Ranunculus from plugs? Is that a thing? In fact it is. Potted ranunculus are almost always grown from seed. They always have been. For some reason cutting strains have traditionally been grown from tuberous roots (they aren't corms) but they can perform as well or even better from plugs. The Aazur series compares will with other commerical Ranunculus strains currently on the market and is a popular commercial series in Holland.

Plug grown ranunculus have several advantages over growing from dry roots. They are actively growing on arrival, meaning you skip the whole soaking and sprouting step thus reducing the chance of rot. Bulb suppliers often don't have the colors you want, or they require you to buy colors you don't want in order to purchase those you do. This baffles me. Growing your plugs from seed takes away some of the hassle of sourcing ranunculus and we can produce just what you want to supply your customers.

Growing from plugs is not difficult, but it is more specific than growing from tuberous roots. When you start from a tuberous root, the plant already has carbohydrates built up to support the first bloom. A plug does not have this advantage, so it needs some time to bulk up its root system to promote strong flowering. In order for this to happen plugs must be planted out into short day conditions (lets say under 11 hours of day length to be safe) and they must be kept cool, but not frozen. Ranunculus are Mediterranean plants and need cool but not freezing conditions to thrive.

Order your plugs to arrive when you are certain your soil will be 55 degrees or cooler. Exposure above 70 can trigger dormancy which is the opposite of what you want. By mid to late October most of the US is below 11 hours of day length, which is ideal. The ideal temperature range is 45F nights and 55F days. At these temperature Ranunculus will actively bulk up creating a big root system that will support abundant blooming when longer days come along. Ranunculus flower under long days, generally starting around 13 hours of day length.

The ideal customer for these Ranunculus will have cool but mild winters, or have minimally heated greenhouses or tunnels to keep temperatures in the proper range. Yes, there is some flexibility in this range. They can handle a bit of frost but at cooler temperatures they will not be growing effectively and flower count and size will suffer. 

Our Gemstone Anemones prefer identical conditions to thrive. 

Those who have grown this series report tall and strong stems with equal production to ranunculus grown from dry roots.

Yes, the photos are atrocious. We hope the breeder or seed supplier will come through with something better, but you get the idea. The photos all represent the flower at harvest, not so much how they will look when fully open. 

Available weeks 38-15 only.