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After flowering tulips what needs to be done. What to do with tulips after flowering. Dates and technology of digging tulips

Florists are often interested in the question of what to do with tulips after flowering. After the tulips have faded, the trouble with them does not end. To make them happy with colorful blooms in the new season, a number of actions will be required. It is necessary:

  • Water tulips abundantly after flowering;
  • To feed;
  • Dig and store the bulbs properly.

So the last petals from the tulips showered, but this does not mean that the planting can be abandoned without care. For the formation of good quality onions, the creation of favorable conditions will be required. However, caring for tulips after flowering in the garden is quite simple, even a schoolboy can handle this.

Do I need to cut tulips after flowering?

When to crop tulips after flowering photo

When to cut tulips after flowering? First cut the flower stalk: cut the flower stalks after all the petals have crumbled. If you leave the peduncles, the bulb will give nutrients to the formation and maturation of seeds. If you cut off the ground part completely, the bulb also does not get the necessary amount of nutrients, so be sure to leave the leaves. When the leaf plates turned yellow and dried on their own, then the bulbs are ripe and you can dig them out.

Watering tulips after flowering

Within 1-2 weeks after cutting the peduncles, it is necessary to water the plantings abundantly, loosen the soil and remove weed grass.

How to feed

Immediately after flowering, feed tulips with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer to prepare for future wintering and flowering; you can’t add nitrogen.

Tulips after flowering what to do video:

When to dig out tulips after flowering in the open ground

Should I dig up tulips after flowering?

You can not dig out tulip bulbs for several seasons in a row. Dig bulbs if necessary, planting less often when the lawn has become thickened. They also have to dig in regions with harsh winters for storage indoors until spring.

When to dig tulip bulbs after flowering?

When to dig out tulips after flowering in Siberia and Moscow region? Dig the tulip bulbs when the leaves turn completely yellow and dry. Follow these steps:

  • To dig out the bulbs, it is better to choose a warm sunny day so that the bulbs can dry out normally;
  • Work shovel carefully so as not to damage the roots and bulbs of tulips;
  • After digging, carefully inspect the bulbs. Painful in appearance, rotten discard;
  • If you dig a bulb in rainy weather, rinse them and dry them in a warm, ventilated room;
  • If there are signs of disease (fungus, spots, dots), treat the bulbs with fungicide, then store them separately from the total mass.

When to transplant tulips after flowering

When to dig and plant tulips after flowering? It is not worth replanting bulbs of tulips that have just faded. It is necessary to wait until the ground part begins to turn yellow and dry (it is advisable to cut off the faded peduncles immediately after the leaves are showered). By this time, all the nutrients will go into the bulb and it will be ready for the new growing season. Tulips are planted after flowering or in June, immediately after excavation, or in mid-September to mid-October. In regions with severe winters (for example, in the Urals), many flower growers plant tulips in the spring.

Tulip transplant after flowering in June

The leaves should flow and dry, then proceed to transplant. To do this is quite simple: dig out the bulbs and plant less often, maintaining the same level of planting. You can not specifically dry the bulbs, but plant them immediately after digging. You can cut dry tops already after transplanting, it is more convenient to control the depth of planting. But if you are sure that you are not mistaken, you can trim the leaves immediately.

How to store tulips after flowering

How to store tulip bulbs after flowering?  After the dug up tulip bulbs are dug up, dried and sorted, we proceed to storage. It is best to use mesh boxes, bulbs can be laid in 1-2 layers, so they do not rot. In addition to sorting and unfolding properly, an important component of the proper storage of bulbs is the appropriate temperature. So:

  • In July, store at a temperature of 24-26 ° C;
  • In August, lower the mark to 20 ° C;
  • Starting in September, a temperature of 17 ° C is required if you plan a spring planting;
  • In the following months (until planting in spring in open ground), store at a temperature of 12-15 ° C.

It is very important to observe the correct temperature regime when storing the bulbs, since during this time the kidneys are formed, leaf plates and peduncles are laid.

Store bulbs in a dry, ventilated area. Periodically look at the bulbs, discard damaged (rotten) ones, so as not to ruin all the planting material.

How to dig and store tulips before planting in the fall we look at the video:

Dug tulips can also be planted in the fall, in the middle - the second half of September, until mid-October. Learn how to dig and save tulips before autumn planting from the video.

In order to grow a large bulb or propagate a variety, on the 4-8th day of flowering, it is necessary to cut off the flowering head. This measure helps to increase the mass of the bulb.

Remove crumbling petals, yellowed leaves from the garden - they will rot, which contributes to the development of pathogens in the area.

To greatly facilitate the work of caring for tulips, plant them in plastic baskets (there are also special containers for this). After flowering, dig out the containers with the bulbs and rearrange them in a secluded place for the ripening of the bulbs.

How to understand that a tulip bulb has ripened? Dig one of them and carefully inspect. The ripened onion has superficial scales of a pleasant saturated brown color, with a slight glossy shine.

For flower growers, the question of the timing of digging up tulips is quite exciting, their future growth and flowering depends on this. I will explain to those who are not yet in the subject: they dig up tulips when they bloom, for summer vacations, plant in autumn, they winter in the garden.

The opinions of gardeners differ, there are those who do not dig bulbs at all, believing that it is better not to disturb the flowers. But this is a very vague argument, in fact, without digging up the tulip bulbs they are smaller, they are reluctant to multiply, the risk of diseases and pests is increased, and if you do not dig up more than 2 years, it is very difficult to find the bulbs - they literally go to the depths.

Varietal tulips of the Dutch selection (up to 90% of them on the world market), even acclimatized to our latitudes, are noticeably smaller without transplantation. Sometimes, due to the banal lack of time (garden, berries) and laziness, expensive and beautiful varietal tulips disappear. Although my grandmother dug out outbred simple red tulips every year, they bloomed every year for everyone! It is permissible to dig them out after 2, maximum 3 years, if this is not done, then the bulbs will gradually go deep into the ground so that there is not enough strength to germinate.

There are varieties that completely lose varietal characteristics without drying and a warm dry period in the summer - in other words, in the second year, flowers of a different color and terry will bloom from un digged bulbs. Sometimes they do not bloom at all, unfold the leaves, vegetate their period and safely fade, not even pleased with the flower. Sometimes they wither away and completely disappear. An angry flower grower can blame unscrupulous sellers and breeders, but in fact, you just need to know in advance which variety you are purchasing.

In general, all tulips can be divided into three groups:

  • Requiring annual excavation: lilac, fringed, parrot, green, terry late, rembrandt tulips
  • Varieties that can not be dug up for 2 years: Darwin hybrids, Triumph tulips and simple ones - it is possible, but not desirable, i.e. ideally, it’s better to dig out every year.
  • Tulips that can grow up to 5 years without digging are varieties and hybrids of Kaufmann, Foster, Greig.

Although there are tulips that lose varietal characteristics due to inconsistent conditions, our climate zone does not help, neither proper planting nor care. This is explained by the genetic dependence of the variety on clear climatic factors (temperature deviations of 3-4 ° C already cause deviations in the formation of color or terry). Especially capricious are some varieties of Kaufman tulips Tulipa kaufmanniana, Greig tulips Tulipa greigii, some terry varieties, for example, varieties "Stresa", "Miranda", "Princess Charmant" and others).

Producers do not have much benefit in striving to develop sustainable varieties, their policy is simple - you buy new bulbs every year, and after flowering, throw them out, buy new ones.

By the way, there are light, resistant varieties among fringed tulips: “Blue Heron”, “Lambada”. Of the simple ones - the purple “Queen of the Night”, the Darwin hybrid “Blushing Apeldoorn” and the lilac-colored “Claudia”, from the Triumph group - “Yokohama” and “Arabian Mystery”.

Why dig up tulips

To summarize, why do you still need to dig up tulip bulbs:

  1. The need to divide the overgrown nest of bulbs, otherwise they lack nutrition area.
  2. Selection of healthy planting material and culling of damaged and weak bulbs.
  3. Adaptation to the local climate. Tulips are very thermophilic, during normal cultivation they lack warming, because the temperature at the depth of the beds or flower beds is much lower than the ambient temperature. Even in the southern regions of Russia, the soil temperature at a depth of 15-20 cm in June-July is not always sufficient, for example, to grow parrot and fringed varieties (this leads to a loss of variety). And we can store dug bulbs in the most optimal conditions.
  4. Soil preparation for the next cycle: during the season, the soil is compacted, depleted, loses nutrients and porosity, having cleaned the flower bed, it can be qualitatively prepared for fresh plantings.
  5. Plant the bulbs to the desired depth, if you do not dig up tulips, the bulbs gradually "go" to the ground.
  6. Another reason for the need to dig up the Dutch is their tendency to rot. There are varieties whose bulbs need to be dug up earlier, immediately after flowering, when the leaves just begin to turn yellow, and do not leave even in dry ground - they rot.

How to determine the timing of digging tulips

There is a general rule: you can dig out the tulip bulbs when one third of the leaf turns yellow. If you dig up at this stage, you will save the entire bulb nest intact - they do not fall apart. In central Russia, this is approximately the end of June, the beginning of July.

Advice on how to determine the time for digging the tulip bulbs: if the end of the tulip stem can be easily wrapped around your finger, it’s time to dig it out.

Even if the weather is dry and hot, do not leave tulips in the ground - if you are late with digging, when the leaves are completely dry and yellow, the nests of the bulbs easily break up when digging, the bulbs are small, it is difficult to select them all, you have to sift the soil.

However, there are exceptions to the rule - if in the spring and early summer the weather turned out to be damp and cold - unfavorable for tulips. No need to wait for yellowing, the bulbs need to be dug up and dried well. It is necessary to dig out, first of all, the earliest varieties that bloomed in April. Later varieties, immediately after flowering, you need to feed and dig out after 2 weeks. These bulbs, dug up prematurely, can be planted for ripening in containers, boxes. Those. sprinkle dry leaves and peduncles and put in a warm, dry place.

How to dig bulbs

Bulbs need to be dug up on dry ground when it is friable and pliable. Dig out with a pitchfork, grabbing a piece of land slightly departing from the planting, if the leaves and peduncles are still strong, shake off the ground and do not cut off the aboveground part - the remaining tops still give out nutrients to the bulbs.

If the ground is moist, rinse the bulbs in plenty of water. Then inspect.

A sign of ripening of tulip bulbs: the scales are dense, acquire a golden brown color.

Pay attention to mold and rot. Then the bulbs should be washed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate or foundationazole, you can use the drug maxim, copper chloride or medex. Stand in the solution for 30 minutes.

The bulbs are now ready for storage.

How to store tulip bulbs

First, the bulbs must be dried. For this we use cardboard boxes. It is important to sort by grades and be sure to sign immediately. We lay out in one layer.

Together, lay only healthy, good onions without spots. All suspects in the quarantine box, possibly alarms will be in vain and the bulbs well lie, especially after treatment with fungicides.

You can dry the bulbs like onions in nylon nets for vegetables in which they are sold in the supermarket.

It is important that the place for drying is well ventilated, not in the sun, slight shading, best of all - the attic of a country house or in a barn.

In the first two days, the old covering scales will dry on the bulbs, they can be removed like peel from the onion. Remove residual dried roots and debris. Well-dried bulb nests break up easily, if you do not want to, carefully separate them.

After drying and removing leaf debris (dry ones can be easily separated), you need to calibrate the bulbs in order to decide what to do next. First, select the largest ones for planting, with this, everything is simple for tulips - the larger the bulb, the better. The ideal size is a diameter of at least 4 cm, the shape is round. We plant a trifle as well as large ones, just remember that in the first year they may not bloom - they can be planted separately.

Storage temperature

The first month, the temperature is needed around 24-25 ° C, not lower than 23 ° C, with humidity not higher than 70% and very good air movement. For example, it is unacceptable to store in a garage, any garage is an unsaleable box where mold can easily grow, it is better to store it right on the street, under a canopy. If the weather has failed, we take the bulbs home on the mezzanine or under the bed, an old proven method ...

Temperature is important for a flower bud to form in the bulb. Sometimes flower "primers" warn us to raise the temperature, but in fact, the temperature depends on the needs of the varieties, for example, parrot and fringed tulips need to be stored at a temperature of about 30 ° C.

Since August, the temperature must be lowered, on average, about 20 ° C, if the bulbs were in a warm house, transfer to a barn or to the veranda. From the end of August to the beginning of September it is even cooler, about 15-16 ° C, it is these temperatures that are maintained in Dutch greenhouses, where everything is verified to a degree. But as humidity rises, it is already unacceptable to store it under a canopy on the street, look for a dry place.

Experts argue that it is impossible to deviate from the rules and violate the cyclical ripening of tulip bulbs: in the first month after digging, the buds of a flower, the formation of buds replacing (the main young bulb) and daughter bulbs, the laying of buds of leaves are laid. Two months later, the rudiments of stamens, ovary, pestle.

If the temperature regime deviates from the norm and the needs of the variety, after distillation or when growing in open ground, the formation of “blind” buds is observed (drying has not yet been opened).

However, blind buds can form for a number of reasons (insufficient cooling period before distillation, infection with Fusarium, etc.)

We store dug bulbs until the optimum planting dates, until about mid-September - mid-October, when the soil temperature is + 9-12 ° C, it depends on the region and the weather.

You must have heard or read stories about how someone has the same parrot tulips grow without digging and bloom for everyone to enjoy. Indeed, sometimes not digging up the summer is not fatal, but experienced gardeners know everything, even if the summer is warm, they can get by, but cooling for a week can lead to rot and other diseases.

Olga Treuhina

Tulips grown in the garden delight the eye with their bright flowering in early spring, when all other plants only awaken from hibernation. But their flowering does not last long, and after that, a period of dormancy begins in the bulbs, when they begin to prepare for the next season. The rest period is a crucial moment in the cultivation of tulips. The flowering of next year depends on the observance of the rules for digging and storing bulbs.

Is it necessary to dig up tulips after flowering

Tulips are frost-resistant flowers that are not afraid of even the most severe frosts. They winter without problems in open ground and spring break out of the ground when the first heat. At the same place, tulips can be grown for more than one year, and this does not affect their vegetation. But this does not mean that the bulbs can be planted in the ground once and forget about them at the end of flowering.

Tulip bulbs must be dug up every year.

Tulips require careful care, not only during the growing season, but also after it. Bulb care after flowering is an important event on which the preservation of the size and brightness of the color of the flowers depends. Inexperienced flower growers often encounter a situation where purchased varietal bulbs, elegantly blooming in the first year after planting next spring give small, inconspicuous flowers. And a year later, only leaves appear on the planting site of the bulbs, and not a single flower is formed.

Inexperienced flower growers conclude that they were the victim of cheating sellers. But this opinion is erroneous. In fact, the cause of poor flowering is the result of improper care of the bulbs. Bulbs of varietal tulips must be dug out of the soil to care for them annually.

This must be done for the following reasons:

Therefore, the need for annual digging and drying of tulip bulbs for their proper development is beyond doubt. Therefore, after flowering in the open ground, all the bulbs need to be dug, sorted and dried.

In general, all varieties of tulips can be divided into three subgroups:

  1. Digging up every year. these include fringed, lilac, green, terry late, Rembrandt.
  2. Varieties that can be excavated once every two years. These are Darwin hybrids, Triumph tulips and simple, non-varietal species.
  3. Tulips that you can not dig out for 5 years. These include hybrids of Kaufman, Greig, Foster.

Dates and technology of digging tulips

The answer to the question of when to dig tulips depends on several factors. The timing is affected by climatic and weather conditions, variety and age of flowers. Most often, the digging dates come in late June and early July. But for early varieties, time may come in mid-June. Later varieties can end their vegetative period by the end of July.

The specific period of digging of bulbs can be determined by the condition of the aerial part of the flower. Yellowing of the leaves is a signal that the roots have begun to die, and the plant goes into a dormant state.

If the leaves of the tulip began to turn yellow, and the stem became more dry, then it is time to dig up the plant.

You should not rush the procedure until the leaves dry. If the bulbs are removed from the soil too early, they will be immature and subsequently poorly winter. It is also not worth delaying the process, since there is a risk of losing bulbs in the garden. Children from overripe bulbs easily fall off and are lost in the soil. In addition, the long stay of the bulbs in moist soil will lead to their defeat by fungus and mold.

Important. If spring stood out cold and rainy, but the summer heat did not come. Bulbs must be dug up without waiting for the leaves to turn yellow. In this case, the bulbs are planted for ripening in boxes filled with dry soil.

Dig bulbs only in dry weather, when the soil freely scatters. Plants are carefully removed from the soil along with the leaves and stems remaining on the bulbs. The remains of the aerial part and too long roots from the bulbs are cut off. The bulbs are washed in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, having previously removed the covering flakes from them.

After digging, the tulip bulbs are carefully cleaned of the earth and washed in manganese.

If you dig the bulbs in wet weather, you need to thoroughly wash all the soil from them. Raw bulbs are recommended to be treated with Fundazol or Maxim. In a solution of these preparations, the bulbs must be kept for 30 minutes.

Bulb drying and sorting rules

Before sorting, the bulbs are pre-dried and only then sorted by grade and size. Before drying, sorting is not recommended, since you can accidentally damage the delicate surface of the bulbs.

Bulbs must be dried in a well-ventilated place, protected from the sun. It is best to lay them in one layer on the shelves in the barn or in the attic of the country house. In the first week after drying, the upper, coarse scales and the remains of the roots will fall from the bulbs.

After drying, the bulbs are laid out in different boxes, sorted by size and grade. At the same time, specimens with injuries and signs of the disease are rejected. A healthy onion has a hard, smooth cream-colored surface. On top of the bulb is covered with a thin, golden brown scale.

Methods and conditions for storage of bulbs until planting

Bulbs are sorted and stacked in wooden boxes.

The question of how to store bulbs before planting in the fall also causes difficulties for beginner gardeners. Ideal place for bulbs - wooden boxes. This storage option is preferable to the use of cardboard boxes, which soak over time.

Large specimens are laid out in one layer, a trifle can be laid in 2-3 layers. To remove excess moisture and additional protection, some growers recommend sprinkling bulbs with dry sawdust.

Bulb storage temperature

Boxes with tulips are set in a dry, ventilated area. The optimal storage temperature in the first month is 24-25 degrees with a humidity level of not more than 70%. If weather conditions permit, boxes can be installed under a canopy right on the street. In cold and damp weather, leaving the bulbs on the street is not worth it. It is better to bring tulips into the house and place under the bed or on the mezzanine.

In August, the storage temperature of the bulbs must be reduced to 19-20 degrees. If the bulbs were stored at home until then, it is recommended that they be moved to the barn or to the veranda. In summer cottages, it is permissible to lower the bulbs into the basement. Since the end of August, the temperature of the content of the bulbs should not exceed 15-16 degrees.

Some flower growers store bulbs all the time before planting in the refrigerator at a temperature of 8-9 degrees and claim that after such storage tulips bloom beautifully and do not get sick.

Lighting and Humidity Requirements

During storage, the bulbs must be protected as much as possible from light access. Under natural conditions, the bulbs are constantly in the ground, so the extra light is unnatural for them. So that the natural physiological processes in the bulbs are not disturbed, they need complete darkness.

Tulip bulbs cannot be stored in rooms with high humidity.

Bulb humidity is absolutely contraindicated in bulbs. The humidity level in the room where tulips are stored should not exceed 70%.  Otherwise, the bulbs will damp and begin to mold.

At the same time, excessive dryness is also dangerous for the bulbs. When stored in a hot, dry room, the bulbs dry completely and literally turn into dust.

Experts say that maintaining all bulb ripening cycles ensures that varietal traits of plants are preserved. In the first month after extraction from the soil, the bud of a flower and the formation of buds of the replacing and daughter bulbs are laid. In the second month, the laying of leaf primordia occurs. And in the last month, the stamens, ovaries and pestle are laid. Violation of the recommended temperature conditions leads to the formation of "blind" buds during the cultivation in the soil.

Compliance with the rules for digging and storing bulbs ensures that tulips will delight the summer resident with their luxurious flowering for more than one year. This procedure is not complicated, so you should not neglect it, so that in spring, flower beds are decorated with elegant, large flowers.

This video will help you understand how to dig up tulips and when to do it.

The end of spring, the beginning of summer. One of the first spring flowers faded - tulips. The florist begins other troubles. It is necessary to dig the bulbs in a timely manner, sort them, lay them in storage and plant them in the fall at the optimum time.

Consider each type of work in more detail.

Why dig tulip bulbs?

There are several reasons. A feature of the growth of tulip bulbs is their constant desire to go deeper. If you do not dig out the bulbs after each flowering, then with each season the tulip children go deeper and deeper into the soil. From a great depth it is more difficult for them to grow. Seedlings every year become smaller and smaller, flowering stops. Over time, tulips will stop sprouting. The flowers will fade.

Another reason that forces gardeners to dig bulbs every year is the rapid degeneration of varietal tulips. It is noted that if exotic varieties of tulips (parrot or fringed) are not dug up at the end of the season, then after a short time the tulips return to their original form. Most often, tulips become ordinary, red.

Another reason tulips are best dug is the need for a dormant period. During this time, a flower arrow forms in the bulb. For the safe progress of this process, an elevated temperature is required - at least 25 ° C, but not higher than 35. At the landing depth, it is impossible to maintain such a temperature even in the southern regions.

Prolonged cultivation of any plant in one place leads to the accumulation of waste and pathogens around it. The annual digging of bulbs and planting them in a new place will reduce the likelihood of infection of plantings and provide plantings with fresh soil.

Currently, many tulip lovers plant bulbs in planting baskets. Do I need to dig bulbs planted in this way, because they almost do not go deep into the soil? Yes, of course, the tulip baby will not go to great depths, but the small bulbs remaining in large numbers will interfere with flowering, taking food from the mother bulb. In addition, digging up tulips planted in a basket will not take much effort and a lot of time, and almost everything, including the smallest ones, will be dug up the bulbs.

Another reason to dig tulip bulbs is sorting. Bulbs are sorted by size. In autumn, it is better to plant large and small bulbs separately, rejecting sick and weak plants.

There are exceptions to any rule. Species tulips and tulip bulbs of some varieties can be left in the place of growth for several seasons.

When to dig out tulips, optimal timing?

Choosing the right time to dig up the bulbs is very important for getting abundant flowering in the next season.

When tulips are planted by curtains among perennials, they can be dug in two to three seasons. You can decide whether or not to dig bulbs, given the flowering intensity. Plants, luxuriantly flowering, with healthy leaves can not be dug up annually.

In advance, when you need to dig bulbs is impossible. In each region, this happens differently. You can determine the required time by external signs.

  1. The main sign of the time to dig tulips is the color change of the leaves after flowering. Withered and yellowed leaves are the first sign that bulb formation has completed.
  2. Another sign showing that tulips need to be dug is the wilt of the peduncle. If the pedicel can be wound on a finger without breaking, it means that all the necessary substances from it have gone into the bulb and it can be dug out.
  3. Another sign of bulb ripening is the color of the bulb coverings. In sufficiently ripened bulbs, the outer layer is deep brown and dried.

But pull with this is not worth it. In an optimally ripened bulb, the children hold tight and do not fall off with a light touch. Having missed the necessary timelines, there is a danger that most of the small bulbs will remain in the soil and give small shoots for the next year.

In central Russia, the optimal time for digging tulip bulbs comes in late June - early July. And of course, you need to dig up tulips, given the timing of flowering. Early flowering varieties are dug up earlier, late flowering - later. To wait until all the best solution fades away. The bulbs of early-flowering tulips overripe and lose the baby, and in late-flowering tulips, bulbs have not yet formed.

How to dig tulips so that the bulbs are well kept?

Bulbs start digging on a clear day when the soil is well-dried. In this case, dry and loose soil will fall off easily and painlessly.

As a tool, it is better to use a pitchfork. Using a shovel, the probability of causing damage to the bulbs increases. After digging up the tulips, it is better to dig the plot again, removing the remaining bulbs.

It is better to keep the forks or the shovel when digging the bulbs vertically - so there is less chance of damaging the bulbs.

It is not worth taking tulips out of the ground, pulling them by the stem - the stem can remain in the hands, and the bulb in the ground.

How to save bulbs before planting?

Get the abundant flowering of tulips in the next season if you properly prepare the bulbs for storage. It is better to cut flowers before buds open, leaving at least two leaves on the plant. If the flowers are not cut, then try to avoid the formation of seeds, weakening the bulb.

Dug bulbs need:

  1. To dry. Dug bulbs are dried in the shade at a moderate temperature for up to three weeks.
  2. Choose the optimal storage conditions. At the initial stage of storage, the temperature should be at least + 15ºС, optimally + 25ºС and air humidity 70%. Gradually, the temperature should be reduced and brought to + 13ºС by the time of disembarkation. This will complete the ripening and harden the bulbs before planting. It is better to store planting material in trays, with a layer of no more than 3 rows, protecting from rodents and insects. Lighting for stored tulips is not required, weak, diffused light is allowed. Good ventilation will help protect tulip bulbs from diseases before planting.
  3. Before laying for storage, the bulbs are cleaned of the earth, freed from integumentary scales, dried roots are removed, and the bulbs are sorted by size. The depth of planting depends on the size of the planting material.

How to dig and store tulips: video

We plant tulips in the fall

Most often, tulips are planted on a flowerbed in the fall. By this time, the dormant period ends and the bulbs begin to sprout. Timing is almost unlimited. You can plant in the early autumn, and you can later, along with garlic, shortly before frost. Some gardeners plant tulips in early spring. In this case, they will bloom in mid-autumn. Such terms require a lot of labor - in the middle of summer, in the very heat, the flowers will need to be removed for a while in a cool place, in the basement or refrigerator. In late September, plants are returned to the flowerbed for flowering.

When planting tulip bulbs, you need to remember that:

  • Depending on the size of the bulb, the depth of planting is chosen. It should be equal to three bulb diameters, but not more than 15 cm.
  • Larger bulbs look more harmonious in the center, smaller on the edges.
  • Distances between large bulbs leave about 10 cm, 5-8 will be enough for small ones.
  • The space between tulips of different types and colors is left at 20 cm - this will prevent bulbs from getting mixed up during growth.
  • A layer of sand is poured at the bottom of the hole, the onions are distributed on the surface without pressing them into the sand.
  • Landing holes are covered with earth and leveled.
  • In dry weather in the fall, 10 days after planting, the flowers are watered.

Tulips will decorate and delight any site in the spring - plant and grow them correctly. And admire the flowers for many years!

Tulips are one of the earliest spring bulbs that adorn a flower bed with a vibrant riot of colors. Care for these plants is needed not only during the budding period - after its completion they also require attention. Only in this way it is possible to achieve high-quality re-flowering, preserve the health and strength of the tulip.


The main task of caring for tulips after flowering is the formation and maturation of strong, strong bulbs. Watering should be regular for 2 weeks after budding, and it is imperative to monitor the soil getting wet to a depth of about 30-40 cm. Only in this case can the bulbs not adapted to extract moisture from the lower tiers of the soil be avoided.

Feeding with complex mineral fertilizers, which contain potassium and phosphorus, be sure to include in the care of tulips. Always follow the recommended dosage of 30-40 g per 10 l of water, not exceeding it - overfeeding inhibits the development of bulbs. 1 bucket of solution is enough to water 1m 2 flower beds. Please note: components such as chlorine and nitrogen should not be present in the top dressing!

Skipping the feeding of tulips after flowering is undesirable, because it is it that contributes to the full formation of scales of the replacing bulb. Also, due to a sufficient amount of nutrients, the growth of lateral children, which are subsequently used for reproduction, is stimulated.

Wilted flowers should be removed immediately, before the formation of seeds in the seed box. At the same time, it is recommended to remove only the heads, leaving the peduncles and leaves intact. If the wilted petals remain, the plant will weaken, which will certainly affect future flowering.

The ground part is removed after complete yellowing and drying, when the bulb is fully formed. You can remove the leaves with your hands - usually they can easily be separated with a slight effort. Do not forget to mark the place of planting, so that when digging up, you do not accidentally damage the bulbs.

How to dig bulbs

It is recommended to dig out tulips from the open ground every year, and in regions with a temperate climate, such care of the bulbs is required. If you leave the bulbs in the same area for 2-3 years, they can suffer from fungal diseases and other infections, which affects the quality of planting material.

After correctly pruning, the bulbs are dug up in the last days of June - early July, but in any case, you need to focus on the degree of "ripening". It is better if the weather is dry and sunny - in such conditions, tulips will quickly dry before storage. The earliest varieties are first removed from the flowerbed, then the later ones.

During the excavation, carefully inspect the bulbs:

  • They should not have rot, mechanical damage, pests or strange formations. At the slightest suspicion of infection, dispose of the diseased planting material to prevent infection of the remaining tulips and plants in the flower bed;
  • In quality bulbs, the formed roots and brown scales are always visible - this is what guarantees high-quality flowering in the next season. Discard non-sprouted specimens immediately.

Storage preparation


Tulip bulbs must be dried for a week in a dry, dark and well-ventilated place. It is prohibited to leave planting material in the open sun.

When the tulips dry out, re-rejection of sick and damaged specimens is carried out, the earth is removed from healthy tulips. You also need to separate the large bulbs from small "children", which will be planted separately.

To store tulips, you need to prepare a suitable box with a well-ventilated bottom. Otherwise, the bulbs may rot, especially if the humidity in the room rises. Wicker baskets made of natural materials, paper containers or wooden boxes are also suitable.


To planting material is well preserved until the next season (2-2.5 months), in the room you need to create optimal conditions:

  • For 3-4 weeks after digging from the ground (until the end of July), the temperature mark should be within + 24- + 25 degrees, and humidity should be at 70%;
  • In August, the temperature is recommended to be reduced to +20;
  • September is considered the “coolest" month of storage, since the bulbs should be stored at + 16- + 17 degrees.

Sudden changes in temperature and increase in humidity are not allowed - this leads to damage to the bulbs up to cracking. You need to lay tulips in a maximum of two layers - so they can fully "breathe".

Planted in the ground


You can plant tulips in open ground on a new site in September, when the temperature drops to + 5- + 7 degrees. The work is carried out in several stages.

  1. The bulbs are re-processed with a potassium permanganate solution and dried.
  2. A well-drained, windless and lighted place on a flower bed is selected.
  3. Shallow furrows or dimples are made in the soil, equal to four times the size of the bulb itself.
  4. The site is abundantly spilled with water, then the bulbs are planted without being pressed into the ground.
  5. It is recommended to re-water the bed already with planting material so that the earth envelops the tulips - this contributes to a better survival.
  6. The landing site is covered with a layer of soil, and a week later a small amount of ammonium nitrate is introduced into the soil.

With the onset of cold weather, do not forget to shelter tulips in the garden, mulching with peat, straw, dry leaves or sawdust - this will prevent freezing of plantings.

The bright riot of colors of spring tulips always pleases and creates a holiday in the souls of people, settles the warmth. Only to admire their beauty does not last long due to the short flowering period.

April and May flew by quickly, the tulips bloomed, what to do next: leave the bulbs in the soil until the next season or dig bulbs, how to keep them until the next planting, what to plant in the vacant place to maintain the design of the garden plot? We will tell about all this on this page of our site.

Bulbous flowers develop in a specific cycle:


In connection with this life cycle of tulips, the care of the gardener should be aimed at the full ripening of the bulbs, increasing the immunity of the plant. With complete wilting of the flowers, the peduncle, dry petals, seeds are removed and the plant is watered for another 2 weeks. If not carried out, then the seed box is not allowed to form and cut it off, because it will draw the food from the bulb.

It's important to know.  You can not cut the leaves of lily onion plants immediately after they fade. Aboveground green mass contributes to the growth of the bulb. When cutting tulips for a bouquet, leave 2-3-4 sheets from the bottom.

Yellow leaves are pressed to the surface of the soil with wooden pins or other means so that they do not spoil the appearance of the flowerbed, and leave marks to indicate their location. The root system of the bulbs extracts water in the surface layer, so the earth must be moistened to a depth of 3-40 cm. At the very end of flowering, using complex fertilizers with potassium and phosphorus in the composition: Aquarin, Mortar, Kristallin - 30-40 g / 10 l / m² . Fertilizers will help form scales replacing the bulbs, and grow children. Means with the presence of chlorine and nitrogen are not used.

To be dug up or not to be

Among experienced gardeners, there is no longer any debate about whether to dig tulips every year, since everyone agrees: yes, yes! Moreover, from dry land. The weather during the work should be warm and sunny, the leaves are yellow, and the stem in the upper part should be so soft that it can be bent and not broken.

But nevertheless, tulips of simple varieties can grow quietly in one place up to 7 years, but there are no species varieties, they feel bad in the same soil: they degenerate, grow smaller, lose varietal characters, and breed poorly. Another thing is when they are planted in the fall, and at the beginning of summer they dig out annually or at least after 1-2 years.

The time when you can dig out tulips after flowering in the open field will be different for each region: the first days of June - for warm areas, at the end of June - for cold. Bulbs in July-August should be heated outdoors at a temperature of 23-25 \u200b\u200b° heat.

People often ask if tulips can be dug up in August. During hot summers and warm autumn in the steppe and subtropical zones, this procedure is carried out in late July and August for late varieties of onion, if specified in the lunar calendars. Only you need to remember that you can lose the children, because they are separated from the main uterine bulb, which is also difficult to find.

Long bulbs in the ground increase the risk of infection. They freeze or rot in too moist soil, the roots become a hotbed of infectious diseases. But even with premature excavation, the development of the bulb is disrupted, as well as its division.

How to dig bulbs

The prepared roots and brown spots on the scales, as well as the softening of the leaves and ends of the stems will tell you about the readiness of the bulb for digging: they will easily be wound on the finger. Digging:

  • on warm and sunny days to allow the bulbs to dry;
  • in wet weather they are washed with water, treated with potassium permanganate roots (5%) and dried;
  • to avoid injury to the roots, the shovel is deeply lowered into the ground;
  • those bulbs that are sick or have not sprouted are selected and disposed of;
  •   take turns.

Drying of dug bulbs lasts 7-10 days at a temperature of 25-30 ° heat, humidity - 50%. Then they should be cleaned of the earth, obsolete roots and scales and sorted for storage.

Planting stock storage

The storage of tulip bulbs after digging lasts 2-2.5 months at a room temperature of 23-25 \u200b\u200b° C, another 1-1.5 months at a temperature of 15-18 ° of heat and humidity of 70-80%, then at 10-12 ° heat and humidity 60-70%, up to the moment of landing in the ground. Wherein cover flakes should not dry out and be in high humidity, i.e. above the specified norm.  To ensure breathing, the onions are distributed in one or two layers.

Bulbs of varieties and sizes are placed in each wooden box. With a kidney diameter of more than 4 cm, they are assigned to the first grade, with a diameter of 3 cm to 3.8 cm - to the second grade, with a diameter of 2.0-2.8 cm - to the third. Variation in the size of varieties can be ± 1-2 cm. Planting material is periodically examined for rotting or disease. After storage in the fall, bulbs are planted to continue the development cycle of the plant and obtain bright spring flowers in the flower beds.

Baskets and containers for tulips

It is now popular to plant bulbs in special perforated containers or baskets so that they do not creep into the ground. Baskets are easy to remove from flower beds, and bulbs to be removed from the ground without much damage. After that, the baskets are dug a little somewhere in the garden and the bulbs are left in the soil for ripening. The cells at the containers or baskets should be small so that the kids do not sprout through them.  If there are no baskets at hand, then plastic bottles with a capacity of 5 liters will come in handy. They cut off the neck, and make holes in the bottom, sprinkle the bottom with sand and earth. To make it easier to remove such home-made containers from the ground, pens are attached to the side of them.

Bulbs stored in boxes are again transplanted into the soil in another area from the end of September until October 10, after soaking them again in a solution of weak potassium permanganate. Seedlings are watered and fed with ash and ammonium nitrate. When cold weather occurs, mulch from humus or peat is laid out to maintain heat during the winter and additional nutrition in the spring.

It is known that tulips need care not only during the growing season. It is quite possible to give them the right to repeat lush flowering with proper care and following a few simple rules.

Depending on the variety, tulips begin to bloom from March to June. Flowering lasts from one week to three, then the plants begin to lose their appearance and gradually fade. However, this is not a reason to stop caring for them.

Do I need to cut tulips after flowering?

In order to preserve the size of the buds, it is imperative to cut the tulips after each flowering. This is due to the fact that during the growing season the plant forms a new young bulb underground (sometimes several bulbs), inside of which the shoot and flower of the next year are initially born. To better ripen the future bulb and preserve all the nutrients it needs, you need to free the peduncle from the old bud.

Tulip belongs to perennials: its development from seed to flowering state takes from three to seven years. And if you properly care for this plant, it will form lush buds every year.

When and how to prune tulips after flowering?

The process of pruning tulips after they have bloomed has several subtleties. It is necessary to wait until the petals of the plants become dry and will be easily separated from the stem. Next, you must first note the location of the tulip bulbs in the soil, so that when digging them up it was easier to find.

The cutting tool must be sanitized with alcohol-containing wipes or liquid (you can also use potassium permanganate and iron sulfate for this) and wipe it dry with a clean rag.

If you decide to take tulips from a flower bed for a bouquet, then in this case the stems of the plants should not be cut, but carefully broken, leaving at least two lower leaves on them: they will need a flower to restore strength.

Do I need to water and fertilize tulips in the spring after they bloom?

After flowering, tulips need to continue to be watered for another two weeks.

You can feed tulips in spring for lush flowering with fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. But if blooming tulips were not fed, then after pruning, the soil should be fertilized with phosphorus and potassium, mixed in equal proportions at the rate of 30-35 g of mixture per sq.m.

Mineral fertilizers containing manganese, zinc and boron will not be superfluous. Do not fertilize tulips with manure: it can provoke rotting of bulbs. Contraindicated in these colors and chlorine.

When do they dig tulip bulbs?

As a rule, the time for extracting tulip bulbs from the soil falls at the end of June - beginning of July, when these plants have already bloomed, but their underground shoots have not yet had time to "get lost." In the northern regions, this time is shifting to mid-July - early August.

Dig up the tulip bulbs at a time when approximately two-thirds of their leaves turn yellow. With earlier harvesting, the plant will not have time to form high-quality planting material, and later will lead to drying out and loss of the bulb.

After removing the bulbs from the soil, they must be checked for mold, rot, fusarium and other diseases.

The affected bulbs are thrown away, the healthy ones are dried for two to three days under a canopy, protecting them from direct sunlight. Well-dried tulip bulbs are divided into groups, depending on the diameter, they are cleaned of excess roots and scales and kept for at least half an hour in a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Planting stock is ready for storage.

In order to preserve the tulip variety, gardeners advise digging their bulbs annually. This is especially true for new plant species - terry, green, fringed, parrot. But simple early and simple late tulips, as well as tulips of Kaufman, Foster, Greig, Triumph and Darwin hybrids do not require “updating” for 3-6 years.

How to store tulip bulbs?

Tulip bulbs should be stored in a cool, dry room with good ventilation. With the right content, they will feel great right up to the autumn landing, which also has its own characteristics.

It is best to plant tulip bulbs in open ground from mid-September to mid-October.

It is not at all difficult to achieve beautiful and magnificent flowering of tulips: give them attention - and they will reciprocate.

Tulips are good for everyone - a bright riot of colors, early flowering, decorative properties. One thing is bad - their age is too short. April, May flew by, tulips bloomed, what to do next? Should I continue to care for faded plants? How to use the vacant space in the design of the garden? When to dig and plant bulbs? We will discuss these and other issues in more detail.

Care after flowering

To understand the biological characteristics of a tulip, it is necessary to look in what natural conditions its genetics has formed. And these are steppe and semi-desert regions of Asia with early spring and summer heat, warming the soil to great depths. Hence the development cycle of bulbous flowers:

  • spring vegetation;
  • bloom;
  • bulb division and ripening;
  • period of summer rest (warming up);
  • autumn landing;
  • winter rest period (cooling);
  • spring vegetation.

From the sequence of biological rhythms we see that the care of tulips after flowering should be aimed at the formation and maturation of strong, healthy bulbs.

Continue to water regularly for 2 weeks after flowering. Make sure that the earth gets wet to a depth of 30-40 cm. The roots of the tulip are not adapted to extract water from the lower tiers of the soil, therefore they are sensitive to surface moisture.

When flowering comes to an end, feed the plants with complex mineral fertilizers, which include potassium and phosphorus. This portion of the food will go to the formation of scales of the replacing bulb, the growth of children. Dissolve 30–40 g of granular fertilizers in a bucket of water and pour at the rate of 10 l / m².

Remove dead flowers and seeds in time. A seed box left on the stem draws food from the bulb, preventing it from fully forming.

As you can see, to care for tulips after flowering is a fairly simple set of procedures - time-consuming and not time-consuming.

Important! Some gardeners, unknowingly, cut off the leaves of tulips immediately after flowering. This must not be done! Without the aerial part, the growth of the bulb is suspended. When cutting flowers, leave at least 2 lower sheets.

Digging and storage

By the second half of June, the foliage and stalks of tulips turn yellow, wither - the time has come to dig. The question of how often to do this is debated by more than one generation of gardeners. It all depends on climatic conditions and varietal properties. Based on biological needs, in July-August the bulb needs to be warmed up at a temperature of 23–25 ° C. In the steppe zone, subtropics, the soil warms up to such temperatures, and in the middle zone of Russia? Definitely not. In addition, if you do not dig the bulbs for a number of years, degeneration occurs - the flowers grow smaller, varietal characters disappear, and the reproduction rate decreases.

Tulip transplantation after flowering is a necessary element of agricultural technology of flower culture. Dug bulbs are thoroughly dried for a week in a warm, shaded, ventilated place. After that, planting material is cleaned of roots, old scales, sorted by size, sick and damaged specimens are rejected.


  This is how ripened bulbs look like during harvesting.

Tulips are stored until planting - for 2–2.5 months. At this time, the flower bud is laying next year, so it is important to create optimal conditions. The temperature regime in the initial storage period should be higher (23–25 ° C), after 1–1, 5 months it is reduced to 15–18 ° C, at the time of disembarkation they are brought closer to natural conditions (10–12 ° C). To make the bulbs “breathe”, pour them in 1-2 layers, do not allow the drying of the integumentary scales.

How to plant a flowerbed after tulips?

The unsightly appearance of faded tulips and dried leaves spoils the view of the garden. Pursuing the design of tulip flower beds after flowering, gardeners use several proven methods.

Growing in baskets

Landing bulbs in special perforated containers is gaining popularity among gardeners. This is convenient when digging planting material - the bulbs "do not spread." But, most importantly, immediately after flowering, the baskets together with soil and bulbs can be removed from the flowerbed and, with a little tugging, left to ripen in an inconspicuous corner of the garden. This method completely solves the problem when replanting tulips after flowering in order to have time to arrange flower beds with summer flowers.

Planting annual seedlings

If you plant tulips in dense groups, then, digging up the bulbs in mid-June, you will have time to plant the vacant beds with late-flowering summers. To do this, grow seedlings in individual containers. Salvia, zinnia, petunia, begonia, marigolds are well established, not sick and growing rapidly. You can plant annual dahlias, antirrinum, chrysanthemums - they will delight you with flowering until late autumn.

Selection of decorative neighbors

The design technique of the “decorative neighborhood” is widely used, which allows you to mask the unsightly appearance of faded plants. Plants with a different period of vegetation and flowering are selected, but so that they actively move to growth no earlier than the second half of May. The generally recognized "neighbors" of tulips are perennial hosts, astilbe, ferns. If you do not plan to dig out tulips, the ground cover is ideal - sedum, phlox, periwinkle, purslane.

Note! If ripening tulip bulbs are adjacent to other plants, be careful with watering. Excessive waterlogging can lead to decay of planting material.