Alliums

Hi 

I brought 2 alliums in pots last year. Whilst one has flowered this year the other hasn't. I was told when i brought them that the routes like to be kept tight in a pot with little room. However I have just removed the none flowering one from the pot and it is completely pot bound. 

Would i do best repoting it in a larger container or striaght in to the ground. Can the bulb be spilt in to 2? It would appear that the bulb is fairly mature as it has alot of old folige at the top of the bulb? As you can see I have no experience off growing alliums and any advice would be appriciated.

You cant split the bulb -I would just plant them in the ground to be honest

Ornamental alliums are part of the onion family and prefer to be in soil than in pots so I would plant yours out in the garden.  They are perfectly hardy but don't like damp soil in winter.  If you leave the flower heads to go to seed you may well get lots of babies which can be potted up and grown on until mature enough to flower.

Is it possible you may be confusing them with agapanthus which do like to be pot bound?

Thank you for your reply. Yes you are right i am confusing them, they are agapanthus and are completely pot bound! Having struggled to get the plant out of the pot the roots are so tightly bound that there is no soil in the bottom half of the pot and the bottom half of the pot is a mass of tightly compact roots. 

How do I repot? Do I seperate the bulbs or simply repot in a larger pot to allow the roots to spread and gain the nutrion from the soil that the plant needs?

Leave it alone-do not re-pot-they should start throwing up flowering stems any time now-they will relish the pot bound conditions.

I'd be inclined to repot it into a slightly, only, bigger pot, with fresh compost to allow it to gain some nutition. Ok, it'll be unlikely to flower even next year, but at least you know that it's got some substance in the pot rather than nothing. Then a couple of years on it'll flower. J.

I would repot too into a slightly bigger pot, not more than 2 " wider.  I wouldn't bother dividing the two plants as their roots will be so intertwined it would only damage them and set them back.  

Next spring, water them with liquid rose or tomato food to encourage flower buds.

Thank you all so much for responding. Will re pot in to a slightly larger pot and feed.