It can be difficult to identify whether a bulb is good to plant, especially as they will often be a similar colour all over and might not look significantly different in appearance. It is a waste of time to plant bulbs that aren’t healthy and won’t flower, so here are some tips to help you work out which ones are best:
- Examine the bulbs closely. If they are soft, they are probably bad. You should also smell them to check that they smell fresh.
- Put the bulbs in water. Bulbs will be lighter if they are rotten inside. This means these bulbs will float to the surface of the water and it will be immediately obvious which ones are healthy.
- Cut a bulb open. If you have a large batch, this can be indicative of general health. Check that the bud in the middle of the bulb looks healthy and isn’t dry.