs as I can now... and then, do the rest in spring. Normally, I would re-pot them all in spring, but the time has gotten away from me due to all the other things I've been busy with.

As I recall, when I only had the one bulb, I would re-pot it after flowering... I would clean it up and give it fresh medium and a larger pot, if needed. Many years, I would only top-dress the medium with a bit of fresh soil, and that would keep the bulb happy and growing well.

Now, however, the number of bulbs I have is way too many to get everything done in one day! I don't normally put my bulbs to rest as many do, though... I treat mine as houseplants, and allow them to grow, rest and flower at their own pace.

Either way can be employed with success. Whether you carefully put your bulbs to sleep each fall, or you treat them as houseplants and let them rest on their own schedule, they will reward you with wonderful blooms! I just love these bulbs!