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I gather it's wise to wait until November to plant tulip bulbs due to possibility of disease in the ground. Does this rule apply if they are to be planted into tubs containing fresh compost?




Answers

 

Not necessarily, but there's no guarantee, depends how the compost was produced. It's Tulip Fire that's the risk, a fungal problem which can inhabit soil - modern potting composts are produced with a large percentage of composted materials, so provided the composting process was carried out efficiently, then it shouldn't contain the sclerotia that causes the disease. Information on Tulip Fire here

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=252

but I've planted hundreds of tulips in different gardens, in the soil, over 40 years, and never once seen a case of Tulip Fire, although to be fair, I probably always planted late October rather than now.

11 Sep, 2017

 

Thank you very much for such a quick response. The compost is purchased from a reliable supplier so I think I can safely go ahead in the next few weeks. I'll look at the website you recommend.

11 Sep, 2017

 

Our tulip bulbs stay in the ground year round and we've never had problem but, they are all species tulips and as such not prone to tulip fire.

11 Sep, 2017

 

I am also thinking of tulips at moment but sadly they've always been dug up by squirrels. Thinking of planting in tub in garage n then sticking in the ground when they sprout. Would that work?

13 Sep, 2017

 

Not really - they need to be outdoors exposed to the elements, and if you tried to transplant when they were growing, you'd disrupt the roots they'd produced. I suppose you could plant up and move them outside in, say, late November/early December, when the squirrels aren't so busy and have finished burying conkers and stuff - that's usually why they end up digging up bulbs, they're actually trying to bury things. But best to leave them in the pots once they start growing.

13 Sep, 2017

 

Alternatively cover the bulbs with a fine mesh which is well tucked in around them - that might just keep the squirrels off

13 Sep, 2017

 

In my experience, fine mesh doesn't work, they just pull it off or gnaw through it. What did work was an old fridge rack with two inverted empty pots either side, weighted down with bricks either end. The empty pots were just to provide more support for the fridge rack. Looked awful all winter, but it was in the back garden, I moved it to the front when they started growing.

But not everyone has bricks and a fridge rack available!

13 Sep, 2017

 

Bloody squirrels.

13 Sep, 2017

 

Yea, they can be a right pain -- I had to invest in a squirrel proof nutfeeder in the end - my balcony's on the third floor, with no tree within reach, I couldn't understand how the little devils were getting onto it - then I saw one shinning up the wall, at the corner, and onto the balcony. It was pretty funny watching them trying to bite their way into the feeder... they gave up, never bother now. But I daren't put out fat balls, they'll have eaten those by lunchtime... I did have a young squirrel on it last autumn - this spring, about 5 baby horse chestnut trees started growing out of the troughs, so obviously he'd planted them in there!

14 Sep, 2017

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