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fargaud

Growing parts of bulbs

Fargaud
12 years ago

Hi,

I have purchased some Dutch Iris bulb and was wondering whether I could grow pieces/parts of bulb rather than entire/full bulbs? What I mean is: can I cut the bulb in half (horizontally/vertically), in quarters and still hope a flower could grow out of that bulb?

I would love to get some pointers/literature reference on bulb structure and what parts of the bulb are essential for the growing of a plant.

Thanks in advance!

AF

Comments (5)

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    12 years ago

    Hi Fargaud and welcome to Garden Web and The Bulb Forum.

    was wondering whether I could grow pieces/parts of bulb rather than entire/full bulbs?
    Yes you can.

    What I mean is: can I cut the bulb in half (horizontally/vertically), in quarters and still hope a flower could grow out of that bulb?
    You would need to cut it vertically and be careful that each newly cut piece would have a portion of the basal plate.

    The basal plate is the small root area on the bottom of the bulb.

    For several years now I've been wanting to try my hand at propagating daffodils by division of the basal sections of the parent bulb, but just haven't gotten to it. Maybe 2012 will be the year for me to try.

    The link below tells about the various propagation methods, along with good pics. I'm not all that familiar with dutch iris bulbs, other than I know they have basal plates just like daffodils, so they should be able to be propagated the same way. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

    Good luck and if you try it, please try and report back to us on how it goes.

    chemocurl...aka Sue

    Here is a link that might be useful: Propagation of Daffodils

  • katob Z6ish, NE Pa
    12 years ago

    Just to clarify.... cutting bulbs is done to multiply some varieties, but the way you are describing would mean no blooms the next spring.

    Most spring bulbs have a flower ready to go inside the bulb. Cutting the bulb as described will most likely destroy the flower bud.

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    12 years ago

    Any of several methods may be used to multiply your stock, but all will require a year or two for the bulb to grow large enough to produce a flower. Al

  • Cat
    6 years ago

    I just saw that done on a show, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vncBMxdcwZQ    at the beginning on daffodils a gardener shows how to do that - make sure they are dormant, and put them in a bag of vermiculite for 4-6 weeks she said. That's daffodils and I've never done it - so just sharing, but I imagine it would work, she said make sure you get part of the base root, and it will grow.

  • Cat
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I only saw it done on daffodils. I will research this and find out if it can be done with other kinds of bulbs and they were completely dormant. Mine were already grown an inch when put them out so that's out of the question They had no growth when she did it. I'm going to try it if I have the cuts this dormant season coming up. I search Britain's landscaping teaching bc they have prioritized plants over everything else They never got into cars they put their money into gardens, and put tables and BBQ's outside to enjoy their fresh herbs and flowers and trees. It's breathtakingly beautiful. I remember as a child thinking why are their roses so big and why do they have gigantic nurseries that are sometimes several miles of plants that are very large and grown out. You can also buy already grown hedges of several plants near maturity instead of having to buy one plant at a time. You can buy roses that are already 20 ft tall or more, including clematis. It's so impressive. I wonder what happened here that we forget the importance of beauty. Here's a link to a landscaping show Love Your Garden, This garden is called a Fantasty Garden, it's mind blowing. And oddly it's such a tiny garden. Please check link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDW9vNq_5Gg  He has many videos which help understanding landscaping. But this one is my favorite. If you watch it, I hope it gives you ideas. Each episode is just one gorgeous garden after another, and he explains how to do it.

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