A bright accent of winter and spring holidays can be crocus in a pot. How to care for a plant to get flowering plants by a certain date? It is not difficult to grow crocus indoors if the corms are properly prepared for forcing. It is advisable to use planting material of Dutch selection, in this case the room will be decorated with large flowers of bright color, resembling an elegant bowl in shape.
Crocus, or saffron - the harbinger of spring
Crocuses - herbaceous bulbous perennials, representatives of the genus Saffron, all species belong to the Iris family. Plants begin to vegetate in early spring, colorful buds appear from the ground before narrow long leaves. Crocus corollas, reminiscent of the shape of an old goblet, open wide on a clear day and close in inclement weather. Popularly, these large flowers on a low thin stalk are called the harbingers of spring, decorative onions.
Almost all shades of purple, blue, lilac are found in the color of petals of different species and varieties of crocus, there are varieties and hybrids with white, yellow, pink and purple corolla. Saffron in the wild is found in the countries of the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins, its cultivars have spread around the world. Crocus is bred in the premises in a pot; caring for this plant should maximally recreate conditions resembling temperature changes in the plant’s homeland. At the first stage, the bulbs need heat, and before distillation - in the cold, which happens in the winter in the soil. The entire pre-planting period, the temperature conditions change in stages, so that the bulbs adapt to them.
What crocuses are suitable for distillation indoors
The choice of planting material should be considered carefully, taking into account the characteristics of different groups of varieties of this flowering plant. For example, species common in nature give small buds on the premises. Caring for crocuses - saffron hybrids, chrysanthus - is complicated, its petals often dry up indoors. It is easier to get large flowers from Dutch hybrids created by breeding spring crocus (Crocus vernus).
The most common cultivated species in the wild is found in the Pyrenees mountains and in the Alps, where its single violet or lilac corollas reach a diameter of 5 cm. Cultivars have been obtained from this species, grouped into a group of large-flowered or Dutch crocuses. They are unpretentious, and in size goblet corollas exceed the flowers of a natural species by 2 times. More than 50 varieties are developed that differ in size and color of flowers. There are cultivars with white, purple, blue, yellow, purple petals. Many hybrids are characterized by contrasting transitions of shades, stripes, dashes. Plants reach a height of 15 cm, long narrow leaves appear after the buds. Bulbs of Dutch crocus varieties are covered with brown peel on top.
How to choose in a store corms for distillation
For distillation in the premises used different varieties of saffron. The large-flowered crocus looks very decorative in the room. Most gardeners know how to care for indoor plants at home, but few know how to choose saffron corms to get flowers for the New Year and the Orthodox holiday of the Nativity of Christ. You should pay attention to early hybrids, because late varieties bloom in April – May.
It is better to go to a flower shop for planting material in August or September. At the end of summer, corms of a new crop go on sale. Usually they are removed from the earth after flowering, then stored for some time at temperatures above 30 ° C. In the store you need to inspect the bulbs, choose those that have a diameter of at least 5 or 7-8 cm in a circle. If you plant large specimens, then flowers will appear faster, crocus in a pot will be more magnificent. Care in the next 4–5 weeks consists in storing the corms in a cool and dry place.
How to prepare crocuses from the garden for distillation
How to grow crocus in a pot, how to care for it, if the bulbs are dug in a garden plot, grown in a flower bed? Such material is also suitable for planting. It is better if they are large-flowered varieties of the Dutch group:
- "Flower Record" (dark purple) - most often used for distillation;
- "Remembrans" (purple);
- “Vangart” (light blue, lilac) - early variety;
- "Nigro Boya" (dark purple) - late;
- Joan of Ar (white);
- "Yellow Mammoth" (yellow).
The process of preparing the selected bulbs for distillation takes at least three months. In June, crocuses dig from the ground in a garden plot or in rock gardens. Then, large specimens without visible defects are dried and selected for distillation, which will make a beautiful crocus in a pot. How to care for corms so that the result of distillation is excellent?
Bulb Storage
Duration and temperature conditions of storage of planting material:
- 1 week - at a temperature of 32–34 ° C;
- 2 weeks - 20 ° C;
- 5-6 weeks - 17 ° C;
- 4–5 weeks - at a temperature of 4–9 ° (in the refrigerator or in a dark, cool room with low humidity).
If it is planned to get
blooming crocus earlier, then the cooling period of corms can be shortened. When saffron is distilled for the New Year holiday, the bulbs should be planted already in the first ten days of September. And if flowers are needed in February or March, then crocuses are planted 1-2 months later.
How to grow crocuses in a pot
After cooling, the saffron bulbs are placed in pots where rooting occurs. Crocuses are usually grown in shallow but wide containers. Put several bulbs in the same pot or container that belong to the same variety to get flowers at the same time. Fill containers with drainage material, then loose soil with good air and water permeability.
The reaction of the substrate must be neutral, and its nutritional properties do not matter, because everything necessary for the future flower is stored in the bulb. Knowing this, some gardeners distill in small granite chips, sand, expanded clay. Crocus can also be grown in containers filled with a mixture of leafy earth, turf and coarse washed sand.
How to care for saffron after planting
It is very important to prevent rotting of the bulbs, so they should not touch. Also, when planting, do not press crocus in the pot to the walls of the container. How to care before distillation:
- Slowly compact the soil around the bulbs;
- to water;
- put the pot or other container with crocuses in a dark cool room for rooting;
- water only when the top layer of the substrate dries.
Rooting of crocuses at a temperature of no higher than 9 ° C continues for 9-12 weeks. In the event that flowering should begin later, cool the bulbs to 2 ° C and store a little longer. By the beginning of budding, a sprout about 5 cm long appears at the top of the bulb, white threads of roots are visible in the drainage holes of the pot.
Crocuses forcing
How to care for crocuses before the appearance of flowers? In about two weeks, containers with corms are transferred to the room where they should bloom. It should be a cool place, because crocuses do not tolerate heat. For flowering saffron, a room where the temperature rises above 20 ° C is not suitable.
The excess of sunlight or artificial light negatively affects: the buds open faster and wilt after a few hours. Crocus flowering will last up to three weeks, if you provide moderate diffused lighting and a temperature of about 15 ° C. At night, the room where the flowers are located should be cool.
Frequent watering is harmful to crocus; it is better to add water once every 2-3 days. Plants can not be sprayed with water, they tolerate low humidity.
Possible problems with saffron cultivation, their elimination
On your window sill in a pot appeared a charming “green pet” - crocus (flower). How to care for this plant to ensure its decorative appearance?
- If the temperature is too high, the buds will not appear or bloom during storage.
- If yellowing leaves should slightly reduce watering.
- When flowers appear, water is poured only into the pan, and not onto the substrate.
- Crocus does not need fertilizing during flowering.
- Do not allow stagnation of water in the pan; its excess must be drained.
When the flowering is over, the bulbs can be left to dry in pots. In the fall, they are useful for planting in open ground. If corms are left in a container and stored indoors, then they are unsuitable for repeated distillation in this form.