Jan 9, 2009

First time bulbs…

Finally I did brave to plant the bulbs that my sis bought from Germany. I’m glad I did it at least now. It’s been a month since she gave it to me. I delayed it for the next day, next day, and … next day, but the next day never seemed to come. We even bought two plastic pots (I wanted to try the plastic ones this time for a change). I was so excited on seeing that my sis got me TULIPS and CROCUS! I was all goggling at the pictures of the beautiful flowers.

But, I did a grave mistake by not storing them in refrigerator but left them completely closed in a plastic cover and left it in a corner. I was not sure why I was scared to keep them in refrigerators. Stupid me! Well, my sis also sent me two blocks of potting soil blocks that you could soak in four litres of water to get seven litres of potting mix in 15 minutes! Lo! I was all ready to plant them and planted six crocus bulbs with Chamomile in one pot and yesterday I opened the tulips to plant them, but to my shock seven bulbs were attacked by fungi! I was spared only three :(! Stuffed the rest with crocus and prayed that all of them would grow well!

Since this is my first time planting bare bulbs, I’m still nervous about them sprouting and growing well! I palms enjoined and my lips muttering prayers for them! Join me, yes, like that. Good!

15 comments:

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Ayayay, how very sad Chandramouli, well they say one learn by the mistakes. Now we hope that your crocus bulbs will grow and soon give you joy, do keep us informed.
Have a great friday / Tyra xoxo

Green thumb said...

O dear! That must have been pretty disappointing. Anyways, no one ever became anything without having committed mistakes on the way. Best of Luck with the rest of your plants:-)

tina said...

Good luck to the bulbs! I think they will surprise you with their lovely color.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the rest will delight you with their bright colors & beautiful blooms. :)

Anonymous said...

I know how disappointed you must have been, but I'm sure the remaining bulbs will give you great joy when they bloom. And be sure to enjoy some chamomile tea too!

Chandramouli S said...

Hi Tyra: I'm looking at those cuties every now and then, praying they'd give out leaves.

GT: Hi! It's been long since I've seen you. Guess you were busy. Happy New Year! Thank you so much. I need all the luck... I mean my bulbs :D

Tina: Aww! A sweet thing to say! I wish your words come true! Thank you so much.

Racquel: Hiya! I hope the same!

Robin: Aha! Chamomile Tea! I'm eagerly waiting for those to germinate. I was just powder - the seeds were!

Randy said...

Chandramouli,
I can't believe I've missed all these post. The way the web page was being stored it was showing the last entry to be December 31! You have been busy! I l-o-v-e the Amaryllis, they are one of my all time favorites! Get well soon--Randy

Chandramouli S said...

Thank you, Randy. I was wondering the same about my blog list too. May be something wrong at Blogger.com? My blog list doesn't get updated properly...

Anonymous said...

I know how frustrating it can be. Trust me your frustration will vanish once the rest of them show up.:).

I am big fan of Crocuses..Our wishes are with you.

The pot mix looks a lot like coir pith. Please check if it is just coir pith (without fertilizer additives) or a potting mix that contains all a plant needs.

BTW, was there any issues with customs while brining these bulbs/seeds. I have my bro coming from germany..so curious to know ..

Happy gardening
gg

Chandramouli S said...

GG: I too thought it was just coir pith and asked my sis to translate the instructions and she said it contains all that a plant requires and just that you need to add fertilizer to it before planting - which again is not really necessary (I did add a bit, all the same).
She mailed the soil blocks to me and regarding the bulbs and seeds my sis brought it with her and had no issues with customs at all.

Jean Campbell said...

I'm late to this post, but wanted to say that if the mold was blue mold and not eaten into the bulb, it will not harm your bulbs.

Tulips do need chill. Have you room in the refrigerator to squeeze in the tulip pots, in a plastic bag for hygiene? I chilled mine after they were potted. There must not be apples or similar fruit in the refrigerator; the ethylene gas kills the bloom bud.

Anonymous said...

Chandramouli,
Nice to find a informative blog. I am a fellow Chennaite, mad about gardening though I have started it just recently. Good work and pls let me know if ur tulips survived?

Chandramouli S said...

Sorry Jean for the really late reply, as I didn't notice this comment. The mold had eaten through all the bulbs so it was gone forever :(

Hi Ally, Nice to meet a fellow Chennaite. My tulips died :( Which was expected but I was hoping against hope that they would survive. It was my mistake not to have refrigerated them :(. I'll may be ask my sis to get another batch...

Anonymous said...

Sad that the tulips didnt make it!I read from the previous comments that there werent any customs problem in getting the seeds. Could you please confirm that. I am infact trying to get a few seeds, so just wanted to cross check.

Chandramouli S said...

I'm not sure about snail-mailing the seeds but if someone's coming over, they sure can carry the seeds.