Scaling
This is an easy technique that results in many new plants from each bulb, but is only possible with scaly bulbs. Scales are removed singly and each produces bulblets. This is best carried out from late summer to late autumn.

Gently snap off the individual scales with your fingers. Either remove only a few and then replant the parent bulb, or remove them all. Dust the scales with fungicide by shaking them in a plastic bag containing a sulphur dust. Then mix them with moist medium-grade vermiculite - one part water to 10 parts vermiculite, by volume. Put them in a thin, clear plastic bag, seal it, retaining as much air as possible to ensure humidity, and keep at a temperature of about 20oC (68oF). Place in total darkness, since direct sun leads to high temperatures which can retard rooting and bulb development.

North American lilies and other cold-climate bulbs can benefit from six weeks' warmth, then six weeks' cool conditions - at 5oC (41oF) - in a refrigerator. This period of 'artificial winter' stimulates the production of bulblets, but is not essential.

When bulblets have formed in 10-12 weeks (left) do not try to remove them from the scales as this may damage them. Pot the scales individually, using well-drained, soilless compost. Cover with a layer of compost equalling the depth of the bulblets. Grow on in a well-ventilated cold frame in spring and summer potting on in spring or autumn, when any clusters of bulbs can be separated. They should be planted out when large enough; flowering may start after two years.

Twin scaling
With this technique a tunicate bulb is cut into pairs of scales, each of which produces bulblets. Twin scaling is more fiddly than the similar technique of chipping but many more new bulbs are produced from each parent bulb. It is carried out in late summer, or early summer for Galanthus.

1   2
Use a sharp, sterile knife or scalpel. Remove and discard the outer brown tunic. Cut off the dead roots but leave the basal plate. Cut off the top ('nose') of the bulb 1. Hold the bulb upside down and cut it vertically into segments: first in half, then into quarters, then into eight or more segments 2. Then cut pairs of scales from each segment, each having a piece of basal plate attached. Shake the scales in a bag with sulphur dust. Place them in a bag of moist vermiculite as for scaling. Bulblets should form within three months, after which they may be planted into trays.

Grow them on in a well-ventilated cold frame and pot on in spring or autumn. For tender bulbs, grow in slightly warmer conditions under glass, and expect flowering in two to three years.

Scoring and scooping
Both these techniques involve wounding the basal plate of a bulb to encourage bulblets to form; the easiest, however, is scoring.

These methods are carried out in late summer, using clean bulbs. For scoring, hold the bulb upside down and, using a sterile knife, cut a V-shaped groove right through the basal plate. Make one or two further criss-crossing grooves. Dust wounds with sulphur dust. Fill a small pot or pan with moist sand and gently push the bulb, upside down, into it just enough to hold it upright. Place this in a warm, dry, dark place such as an airing cupboard, and bulblets will form in two to three months. Then pot the bulb - still upside-down - in soilless compost, covering the bulblets with a thin layer of compost. Grow on in a well-ventilated cold frame. After a year, separate the bulblets and pot them individually.

Scooping is more tricky. The centre of the basal plate is scooped out, using a sterilised cutter such as a sharpened spoon or scalpel. The bulb is then treated as for scoring.

page 1  |  page 2