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MIIt’s time to get your ranunculus pre-sprouted for fall planting! If you live in zones 7 and up, you can presprout your ranunculus now for weeks of gorgeous spring flowers.. If you’re in a different zone, save this info for February or March!
One of the biggest mistakes I see people doing is starting these flowers way too late… 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, 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.
So the secret to healthy, beautiful plants is: don’t start them too late!! 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 fall planting can be a great choice! And if you can’t fall plant… aim to start them in late winter instead.
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.
Save this for reference when you plant and let me know if you have further questions! 💐
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