When you plant your bulbs either in the spring or fall, you look forward to the beautiful flowers that will come up. But sometimes the blooming season comes and you find that your bulbs didn’t bloom. we deal with this ALL the time at Molloy Lawn & Landscape. We have 61 years in dealing with this matter. Below are 8 possible reasons why you may find that your bulbs didn’t bloom.
Bulbs Didn’t Bloom Due to Lack of Sunlight
Are the bulbs planted somewhere that they aren’t getting ample sunlight? Flowering bulbs are going to need a minimum of 6 hours’ bright sunlight each day.
Bulbs Didn’t Flower Because Your Soil is Poorly Drained
Your bulbs are going to need moisture regularly. However, they aren’t going to tolerate soil that is soggy. If you believe that this is the issue why you’re not seeing flowers, dig a couple of them up and examine them. if they’ve rotted, it’s a good sign that they need to be moved someplace else.
Bulbs Didn’t Bloom Because the Bulbs are Poor Quality
It’s not always a good idea to purchase cheap bulbs. Since they could produce scant or small blooms. Sometimes bulbs of poor quality won’t bloom at all.
No Blooms due to Foliage Being Removed Too Quickly
Chances are that you are tempted to remove the foliage once your bulbs bloomed. However, the green foliage will absorb the sunlight that is then converted to energy. If the plants don’t have their foliage, you may not have blooms next year. You can remove the flowers’ stems. However, you should leave their leaves until they’ve turned yellow.
Bulbs Didn’t Bloom Because of Fertilizer Issues
Your bulbs generally won’t need fertilizer unless you have poor quality soil. If you believe that you have this problem, you might want to try feeding them the 5-10-10 fertilizer once the foliage comes up. Then you want to add it again once your bulb blooms.
A fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen in it also could be the reason for the flowers not blooming, since it could produce gorgeous foliage rather than flowers. That’s why you should avoid feeding bulbs using lawn food, since this often has a lot of nitrogen. However, bone meal is a great choice during planting time.
Bulbs May Not Bloom Due to Overcrowding
If your bulbs were planted in the exact same place for a few years, it’s possible that they have become overcrowded. To help with resolving this problem, simply dig up your bulbs and then divide them, planting some of the bulbs in another spot. You can do this after their foliage has turned yellow and died in the late part of spring.
You May Not Have Blooms Because They Were New
Sometimes you won’t get blooms from new bulbs in your first year. This is very normal and won’t indicate any kind of problems.
Bulbs Didn’t Bloom Because of Disease
In general, bulbs aren’t disease susceptible. However, it’s always possible that there’s a virus that has caused your bulbs not to flower. You can usually identify viral diseases by streaky or mottled foliage. If you’ve determined that your bulbs got a virus, dig up the bulbs that are affected and then get rid of them. This way it won’t be transmitted to your healthy bulbs.
These are 8 possible reasons why your bulbs didn’t bloom. We are located at 219 Union St Randolph, MA 02368. If you are worried about planting your bulbs yourself, why don’t you let us do it for you? Contact us by October 31st to have us plant bulbs for you. And please follow us on Facebook.