Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods for Planting Hyacinth Seeds
Hyacinths are native to southern Europe, southern Africa and the Asia region, with the Netherlands cultivating the most; they are grown throughout our country and are excellent perennial flowers for arranging flower beds and lawn edges in spring, and can also be potted, grown in water or used as cut flowers. Let's take a look below at how to plant hyacinth seeds!
Preparation Work for Planting Hyacinths
1. Prepare a basin of water. It is recommended that the basin not be too large, though of course the water depth must be enough to submerge each bulb.
2. Each portion comes with a bag of carbendazim powder, with instructions on the back of the package. Each bag is mixed with 3-4 jin of water. I personally have no real concept of weight; I have tried carbendazim solutions of different concentrations and none caused any problems, so I suggest pouring in about half a bag or slightly more than half. If the water basin is relatively large, you can pour in more. But no matter how much you pour, please keep a small amount, as it may still be needed during the growing period.
Disinfection Treatment of Hyacinth Seeds
1. Peeling. Some friends worry about why the outer skin falls off as soon as they receive the bulbs. Actually there is no problem at all; just like an onion, when the old skin comes off, just peel it away. I even peel off a bit more until the white is exposed. Of course you can choose not to peel; theoretically there is no problem.
2. Clean the base of the bulb. Old roots and the layer of scales from last year at the base of the bulb will not cause any problems if left uncleaned, but if growing in water, these things will make the water dirty and look unsightly.
3. About mold. Things that travel across the ocean inevitably carry some mold; some may not be obvious, and some may hide under several layers of old skin. This is why in point one I said to peel off a few more layers of old skin. I have one like this in my hands right now. But this completely does not affect its growth and flowering; this layer of mold actually has not yet corroded the fresh scales inside, and it will be gone after washing. If some friends receive bulbs with mold worse than mine, please do not worry at all; even if you peel off a few layers of fresh scales, it will not affect flowering.
4. Soak in carbendazim solution for 15-20 minutes. I hope to conduct comparative observations of different varieties during the planting process and do not want to mix up the labels, so I arranged the labels outside the basin in the order the bulbs were placed. You can use other methods; this is for reference only.
5. Air dry. After soaking, take them out, wipe with an absorbent cloth (paper towel), then place in a cool, ventilated area to dry naturally. After 1 day they can be potted and planted.
Methods for Planting Hyacinth Seeds
1. Side buds: Most plants reproduce by seed, but hyacinths reproduce vegetatively, multiplying the next generation by dividing bulbs. It is very normal for hyacinths in this season to have side buds (small bulbs), especially since several varieties in our group purchase are relatively large in size, and some bulbs come with one or two or even five or six side buds. Personally, I suggest beginners can remove the side buds and discard them entirely, because given our domestic climate and environment, it is almost impossible to grow a small hyacinth bulb to flowering size under natural conditions. But if you have good planting experience and equipment, you can keep them for cultivation and propagation. I personally do not have the ability or interest to cultivate small bulbs, so I removed them.
2. Water culture: Water culture is convenient and clean. Friends who live in apartments and pursue a refined lifestyle are advised to use water culture; all you need is a cup. The cup opening should not be too large; it needs to be able to hold the bulb. A professional water culture bottle is of course best, and a water culture basket is also good. This cup of mine is just to demonstrate for everyone; you should not choose such a small cup, as root growth will be restricted. And water culture baskets come in different sizes to choose from.
3. Water level: I believe many friends have grown narcissus in water. For narcissus, you use a shallow basin, place the bulbs, fix them with small stones, then add water to submerge the bulbs. Of course I personally do not completely oppose this method, but I hope everyone can avoid it. Hyacinths may rot more easily than domestic Zhangzhou narcissus, so when growing in water, the water should not submerge the bulb; it is best if the water surface just touches the bottom of the bulb.
4. Adding water and changing water: Some friends ask whether the water needs to be changed. This is also a problem many friends often encounter with water culture. Actually, water-cultured plants should not have their water changed too frequently, to avoid damaging the roots. After a few days, when the water evaporates and the water level drops, you can appropriately add water. Even when it drops a little, you can ignore it; the humidity evaporated from this cup of water in such a small space is already enough for rooting. Once root growth begins to normalize, the water level can continue to drop appropriately, to about 2/3 of the roots being submerged. When changing water, especially after roots have grown, it is best not to take the entire bulb out, otherwise when you stuff the roots back into the bottle, they will more or less be damaged. You only need to lift the bulb slightly so there is a gap for the water to flow out, and that is OK. When adding water, do the same: slowly pour the water in through the gap.
5. Soil culture: Traditional soil culture is still, I believe, the mainstream for potted flowers. Hyacinths, like the Zhangzhou narcissus we are familiar with, are bulbs that have accumulated years of nutritional reserves, and a cup of clear water is already enough for their flowering needs, so when growing in soil, even if there is only a small pot and a small amount of soil, it will not greatly affect flowering. Of course we do not recommend using overly small flower pots, to avoid restricting root growth. This is one of the flower pots I use; for a hyacinth it already counts as relatively large. Do not forget to plug the hole at the bottom of the pot before filling it with soil. When adding soil, note that you should first fill half the soil, then place the hyacinth, then continue filling soil until more than half the bulb is covered. As for how much is left exposed on top, you can do as you please, but I personally suggest beginners leave a little more exposed, because during the growth process the hyacinth bulb may split, or may become moldy again due to incomplete disinfection, and then we can see it very directly. Many people cover the entire bulb when filling soil, but in the end the flower does not bloom, and when they dig it up, the bulb has already rotted. At this time, the little bit of carbendazim we kept during disinfection can come in handy. You can mix another solution and use a cotton swab or the like to dip in the solution and wipe the moldy spots on the bulb, minimizing the possibility of rot as much as possible.
6. Watering: After potting, water for the first time. For this pot of mine, the amount of water needed is about one full cup of this kind. Do not water too much, or the bulb will rot. Later watering should be the same: better dry than wet. About one small cup per week is enough. The bulb has sufficient moisture and will not die just because you do not water it for one or two weeks, so please relax when visiting relatives during the Spring Festival.
7. Fertilizing: What I use is purchased nutrient soil, so I do not plan to fertilize for now. If the soil you have does not have enough nutrients, it is recommended to apply base fertilizer. Apart from plain nitrogen fertilizer, other fertilizers can be chosen. Personally I think granular fertilizer is best for indoor potted plants, to avoid unnecessary pests, diseases and foul odors caused by applying homemade organic fertilizer and the like. The order of fertilizer and soil from bottom to top is: soil—fertilizer—soil—bulb. Be sure to separate the fertilizer from the hyacinth bulb to avoid fertilizer burn (please search online for the concept). For later fertilizing, beginners should still use caution; the bulb itself has enough nutrients for flowering. For water culture, do not abuse nutrient solutions.
8. Shading (dark treatment): During the rooting process, the hyacinth bulb does not need light, and a dark environment is even more favorable for root growth, so when growing in water, especially for friends using transparent containers, pay attention to the dark treatment in the early stage, for about one month to one and a half months. Soil culture can skip shading, but it will certainly work better with appropriate dark treatment. This one I have is a New Year goods packaging basket I took from my grandmother's house during last year's Spring Festival. The quality is average and not enough to bear too much weight, but it works reasonably well for dark treatment. Cover the hyacinth and the water culture container entirely, and place it in a cool, ventilated area, and that is OK. You can choose a small cardboard box; as long as it can stand when turned upside down, that is fine. Try to avoid black plastic bags, to prevent poor ventilation.
9. When to expose to light: The early growth of hyacinths is actually relatively slow, and in this season the dormancy period may not yet be over, so during the more than one month of dark treatment, you do not need to rush to observe every day. If you want to check the rooting condition, be very careful not to knock over the flower pot. After 1 month, you can observe whether the roots are healthy. Even growth that can fill more than half the water culture container is considered healthy. At this point you can move it out to the balcony for normal management. Although the roots of soil-cultured plants cannot be seen, generally when the roots have grown about enough, the top of the bulb will sprout.
Methods for Growing Hyacinths
1. Bulb selection: The nutrients needed for hyacinths to bloom are primarily supplied by the nutrients stored in the scale leaves of the bulb. Only by choosing bulbs with undamaged outer skins, fleshy scales that are not shriveled, and that are firm, heavy and plump, can thick and gorgeous flowers be produced.
2. Open-field cultivation: It is suitable to carry out from October to November. Choose well-drained soil and apply sufficient base fertilizer before planting. For field cultivation, avoid continuous cropping. Generally no other management is done before flowering. After flowering, if you do not intend to collect seeds, the flower stems should be cut off to promote bulb development; the cutting position should be as high on the flower stem as possible. In early June, the bulbs can be dug out, spread out, graded and stored in a cold storage. The summer temperature should not exceed 28 degrees Celsius.
3. Potting: In late autumn, select well-grown hyacinth bulbs from the market and plant them in loose culture soil. Use loam, leaf mold, fine sand, etc. mixed together as the growing medium. When planting, note: the upper end of the bulb should be exposed above the potting soil. After planting, place in sunlight and keep the potting soil moist. The temperature required for forcing is 5-10°C.
4. Water culture: You can choose a glass container with an opening slightly smaller than the bulb, place the bulb on the bottle opening, and add water to about 1 cm from the basal plate of the bulb. You can also, like with narcissus, plant several bulbs together in a shallow basin for water culture.
5. Forcing cultivation: After late September, treat the bulbs at a low temperature of 8C for 70-75 days, then pot them in early October and cultivate in a greenhouse, and they can be made to bloom at the end of the year. Because the forcing sensitivity of cultivated varieties differs greatly, varieties suitable for forcing should be selected when forcing cultivation is carried out.