281K views · 44K reactions | If you haven’t started ranunculus yet, there’s still time! If you live in zones 7b and up, you can presprout them now (I still am) provided you have either a low tunnel or high tunnel to plant them into. If you live in a colder zone, save this info for late winter! The secret to healthy, beautiful ranunculus is: don’t start them too late!! One of the biggest mistakes I see people doing is starting these flowers in April or May… and the common instructions actually encourage this mistake because they often say to “start after your last frost”… but if you do this, you won’t get many flowers and they won’t be that good. Why? Ranunculus go dormant once temps consistently reach 80 degrees F and they also take app. 90 days from planting to bloom, so if you wait until your last frost date to start… well by the time they’re blooming, most climates are already reaching those temperatures. Like other cool flowers, the long growing period in cool weather helps establish a strong root system that will spring into loads of flowers once the temperatures start warming up. Ranunculus can easily handle temperatures of 26 degrees F for several hours, which is why pre sprouting them when it’s still chilly out is ideal! Presprouting is simple: Soak your corms for 4-6 hours and then lay them in a row with the ‘tentacles’ down in trays with potting soil. Cover with another thin layer of soil and keep them in a 60-65 degree space until you see a few leaves on each plant. It generally takes 2 weeks. Once you see leaves, transplant them into your beds app. 6 inches apart. You can either set up low tunnels over them (you’ll get longer stems), or just leave them in the open air… but make sure you cover with a frost cloth if your temperatures drop below 26 degrees. Once your temperatures are consistently over 32 degrees, you can remove all protection and just let them grow and bloom away! Cont. in comments! Save this for reference if you want spring ranunculus and let me know if you have questions! . . . . #ranunculus #springflowers #growflowers #urbanfarming #flowerfarm #flowerfarmer #cutflowers #cottagegarden | Galena Berkompas • Urban Flower Farm • Education
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