Flower lovers can hardly have enough of the pretty crocuses in their garden. How can the harbingers of spring be multiplied? Basically, once you've planted crocuses, you don't have to do anything. Propagation is easily done using breeding bulbs.
How to propagate crocuses?
Crocuses reproduce automatically through breeding tubers, which form new flowers and plants. You can dig up the bulbs after flowering and plant them elsewhere. An alternative method is propagation from seeds, whereby wild crocuses sow themselves.
Propagate crocuses via breeding tubers
The propagation of crocuses in the garden works automatically, even without you doing anything.
Crocus bulbs form breeding bulbs that produce new flowers in the first year and additional crocus plants the next year.
You can remove the crocus bulbs from the ground at any time after flowering and plant them elsewhere. If you leave the bulbs in the ground, over time entire carpets of crocuses will form.
Caring for crocuses in the house
If you want to bring spring into your home with blooming crocuses, collect some breeding tubers from the ground in autumn. In order for the tubers to bloom later, they need special treatment.
- Dig up brood tubers
- Clean the onions and let them dry a little
- Store tubers dark and cold
- Then place in a pot
Crocuses only sprout when the crocus bulbs have gone through a cold phase. This period, called “stratification” by experts, must last ten weeks.
If you don't have a place to store the onions cool and dark enough, put them in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for ten weeks.
Growing crocuses from seeds
Crocuses can also be grown from seeds, but this method rarely works with purchased tubers. Planting early crocus bulbs is much quicker and the plants bloom vigorously in the first spring.
Seeds from crocus breeds are almost never able to germinate. If you want to propagate crocuses from seeds, you must buy seeds from a specialist retailer. It is spread widely according to the instructions, covered with a little soil and started.
Wild crocuses sow themselves. If you want to create entire crocus meadows, you can harvest the seeds and sow them widely in the desired area before winter.
Tips & Tricks
The crocus' greatest enemy is the vole. It can destroy entire populations of crocus bulbs. Drive away the pest or plant the crocus bulbs in special plant baskets.
