Tuber Time!

By Jos Van Hage

     If you enjoy gardening and saving money then purchasing and planting  packaged perennial tubers, dahlia tubers and gladiolus corms now is for  you.

The other advantage to buying tubers is that there are varieties  available in the packages that are not always available in the garden  center as a potted plant.

By purchasing them now and starting them indoors  you will have a much larger plant this year than if you were to wait until  May when you directly plant them outside.

This is very much true for gladiolus corms as they need the longer growing season to produce flowers.

 When planting tubers such as dahlias and perennials you want to start off  with a high quality potting soil mix.

Use pots that are large enough to  hold the tuber. Peat pots are great, as the entire pot can be transplanted  into the soil at a later date which means no root disturbance to the growing plant. Plant the tuber upside up and if there are new growth shoots on the tuber have these above the soil line. If there is no new  growth yet then have the tuber just below the soils surface. Water it in  well. Place pots where they will receive lots of light and warm  temperatures.

Gladiolus corms are planted in the same way as the tubers.  Use individual 2-3 inch peat pots filled with a high quality potting soil  and plant one corm per pot. When you begin to see growth on the tubers and  gladiolus begin to fertilize with 20-20-20 on a weekly basis.

Towards the middle to the end of May depending on what you are growing you  will want to transplant your newly started plants outside. Before you do  this you should harden them off by putting outside during the day and  bringing them in at night for 7-10 days. This will get the plants  climatized to the outside temperatures and prevent them from going into  shock.

When to plant them outside depends on what you are growing.

Dahlias and Gladiolus are best left to the end of May when all danger of frost has  passed because a frost will kill them off and they will have to start growing new shoots again.

Perennials can take a frost as they are winter hardy for our area (zone 3) and these can be planted outside anytime in  May.

There are many different types of perennials available right now in the  packaged form.

Hostas, lilies, peonies, daylilies, astilbes, are just a  few of the more popular ones. Also available are the many different  varieties of dahlias that make beautiful container plants and can be dug up each fall and re-planted again next late winter/ early spring.

Calla  lilies, and Cannas lilies are equally beautiful and benefit from being  started early as well as the many different varieties of gladiolus that  make beautiful cut flowers in August.

So, get your green thumb growing by starting some of these now!

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Garden Centres in the Prince George area:

• Highway 97 north at Northwood Pulpmill Road and Aberdeen
• Highway 16 West across from the Bon Voyage Plaza

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