Dead bulbs
Being new to gardening, I planted a row of bulbs (really sorry, but I don't know what they were!) and some of them are still green and growing whilst others turned brown and are now more yellow and clearly dying/rotting.
What I want to know is whether dying is just this year's growth that has died and next year they'll have another go, or if the bulb itself is dead?
These bulbs did grow surrounded by willow weed, and probably didn't get enought light and air. The willow weed also developed mildew, though it's all pulled up now.
Next year I'll know the willow weed when I see it and pull it up before it grows.
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bulbs do die down after they have flowered and then regrow the next spring. the best way to find out if yours are having a rest or just plain dead is to dig up one and have a look (and a sniff). It will be pretty obvious which one it is.
i have just found some gladoli bulbs in a box very dried out and look beyond repair but soaked the in water for 24 hrs and they look ok again.abit late to plant but there you are.
Thanks for the replies. These bulbs never flowered, they just died whilst growing. yet other bulbs 6" away from them are still growing (though not flowering yet)
I dug a couple up and they seem perfectly OK, so hopefully they'll all grow again next year. Here's a photo of the shoots I pulled up when I checked the bulbs. They pulled out of the soil *very* easily, leaving the bulbs behind without any pressure at all. Any ideas on why they failed this year?
They do look rather like gladioli. Were they bulbs or corms? If they are gladioli feed them and water them and the ones that are still green may flower. These ones look as though this hot dry weather has done for them or they weren't mature enough.
I think they are gladioli, judjing by what I remember of the photo on the packaging and a quick Google for images of gladioli.
I bought a bag of bulbs from Lidl and planted them in a line in good direct sunlight, though willow weeds did surround them when they were first growing and some mildew appeared.
Given that they're supposed to grow over 1 metre, I can't see the surviving shoots flowering this year. They're only about 1 foot tall now and were planted in March.
I'm hoping the bulbs will be OK and do better next year. Are the white marks at the ends of the shoots a clue? This is the part of the shoot that was under the soil.