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Growing Daffodils in Pots

© Mary Lou Gripshover

Put some broken crockery or rocks over drainage holes and cover with a little sphagnum moss, pebbles, or other coarse material before adding potting soil. Half fill the pot with soil, place the bulbs, then fill the pot with soil. Settle the soil well around the bulbs by jarring the pot sharply and lightly pressing soil with fingers. The soil under the bulbs should be loose so that good rooting can take place quickly. The tips of the bulbs should just be showing above the soil line. If you want really spectacular pots, plant a double layer of bulbs in the pot. Your friends will be amazed! Label each pot with the name of the cultivar, date of planting, and date to be placed in the house. Top the pot off with some granite grit or other small pebbles. This will prevent the soil being washed out of the pot, and will help keep the blooms clean next spring.

After planting, water the pots thoroughly, and drain them. Then you have several options for providing the cold period. If you have a spare refrigerator, you can store them there. Inserted inside a plastic bag, they probably won't require additional water until you bring them out into the light. If you don't have a spare refrigerator, or aren't particular about the timing of bloom, you can sink the pots in a coldframe; or you can prepare a trench and sink the pots in it. Cover it with sand for easier pot removal, followed by leaves and/or straw. If you have a basement with window wells, you can put the pots there, and cover the well with some sort of protection. If it gets really cold, you can open the basement window just a bit to prevent freezing the pots. And of course, you can store the pots in a cool spot in the cellar, garage, porch, or greenhouse, and water as needed. Be sure, though, that you do not let the pots on top of the ground if you live where winter temperatures go below freezing. While bulbs can survive freezing underground, a frozen pot on top of the ground is NOT conducive to growing bulbs!

After the bulbs have had their 13-15 weeks in cold storage, you can bring the pots into warmer temperatures and direct sunlight. They should flower in about 3-4 weeks. Once the flowers begin to open, remove them from direct sunlight. The flowers will last longer. And if you put them a cool room at night, you can prolong the blooming period as well.