Hello!

Last year, I attempted to save my 2021 ranunculus corms for 2022, but failed miserably. I followed all recommendations from my county extension and other online sources to a T. I did the following steps:

1) Waited until the foliage died back

2) Snipped off the stems

3) Rinsed them meticulously with a hose to get any dirt/debris off

4) Separated the corms, as many had quadrupled in size (but only the ones that gave easily, because I did not want to introduce any wounds in the corms)

5) Dried them in the hot Kansas sun for at least 2 days

6) When they were indeed dry as a bone, I sprinkled powdered sulfur to keep disease at bay

5) Kept them in a cool spot in the basement until the following spring

I also bought new corms for 2022 just to compare the performance. This early spring, when I presprouted them, I was dismayed too see that despite my efforts, about 90% of last year's corms did not sprout. When I turned out the soil to plant the ones that did come up, I was even more dismayed to see that the majority of last year's corms had rotted! Not a single of the new (2022) corms had rotted. I had read that many farmers do not save corms because they don't typically come back as strongly as newly-purchased corms (and it just isn't worth the effort to do so), but I didn't think that the corms would have just plain rotted.

Has anyone had experience successfully saving corms? Any ideas as to why the majority of the corms would have rotted? Did I miss a step? Should I have not rinsed them? Thank you advance for your help!