Planting and crossing my fingers
I finally got some flower pots from Ikea to plant my free bulbs in. Since this is the first time planting bulbs, I asked my mom and looked online for more info. Here are some tips I learned along the way.
First, you have to get soil specifically for planting in pots since it's different from soil you find outside in the ground. Here's the bag of potting soil that the garden center recommended. They said since bulbs should not be next to a lot of moisture, this soil was best because it was particularly non-water-retaining.
Your pot needs to be able to drain water as well, and many recommend lining the bottom of the pot with pebbles or pottery shards, along with having a hole. I didn't have pebbles or pottery shards, so am just relying on the hole and draining it into the gutter on my balcony.
I read lots of differing guidelines on how deep to plant the bulbs, anywhere from "near the top" to "4-6 inches" to "2-3 bulb-widths." I planted my small- to medium-sized bulbs about 4 inches down; you should make sure your pot is deep enough to accommodate both the roots as well as the soil on top.
Make sure your bulbs are firm and bruise-free (just like garlic). Then nestle them in the soil and sprinkle some fertilizer inside (I think this is optional). I then watered the pots after I covered the bulbs with soil just to moisten.
Here's hoping the flowers come out in the spring!
