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During the active growing season, which is generally spring through summer, try to support your plants by feeding them every fortnight (which is every 14 days). Start doing this as soon as the first buds appear on the plant. A general water-soluble plant feed or one that your rake into the soil is fine. This encourages the plant to produce flowers. You can purchase plant feed at your local gardening supply store. You should make a point to water your tubers just after planting, as mentioned above. Continue to water your new plants once every 10 to 14 days. When the first foliage, or leaves, appear on your plants, you should try to water them once a week. Continue watering your plants once a week until fall comes around. In the fall, the ranunculus will die back, or go dormant, and will not need to be watered. Dormancy is covered more thoroughly in Step 5 of this section. Sadly, ranunculus can fall prey to pests like slugs and aphids. Luckily, there are measures you can take to make sure that these pests stay away.  Combat slugs with slug pellets, which are sprinkled around your ranunculus. You can purchase these pellets at a garden supply store. A standard aphid spray or insecticidal soap should be applied if aphid attack occurs. As with many flowering plants, it’s advisable to remove spent flowerheads once they wither (when they dry up and die). This not only makes the plant look tidier, it also encourages other flowers to form and reduces the amount of energy the plant spends on seed formation, which helps preserve its strength. Use a sharp pair of scissors to snip off the dead heads as soon as they begin to look scruffy. Try to cut the flower at the base of the stem, which is located in amongst the foliage, or leaves. Once the flowering season ends in fall, allow the foliage to die back. Dying back means that the plant becomes dormant until the next flowering season. To encourage the plant to regrow the next season: Refrain from cutting the dead growth away before the first frost. You don’t need to water the plant while it is dormant; in fact, these plants do better if they are not watered while they are dormant in the winter. Ranunculus will tolerate a light frost if left in the ground through a fairly mild winter. If your local climate regularly experiences heavy frost then dig up the tubers and store them in a cool dark place such as a garden shed for the winter. Try to avoid bringing them into a heated space like your home as they tend to rot under these conditions. Because of the difficulty establishing ranunculus as perennials (plants which flower year after year), many gardeners just treat them as annuals (plants which flower only one year). However, if you are determined to see yours bloom again, dig up your tubers for the winter, as described in the previous step. Ranunculus make a beautiful cut flower that generally remains healthy for awhile after being cut if measures are taken to preserve the cut. To preserve the life of cut ranunculus flowers, cut them early in the morning just as the buds are starting to open. A good clean cut using a sharp blade will help make the cut clean. Snip the stem at the base of the plant just about the crown and within the foliage. This avoids leaving exposed cut stems.
Feed your plants with ‘plant feed’ every 14 or so days. Water your ranunculus. Defend your ranunculus against pests. Remove withered flowerheads with sharp garden scissors. Allow your plant to ‘die back’ in the winter. Store the ranunculus inside during the winter if you live in a climate that gets heavy frost. Understand that many gardeners view ranunculus as annuals. Preserve blooms that you cut.