Grow great Persian buttercups
By: Garden Gate staff
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Grow great Persian buttercups
Wouldn’t you love to grow these beautiful Persian buttercup (Ranunculus hybrids) flowers this spring? If so, it’s time to start thinking about starting the tubers indoors. Don’t wait too long… they love the cool weather of early spring and will stop blooming once the weather gets hot. Plants do best when daytime temperatures are in the mid- to high 50-degree F range and take 12 to 16 weeks from planting to bloom. So check your records or go online to see when this usually occurs and count back from there to start tubers.
Click ahead to see how to start them.
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Prepare the tubers
When you buy the tubers, store the bag in a cool, dry place that stays 50 to 55 degrees F until it’s planting time. When you’re ready to plant, many people like to soak the tubers in water for an hour or even overnight (but no longer — otherwise they get waterlogged and may rot).
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The benefits of soaking
Just an hour in a bowl of tap water and you can see how plump the tuber on the right is. The soaked ones tend to sprout first but the unsoaked ones eventually catch up. The plumper tubers are also a bit easier to handle during planting — they aren’t as brittle as dry ones so pieces don’t break off as easily. If you choose not to soak, just be sure your potting mix is moist to start with.
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Plant the tubers
Plant each tuber 2 in. deep in potting mix, water and set containers where it stays 58 to 62 degrees F. There’s no need for lights until they sprout.
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Watch for growth
In a couple of weeks you should see new Persian buttercups leaves taking off. At that point, position grow lights 3 to 6 in. above the leaves and leave the lights on for 12 to 16 hours each day. Once temperatures are 50 to 60 degrees F during the day, they can go outside.
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