why not just grow them in the ground?

Not hardy in Vermont and you'd need about an acre of them to get an appreciable amount of the stamen threads - You could probably grow them in any regular potting soil - they need good drainage and full sun. It's possible to buy potted crocus in bud so why not try saffron crocus in pots?

Well, someone who doesn't know much about gardening... diving into hydroponics... :o) I wish you luck!

Are you thinking of doing this commercially, or just for your own interest?

You can force crocus bulbs in water, so I would imagine you can grown saffron crocus hydroponically -- but I don't know how well you could carry them over from year to year. Expensive investment, buying all those bulbs for one year! I wish I could contribute any information, but all I know about hydroponics is how to stick a cutting in a glass of water. ;)

Have you tried the hydroponics forum?

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydroponics

I did experiments with various roots in hydro last year & found they propagated better &/or it helped them break dormancy. I have not grown saffron, but my main suggestion would be to pay good attention to aeration as the bulbs can rot. I used a commercial air pump with a bubbler system. There was some root rot, but as long as I kept the rot and my system cleaned it did OK.

My guess is you are trodding new territory with Saffron propagation in hydro. I encourage you to do so, but use soil as a control. I have propagated bulbs in hydro with peat &/or a peat/perlite as a media with good results. My main suggestion would be to use a hydro nutrient and not skimp by using a soil based one.

Here are some related links on bulbs that may be of help:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hydro/msg0110074128834.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hydro/msg0509514223048.html

I live in NY state and would like to grow saffron (hardy only to zone 6), just for my own amusement/culinary adventures. I'm a garden newbie and wouldn't mess with hydroponics. Is there a low-tech approach that might work?

I have some growing here now, and they have been in the ground for about 3 years now. This past fall, the flower production was quite low, but every bulb did have thin leaves. I only have 16 bulbs, and bought more about two years ago, but they all failed to sprout. Because I have s serious problem with voles and other rodents that seem to eat all my bulbs, I made a big steel mesh barrier and buried underneath and along the sides of the bed where they reside. This past fall, I decided to add a lot of bulb fertilizer in hopes that they will produce better this fall. They can only be planted in early fall, so right now, they are not recommended for planting. Removing the bulbs from the soil in Z5 or lower will help to prevent losses due to exteme cold. Another option is to plant them close to a houses' foundation and cover the soil with lots of mulch just after they are flowering and the winter is coming. Mine seem to bloom about mid November. To grow saffron for use in cooking, an acre would give you enough for a few meals. A better way would be to just buy some, from a reputable source, as its found on the internet quite easily. Avoid the type that is ground ito a pouder as they do cut it with tumeric. Whole threads are better and you crush them when adding them to the cooking liquid. Richters in Canada has these for sale, but only in the early fall.

blakekr-

I live in Western NY State. I planted saffron this last year - not enough to amount to much but I'm a plant junkie and I find I learn alot about a plant just by growing it. I'm not sure how it will fair through the winter - that is yet to be seen, but it did sprout and has held its leaves through the winter.

I would really go with what ksrogers said. Try near to your house, on the most sheltered side. Even though you are in Zone 5B your property will have micro-climates in it where it is warmer or colder. This can bump the hardiness Zone in those locations up or down respectively. Those spots are pretty easy to find this time of year - it is generally where you feel warmer or colder around your place. I read once about people in Alaska locating a flower garden over their septic system just to get a bit of a micro-climate bump from the relative warmth of the waste water. While I'm not suggesting you do that, it illustrates how people use those spots to stretch what is possible in their zone. A few saffron bulbs aren't that costly to try it out and see if it works for you. I bought the bulbs I got at my local garden center/nursery. They carried them with the other fall planted bulbs. Just make very sure to look for Crocus sativus which is the saffron crocus. It was much cheaper than buying saffron bulbs from the catalog herb places. Good luck!

FataMorgana

I grow them in a pot as a novelty but they have never bloomed for me here in Raleigh. I bought them at a local garden center one fall and they have spread to fill the pot with bulbs over the years but still no flowers in the fall. They are a winter grower for me and they go completly dormant in the summer.

Usually mine have thn green leaves throughout the summer, then these eem to die out just before they flower and then new leaves grow again. It may be that the pot is too crowded for them as they do like about 4-6 inches of space between each bulb. Also, growing in a cramped pot will reduce any nutrients they need to produce flowers. NC, is fine to grow them right outdoors.