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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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NO GREEN WASTE IN ANY OF OUR COMPOST<br />

<strong>The</strong> magazine for<br />

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www.gardener.kiwi<br />

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