When to Start Watering Early-Sprouting Bulbs

At Planting Time

• Whether you grow bulbs in a pot or vast garden, they need to be watered as soon as they are planted in fall. A bulb detects the moisture and develops feeder roots within the soil; it cannot establish a healthy root system without an initial watering. This moisture also removes large air masses that stifles bulbs' initial root growth. Because the bulbs are subjected to fall and winter moisture, irrigating their soil after the initial watering-in is not necessary. The bulbs receive enough moisture from natural rainfall. If you have a particularly dry cold season, water only if the soil's top 2 inches are dry.

During Blooming

• Once you see blossoms appear on the bulb plants, maintain a consistently moist soil structure for the plants. They require a lot of nutrients and moisture to grow and sustain brilliant blossoms. Keep the watering at the soil level to reduce moisture on the foliage and blossoms; otherwise, disease may set in and cause early flower wilting. Blossoms also wilt quickly if the bulbs dry out, especially in a heat wave. If you live in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 10 and 11, plant your bulbs in a garden location that receives full morning sunlight with some dappled afternoon shade to combat soil moisture loss and blossom fading.

Storage Procedure

• As spring turns into summer, early-sprouting bulb plants die back with a signature yellow hue on their foliage. Once the yellow color sets in, do not water the bulbs. They are slowly photosynthesizing with the last of their leaves. This energy production is directly stored in the bulbs for next year's flowers. If bulbs are watered during this period, they often rot while still in the ground. After all the leaves turn papery and yellow, you may dig up the bulbs and store them indoors until fall planting season. A cool, dry and dark indoor space is a perfect bulb resting area.

Chilling Procedure

• USDA zones 10 and 11 do not receive the chilly weather necessary to stimulate blossom growth in some bulb species. Before you plant and water bulbs in the fall, place them in a refrigerator for about two months. While they remain dry, but cold, the bulbs react to the chill and subsequently produce healthy roots after they are planted in soil.