Ranunculus: A New Pre-Sprout Method!

[@claytonhaffner384]

My fiancee love Ranunculus and wants them at our wedding. And me being a nurseryman, I wanted to grow them. How ever in Minnesota spring is my plant time. Thank you for providing so much information. Just goes to show, no one ever knows everything.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Best wishes on your wedding! Thanks for the kind words too!

[@TD-vb6il]

They were the primary flower for my wedding (was an early April wedding). They are a stunning choice and so versatile. Congrats!! xx

[@claytonhaffner384]

@@TD-vb6il fun fact neither the wedding or the ranunculus ended up working out! Haha

[@TD-vb6il]

@@claytonhaffner384 ohhhh dang! Well... I certainly hope you are ok and that whatever your plans are now, you're happy and living your best life. Xx

[@gapey]

New subscriber. Learned about your channel from the Duvall Homesteader group when I asked about growing these in our region. Will check out your other videos too. :) Hope to hear this method worked well for you. I'll be starting mine soon.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Welcome aboard @ Gapeys Grub. Hope we can help you out on your journey!

[@joinmeinthedirt5186]

I was just thinking of this since I always make worm tea and if it would work. Glad I found this video

[@BareMtnFarm]

Thank you so much for watching. Give it a try. Good luck!

[@sislertx]

I just used a tray without the cells last year and it worked.great.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Sislertx we used the plain tray last year. They all sprouted excellent however we found it took more care and time at planting. Our thoughts here are that planted in cells they would go in the ground faster and be a plant already with established roots and leaves. We'll see on the back end when we plant if this is true.

[@abeckwith6561]

Thanks!

[@BareMtnFarm]

Thank you so much. That is so nice 😊

[@cassiopeiafarm31]

tons of great info! thank you for sharing!

[@BareMtnFarm]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sislertx]

I.havet any worm.casting but agrigrow ought to help too..never thought of doing that...I'm gonna try that...the corms i got this year look horrible..and dont think they will sprout...2/3 are all broke up...luckily i did not buy much cause it was a new company.. I usually just use a tray...especially when so many look lost already..i may take the best looking and use my larger six pack...

[@winterliy103-7]

I started using a biodynamics compost tea brewer on my small farm in California . I wasn't convinced it was a complete game changer for my soil biology . I would need a longer trial period than the two years I had on that particular acreage . Thinking about revisiting this practice hear in Coosbay Oregon . How valuable is compost tea for you on your farm?

[@BareMtnFarm]

We have been using aerated compost teas for several years and have found it too is an iterative process regarding improvement in the field/soil. My thought on this is that is due to the variability of the quality of our compost. We have no microscope to verify the biology levels on any particular tea batch so we probably for sure have had great variation in tea quality. That being said we had noticed that fresh worm castings made by us yielded better plant responses than purchased worm castings. Our thoughts on this is because a purchased vermicast may have been bagged and stored such that a lot of the biology was dead by the time the bags were purchased. It still has good nutrients/minerals but poor biology. Our best uses for the our teas so far have been in propagation and transplanting.

[@joanstevens5806]

These videos are so helpful to me! I might have missed where you added the mycorrhizal dust. Was it applied in the bucket at the start of the 2 hour soak? End of the soak? Or added to the worm tea that you used to water in the freshly planted corms? And then again when they got planted?

[@BareMtnFarm]

Its best to put mycorrhizal inoculants on at the time of planting or transplant making sure that the corm or roots are in contact with the solution. Adding it to the soak mixture wouldn't be effective. I would use it at transplant time and you should only need one application.

[@audreybarnes6527]

Hello, we have followed your suggestion and bubbled our corms, very helpful, thanks 💕 I was wondering about the biofilm, my understanding is it not a good thing and points towards insufficient oxygen relative to increasing bacterial activity?

[@ElderandOakFarm]

Do you have any advice on hardening off ranunculus when they've been started inside? I'm starting a cutflower garden to sell flowers along with my veggies this year. I presprouted them and have been growing them on inside because my temps were too cold. But now my temps are about 46-60 during the day, & 25-35 @ night. Do I just harden them off like I would seedlings? I'm used to waiting until after my last frost date to plant anything, I don't have experience planting in this cooler weather..

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @ Creatively Candace Your daytime temps are fine, but for the first week outside I'd protect with a frost blanket or fleece at night just to keep them above freezing. Once hardened off they can take temps down to about 28F or even a little lower with minimal or no protection. Congrats on the new business!😀

[@ElderandOakFarm]

@@BareMtnFarm ok ty so much!

[@dddev641]

Will you soak the corms in the solution ? After watering corms , how wet should they be on a regular basis ? Thank you ! Deb

[@lindabradley4350]

Do you water when they are getting started(7-10 days at 60 indirect light)? Thank you. So interesting.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Linda Bradley we water once deeply when put in the trays and only water when it appears the trays might be drying out. Otherwise we don't routinely water until they sprout.

[@bevcruz940]

How did your final results compare to previous years? Thanks for putting out these videos, it is so helpful to be able to watch and learn.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Bev Cruz The ranunculus germination rate improved for us and the plants were actually in better shape and ready for growing when we planted them. Overall I think the method although a little more labor intensive resulted in a better transplant.

[@joeschiavi9615]

Hello, I saw your reply to the question about when to plant, and I’m wondering if I transplant in February, can it be in a low tunnel, I am in Maryland- zone 7. Will they be ok in a low tunnel through freezing weather? I have never used a low tunnel, I plan to make one just as your videos have shown (thank you). Also, why not start in November or December (u say October) to have blooms by March/April? Just curious. Also, not sure if I missed it but how long did you let your ranunculus grow it their cells before transplanting in the ground. Thanks, and thanks for your awesome videos! Lauren

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Joe Schiavi we have found that on good soil a healthy ranunculus plant can take freezing temps to the mid 20's before showing damage. In reality what causes the most freezing damage to the plants is when the tops freeze and the soil root zone also freezes. We have seen the plants in the open field survive temps down to 24F for over 10 hrs as long as the soil does not freeze. Honestly though I'm not sure I'd recommend open field planting but I think a low tunnel with a double stack(see this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3WVi5yQi9F_eKs ) with a frost blanket option would be good insurance. To be safe we have used frost blankets when the temps can dip below 30F. They can survive in a low tunnel with a one other caveat you have to be religious in venting on a daily basis when temps are above freezing. Air temps inside the tunnel on a clear winter day even with outside temps in the 30's get to 80+ degrees. Also a closed tunnel can build excess humidity which can foster fungal diseases.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Sorry @Lauren got the name wrong on the reply! We start in October to take advantage of longer day lengths to get a better established plant. You can start some in Nov/Dec but they;ll most likely bloom in early May same as if you planted in late January due to low light levels. The ranunc's grew in there cells about 3 weeks tops before transplanting.

[@joeschiavi9615]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough reply- it helps tremendously! I have limited planting area in my yard and even more limited with full sun. The most wide open area of my yard I don’t normally plant bc it’s not full sun but it gets decent sun during the winter bc of the leaves being off the trees, so I was planning to put my low tunnel there (space wise it’s the best option)...I’m wondering which flower between snaps, ranunculus and stocks- of the 3 which do you think would do best in an area thats not total full sun? I was leaning toward the stock bc they are short lived once the heat comes on. Really, it’s going to just be trial and error to see if anything would be happy enough in this part of my yard. Maybe you are thinking neither of those would do well there? Thank you again! Lauren

[@rootedvine9870]

I am a real novice here. What’s the corns are in the trays are you just bottom watering them?

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Rooted Vine The water method we use for trays or six packs is overhead with a gentle stream. we stay away from bottom watering the corms so that the cells don't become to moist that the corms could rot.

[@laurieclarkson9180]

Have you ever planted Ranunculus from seed??? Any tips on that process? I imagine it takes a long time and I guess the seeds turn into corms??

[@darrenculbert7131]

When is the best time to plant them ?

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Darren culbert we plant our ranunculus in our high tunnels in October(Northern Hemisphere) and then a field crop in early February for June Blooms.

[@FlowerFarmerAmy]

do you moniter the ph of any the solutions: compost tea, FPJ, etc. I understand most flowers need a ph 3.5-4.5 for optimal hydration. Wondering if the solutions' pH would be a factor.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Amy Crawford. We haven't tested the PH of the solutions so from that stand point I'm not sure. We know The brown rice vinegar is definitely acidic but the FPJ is probably closer to neutral to slightly acidic. The Brown sugar used in the extraction of plant juices in FPJ is neutral but, the plant juices, depending on what species used, maybe slightly acidic. Our well water as tested is about 6.0ish but can vary slightly depending on time of year. So when we add the FPJ and BRV in a very high dilution rate to 1 gal of water or compost tea I'm guessing the over all mixture's PH is somewhere between 5.5-6.5 depending. All this is just subjective guesswork on my part since I lack the equipment to measure this. I guess I made this as clear as mud. Should have just said "I dunno!" 😉

[@FlowerFarmerAmy]

@@BareMtnFarm I just got a roll of ph paper to roughly test the ph of solutions, off Amazon (Jovitec Universal pH Test Paper Strips pH Test Strips Roll, pH Measure Full Range 0-14, 2 Rolls, 16.4 ft/Roll) and am using it to gage where different solutions rate. Find it interesting to see how the different additives change ph. Thanks for your assessment, found it useful!

[@ButterflyBox89]

I think the native Americans did something similar with germination corn :)

[@FlowerFarmerAmy]

I missed what the planting mix was composed of.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Amy Crawford we used a commercial potting mix of peat/coir & perlite plus we added 5% of volume of our own worm castings, plus azomite rock dust.

[@vickicade5399]

Can’t I just soak them in water for a couple of hours instead of making oxygenated tea?

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Vicki Cade We have tried various different ways from quick soak 1/2 hr to 45 minutes with no bubbler to soaking for 1-2 hrs with a slow flow from a faucet into the bucket, to no soak at all, and then the current method with the bubbler. We've found the best was the bubbler route, followed next by no soak at all. The other methods seem to lower the flow of oxygen to the corms and we get many corms that lose root pieces. Planting dormant corms directly and keeping them in a well aerated medium well irrigated works well but takes longer for germination. I think the key here is to minimize the chance the corm can be suffocated in a low oxygen environment.

[@patricakimmel9563]

a dissolved oxygen meter would tell you that air stones actually do nothing for oxygenating the water , no disrespect intended . as i have learned many things from your videos.

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Patrica Kimmel. Interesting on the dissolved oxygen meter test. We have noticed an improvement in reduced losses though by using them. Perhaps just the movement of the air bubbles even though not dissolving O2 in the water are preventing anaerobic pockets to develop in the bucket. I am perplexed though regarding the air stones as they are marketed for aquarium aeration how they actually work. Anyway, we never take offense to good points or questions raised as many times they can point the way to new things. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@patricakimmel9563]

@@BareMtnFarm thank you , when it comes to cut flowers ,i find your videos are simply the best, as im in zone 8b as well

[@sislertx]

Better leave the vinegar OUT.

[@BareMtnFarm]

The brown rice vinegar or BRV is not distilled but naturally fermented and is very diluted. In the jug when purchased the acidity is 4.5%. When diluted in our tea at a 1:500 ratio the acidity drops to .036%. This is way below the level of harming plant tissues but is enough help with making the enzymes, growth hormones etc in the(Fermented Plant Juice) FPJ more bio-available. BRV in low concentrations also increases plant resistance to diseases due to the activity of the acetic acid bacteria. BRV has an ability to sterilize and restrain bacterial growth. BRV can also aid in absorption of calcium. I know this all seems counter intuitive but strangely enough at low concentrations this naturally fermented vinegar has many plant benefits.

[@sislertx]

@@BareMtnFarm oh..well. then well done...didnt realise it was so mild.

[@admetric]

Hi what do you mean by size 5/7??

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Love Joy The size classification for ranunculus and anemones is in millimeters at the diameter of the corm. So a 5/7 is approx in the range 5mm to 7mm. since this is typically the largest classification on Ranunculus its usually stated as 5/7+ meaning you may have corms that are larger than 5/7 range included.

[@admetric]

@@BareMtnFarm if you grow the ranunculus and then let it go dormant and dig it up, will it be larger??

[@BareMtnFarm]

Hi @Love Joy the ranunculus will reproduce by forming small attached corms to the original plant. Depending on how mature these new cormlets are you will either end up with one additionally larger corm or you can divide them into unique plants.

[@admetric]

@@BareMtnFarm thank you for responding. You are the first to explain what happens.