I'd love to have container (big ones)-grown bulb flowers next spring. I've checked the internet, magazines, and all say "plant in pots and put them in refrig or cold places." But I want to put ONLY bulbs in refrig (not planting in pots) and force them till late Feb to early March. Is it possible?? Or do bulbs absolutely have to be planted in pots for forcing?

Thank you for your advice,
Yoko

BARE bulbs in the refrigerator are being CHILLED in preparation for planting in soil.

FORCING means bulbs planted in soil where they form roots in the soil and are tricked (forced) to believe that they've been through a winter's chill in the ground. Bare bulbs must have time in cool soil to form roots to complete their growth cycle.

The exception is bare bulbs over stones and water, as in forcing hyacinths and paperwhite narcissus. They will form roots in the refrigerator extending down into the water.
This is not recommended for other daffodils nor tulips.

Nell

I think I'll try Al's method (CHILLING) till late March, then FORCING bulbs in outside. Hope it isn't frozen so much...

This will work for tulips as well, but most varieties require more like 14-16 weeks of chilling.

For absolutely best results with tulips, you should follow the temperatures and times listed in the "Holland Bulb Forcer's Guide", which is to store the bulbs at around 80-90% RH at 63F in August and Sept, 55F in September, and then 12-13 weeks at 41F, and at 55F during rooting in the container. I've found that 5 degree variances don't really affect the final results much, especially if you use 12+ bulbs instead of 10/11 or 11/12.

Also, the book suggests that you remove the tunic (skin) from the bulb before planting to allow for "rapid root emergence after planting."

Interesting. I never have anything near the success with prechilling of daffodils, even though I follow the standard directions. They seem not to force, but wait until spring no matter what. Especially not King Alfreds and the larger ones. I have had some luck just putting them into pots outside and bringing them in from the coldframe early. How long after potting them up do you get blooms?

The King Alfreds took 3 weeks from potting to bloom (these I ordered prechilled, and they arrived on March 14th, so they started blooming about the same time as my daffs outside).

Of these varieties, Feb Gold only bloomed on 75% of the bulbs; could be the variety, could be the supplier (Brecks). Jenny did nicely, with an average of two flowers per bulb, and lasted longer than the others (Feb 29th through Mar 7th, Scheepers). YMMV.

here is the link that might be helpful:
Easy To grow Bulbs

Irina