The Star: March 30, 2017
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24<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi<br />
Thursday <strong>March</strong> <strong>30</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Gardening<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong><br />
All you need to know about chilling bulbs<br />
• By Paul Hoek<br />
TO CHILL or not to chill. It’s an<br />
age-old question and one I get<br />
asked every year in the lead-up to<br />
spring bulb planting.<br />
So what’s the answer? Yes – you<br />
may need to chill your spring<br />
flowering bulbs, but only tulips<br />
and hyacinths.<br />
And it’s only essential if you<br />
experience fewer than five frosts<br />
a winter. But even if you do get<br />
enough natural chilling in winter,<br />
fridge chilling can still give<br />
benefits – taller stems and earlier<br />
flowering.<br />
Why you need to chill certain<br />
bulbs? Tulips and hyacinths are<br />
native to areas which experience<br />
quite cold winters and they need<br />
this cold period for the bulb to<br />
complete the development of<br />
the flower bud deep inside. Sure<br />
signs you should have chilled<br />
your bulbs are if they produced<br />
unusually short stems or the bulbs<br />
failed to flower at all.<br />
Done correctly, chilling your<br />
tulips and hyacinths will result in<br />
perfect spring flowers. Here are<br />
my tips for optimal bulb chilling:<br />
1. Don’t start chilling until<br />
late <strong>March</strong> – too early and you’ll<br />
stunt the flower bud development.<br />
COLOUR: Tulip ad rem<br />
– chilling will complete the<br />
development of the flower<br />
bud.<br />
2. Use a paper bag. It’s very<br />
important the bulbs can breathe<br />
and plastic bags cause sweating<br />
and rot may develop.<br />
3. Keep the bulbs to the side<br />
of the fridge, not at the back<br />
where the cooler plate may ice<br />
up and damage them, or where<br />
condensation may cause mould to<br />
develop.<br />
4. Never put bulbs in the<br />
freezer! <strong>The</strong> freezer is too cold<br />
and will kill your bulbs.<br />
5. Keep fruit out of the fridge<br />
while you’re chilling your bulbs.<br />
Ripening fruit releases a gas called<br />
ethylene which can cause severe<br />
damage to the developing flower<br />
bud in the bulb. If you can’t keep<br />
fruit out of the fridge, include an<br />
ethylene-absorbing sachet (available<br />
on our website) in the bag<br />
with the bulb. This will prevent<br />
ethylene damage and suppress<br />
mould growth (they’re actually<br />
really good in the vege compartment<br />
too, to make your veges<br />
keep longer).<br />
Once you’ve chilled your bulbs<br />
for around eight weeks it’s time to<br />
start planting in mid to late May<br />
when soil temperatures are cooler.<br />
Before you plant, work the soil<br />
with a fork to a depth of 25cm.<br />
This is deeper than the bulbs need<br />
to be planted but will allow their<br />
new roots to easily push further<br />
into the soil. <strong>The</strong>n plant your<br />
bulbs around 15cm deep – it’s<br />
cooler down there. Once planted<br />
give your bulbs a light watering.<br />
In cooler parts of New Zealand<br />
you can plant tulips and hyacinths<br />
successfully in pots, but because<br />
pots warm up so quickly, even in<br />
winter, I don’t recommend them<br />
for warmer areas.<br />
Apply a bulb fertiliser (available<br />
from your local garden<br />
centre) once the shoots emerge,<br />
water well and you can expect<br />
your bulbs to put on a spectacular<br />
show come spring.<br />
CREATION: Hyacinth purple sensation – will flower perfectly if<br />
chilled.<br />
Make haste<br />
GET<br />
STARTED:<br />
It’s time to<br />
get your<br />
winter<br />
vegetable<br />
garden<br />
growing.<br />
AUTUMN HAS rolled in bringing<br />
shorter days with a definite chill in<br />
the air. Leaves will start to turn as<br />
we embark on a busy month in the<br />
garden.<br />
A very ‘fruitful’ time in the<br />
garden with late harvest of numerous<br />
vegetables such as jerusalem<br />
artichokes, beans, beetroot, carrots,<br />
corn, cucumber, kumara, leeks,<br />
lettuce, onion, potatoes, pumpkin,<br />
radishes, silverbeet, spinach and<br />
tomatoes.<br />
If you haven’t prepared your<br />
winter vegetable garden now, then<br />
get started. Include plenty of compost<br />
and a ‘base’ fertiliser of blood<br />
and bone.<br />
If possible, raise the earth to be<br />
planted to ensure winter veges do<br />
not become water logged over wet<br />
winter months.<br />
Winter veges to plant in April<br />
include broad beans, carrots, cabbage,<br />
broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce,<br />
onions, peas, radish, spinach,<br />
swedes and turnips.<br />
In the flower garden, your<br />
summer annuals will be winding<br />
down. Continue to dead-head<br />
plants where you want to prolong<br />
displays.<br />
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<strong>The</strong> magazine for<br />
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