How to Store Fall Bulbs
- 1). Dig up fall bulbs once they are done blooming. Wait until the foliage is dying off, which occurs after the first frost of the season. Insert a trowel under each bulb, deep enough to avoid roots, and then gently lift each bulb from the soil.
- 2). Cut off foliage that remains on the bulb; all old stems should be removed.
- 3). Put the bulbs under running water to clean off excess soil. Corms, such as crocus and gladiolus, should not get wet. Brush the soil off them to clean them instead.
- 4). Lay out newspaper on a table in a warm spot that gets direct sunlight. It should have good ventilation. Spread the bulbs out to dry them and leave them there for three to seven days.
- 5). Pour fungicidal dust into a paper bag. Drop the bulbs into the paper bag, and then move them around to coat all the surfaces with fungicidal dust. This will protect them when they are being stored.
- 6). Pour dry peat moss into other paper bags. Drop the fall bulbs into the moss after they are dusted with fungicidal dust.
- 7). Store the paper bags in a spot that is cool and dry. Keep them there until you are ready to plant them next season.
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