
Balcony bulbs



Imagine a little balcony or patio decorated with pots filled with flowering daffodils and tulips in spring, and imagine windowsills indoors framed with highly aromatic and romantic hyacinths, and you are halfway to heaven on earth!
All three of these bulbs can be grown in soil in containers or hydroponically (above water on pebbles), which gives the flat dweller no excuse not to enjoy a little ‘potting’ in autumn that will result in the magnificence of jewel-like blooms in late winter and spring.
Growing daffodils and tulips in pots
• Pick pots with drainage holes and place a layer of gravel chips at the bottom.
• Partially fill the pots with potting soil, to about 10cm from the top.
• Arrange the bulbs about 2cm apart and add some potting soil around them, before covering them gently. The bulbs must be planted with their pointed sides upward, covered with about 5cm of soil and then with a 2cm layer of mulch, like moss or milled bark. The final covering layer should end a few centimetres below the rims of the pot to prevent overflowing when watering.
• Water the pots immediately and place them in a shady corner to start rooting. Take care with watering as the soil should never dry out completely, but should also not stay sopping wet all the time.
• As soon as you see shoots emerging from the soil, you can arrange them where they will receive a few hours of morning sun and a little shade in the afternoons.
Growing hyacinths hydroponically
Fragrant hyacinths are perfect to grow in individual glass jars on windowsills that receive good light. To do so:
• Fill up a glass vessel to the top with washed river pebbles.
• Place the bulb’s broad little bottom on top of the pebbles.
• Fill the jar up with clean water to just below the bulb (it should never sit in water or it will rot).
• You will soon see long roots growing towards the water, and the first signs of sprouting on top.
• Keep a steady water level below the bulb and be prepared to see a beautiful fragrant bloom emerging a few weeks later.
Get your bulbs from Hadeco today!