The first is the blooming phase where it produces dark green foliage and beautiful blooms. The second is a rest phase, where the plant stops producing flowers and begins to use its leaves to store energy in the form of corms. The third phase is a dormant phase necessary to rest the plant so it can bloom again the next year. Continue reading to learn how to care for freesias in their rest phase.
By far, sunlight is the most important factor during this time. The green leaves must use sunlight to photosynthesize and store energy for the next year; quite a bit like hibernation. If too little nutrition is stored, the plant could refuse to bloom or have greatly reduced foliage the next year.
Leave the Freesia’s in full sun for the next two to three months or until the leaves turn yellow. During this time, you should frequently water and refrain from disturbing the plant too much. This phase is critical for producing healthy corms for next year.
It’s important that the plant remains dry during this time, therefore you should reduce watering to when the plant is appearing to wilt, to prevent the corms from attempting to bloom at the wrong time. You may keep the freesia in a dark location until you’re ready to start blooms again, even if you change seasons. If you remove the plant from dormancy in winter, you’ll enjoy blooms during the summer. If you remove them in the fall, you’ll enjoy blooms in the spring.
Be sure to remove the entire plant from the pot and avoid digging into the corm system. Try tipping the pot and removing all the dirt and corms onto a newspaper to prevent damage to the plant. With a light hand, begin to pull off branching corms.
This withering corm is last year’s parent corm that is still attached to a healthy child. You should remove and separate the new corms from the previous and set them aside in a dry location to allow them to cure for several weeks before replanting.
