Grow ranunculus with us this season! Italian Ranunculus are hands down our favourite flower we grow on the farm. Over the last 7 years we have perfected a list of growing instructions for ranunculus that provide long stemmed beautiful blooms. Below we have provided basic growing instructions for any grower.

Our course (coming soon...) provides more details on timing, temperature, spacing, pricing to florists, and more for those looking to grow ranunculus for profit! An email will be sent out to our subscribers when this course becomes available this winter. 

What you will receive with this purchase:

5 corms in a pack for $25 ($5/ corm).

How to start:

1) Soaking:

To start your corms, soak them in tepid water with the tap slightly dripping for aeration. Soak for roughly 4 hours with aeration of tap dripping or a pump in water. This aeration prevents corms from rotting. 

2) Seedling Phase:

After soaking, ranunculus corms will be more swollen than their dried storage form you received them in. They have now been activated for another season! Plant into pro-mix or a plain potting mix that contains perlite for drainage. Ranunculus are prone to rotting in the trays with too much moisture! So be sure to plant into a potting mix that allows for lots of drainage. You will find they do not need much water in this nursery growth phase. Watering ever other day lightly should do the trick. Ranunculus corms can be grown into seedlings under grow lights or in a nursery greenhouse that has proper heat controls and lighting. 

3) Planting:

Once your ranunculus seedlings are established, you can plant into your tunnel, greenhouse, or the field. Ranunculus love cool temperature of 4-15C so plant in the appropriate spot for the time of year they are ready. If planted outside of a greenhouse in April, they may benefit from row cover or poly at night to prevent stunting from freezing temperatures. If planted in May, we highly suggest interplanting in a shaded spot to allow them to remain cool on hot early summer days. 

4) Harvest: 

Ranunculus in a greenhouse will provide you with blooms from mothers day to early June. They will need to be harvested everyday to catch them at the right harvest stage and encourage the plants to keep creating more blooms. Ranunculus typically have a long vase life of 2 weeks at room temperature. If they are stored in the fridge and cut at the proper stage, you can count of extending this vase life another week. 

5) How to save your corms:

Ranunculus corms can be saved from year to year, but should be treated as an annual in the garden. Healthy ranunculus plants will bloom for 3 weeks strong. Cutting flowers to enjoy encourages more blooms. Once the plants feel the heat, they will start to die back. Allow the plant to turn completely brown (dried dead leaves into the ground), then remove from your gardens to store inside. They can be stored anywhere in your home that stays a constant temperature such as a pantry or even living room. They do not need specific temperature controls like dahlias for example because they are completely dried for winter storage.