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How to prune tulips after flowering. Tulips after flowering: what to do with tulips after they have bloomed. Tulip transplant after flowering in June

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 layers 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!

It is undesirable to skip feeding tulips after flowering, because it contributes to the full formation of replacing bulb scales. 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, however, 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 the tulips in the garden, mulching with peat, straw, dry leaves or sawdust - this will prevent freezing of plantings.

Tulips are one of the first garden flowers that appear to remind us of the approaching summer, the imminent warmth and relaxation. Do you want to bring this time closer, arrange yourself a spring holiday for the New Year, or have such a “symbol” in your home in a pot by March 8? Then we begin to act. When the tulips bloomed in your personal plot (what to do, this happens quite early), the place of planting will soon become empty and ugly. Therefore, the combined method of using several varieties of plants with different flowering periods is simply necessary.

To equip the flowerbed on which you plan to plant tulips, it should be noted that these plants do not need to be planted in the foreground. They will delight and revive the front garden, while all other flowers are still in a state of growth and dormancy before the dissolution of the buds. But the tulips have faded. What to do? Their leaves begin to turn yellow and spoil the look of your flowerbed. To maintain the attractiveness of the composition throughout the summer season, it is recommended to combine them with violets, early daffodils and chionodoxes.

If you plan with herbaceous perennials, then here, on the contrary, it is better to place them in the foreground. During the flowering of the bulbous bushes, they will grow and cover the unsightly yellowed foliage. You can also use the option in capacity. Place the onion in any container in which you need to make many holes, cover it with earth and bury it. When the tulips in the pots bloom, they are dug up and transferred to a shaded place. This method is convenient, you can plant new flowers at the place where the plants were placed, and faded tulips will not spoil the appearance of your site.

Recommendations to those who did not use the above methods after the tulips have faded. What do you do? Leave the plants at the planting site, pre-cut the stem, do not touch a couple of leaves, so that through them the bulb receives the necessary amount of nutrients. Feed the plant with mineral fertilizer (with any method of planting). You are waiting for the leaves to turn yellow when the stem becomes soft and bends. Dig bulbs and place in a cool place. Day for such manipulations choose dry and sunny. You can treat the bulb with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, but then it must be dried in the sun.

If you do not plan to get a tulip flower for Christmas at home, then land in September directly into the ground. The most favorable period for planting is when the temperature of the soil drops to 10 degrees Celsius. Add horn flour and compost to the ground, mulch. It is better to plant tulips in groups, so they will look more aesthetically pleasing. Mark a place to prevent damage to the bulbs in early spring.

If you want to get a tulip for the winter holidays, then he needs to arrange a kind of early winter, to “trick” the plant. Depending on which holiday you want to receive a blooming bud, put the onion in a container and send it to the refrigerator until you have the first sprouts and begin to rest against the walls. Transfer to a cold windowsill. And spring came to your house, when there is a winter blizzard outside the window. You will have a logical question: "When the home tulips have faded, what to do in this case?" Again, repeat everything, dig out to plant in September in open ground, this tulip will no longer bloom in residential conditions.

Once the tulips have faded and the petals have fallen, you can’t immediately dig out the bulbs and cut the foliage. But what to do next with them? Given that immediately after the flowering process begins, the bulb begins to accumulate nutrients and nutrients, as well as its formation, you need to continue to water the flower and fertilize the soil. In this case, the seed material will be strong and fruitful, suitable for repeated growth of flowers.

When the flowering process has come to an end and the last tulip bud has withered, you need to continue to carefully care for the flowers in the flower bed. What to do to form healthy bulbs suitable for re-growth in the soil of a garden or a house in a pot? First of all, you need to continue to water the plant until the buds are cut off.

The sequence of actions after the tulips have faded:

  1. In order to form large, dense and healthy bulbs of any kind of tulips, you need to cut a flower about one week after the last bud has blossomed (before the petals begin to crumble). Due to this, all the energy of the plant will increase the mass of bulbs.
  2. The accumulation of petals in the axils of the leaves should not be allowed so that the process of decay does not begin. Fallen petals must be removed in a timely manner.
  3. You can cut off the leaves only after they completely change color to dark yellow. Otherwise, you can inadvertently slow down the growth of the bulb.
  4. Check the readiness of the bulbs on a single flower. The shovel for digging the bulbs should be driven to a good depth so as not to damage the roots. The formed bulb is characterized by the presence of brown-brown spots on the scales and small roots.

When watering a faded flower, it is necessary to use a lot of liquid, since the root system will not be able to feed on moisture from the deep layers of the soil. Land on the garden bed should be at least 40 cm wet.

When to prune a flower?

In most varieties of tulip varieties, the process of dropping faded leaves, peduncles and arrows occurs on their own, however, some varieties need additional help in the form of pruning dry shoots.

Trimming leaves and arrows after the tulip has faded can only be done when they have completely withered. It is impossible to cut off all floral elements at the same time, because even after flowering is complete, chemical processes continue to occur in these parts of the plant, due to which the bulbs feed on useful elements. Pruning leaves ahead of time will stop feeding the bulbs, which may cause their death.

You can cut off all the leaves remaining on the trunk and the peduncle itself no earlier than 30 days after the flowering has completely completed. Each type of flower has a different stage of bulb formation, so you should start from a specific situation, but on average 30-35 days are enough.

A video on how to prune faded leaves can be seen below.

Do I need to fertilize the soil further?

To get strong and high-quality tulip bulbs, it’s not enough just to water the soil and not touch the green leaves, you need to continue to fertilize the soil around them. Bulbs need good minerals such as phosphorus, as well as potassium and nitrogen for good growth.

A deficiency of nutrients negatively affects the growth of the flower: the stalk becomes thin, the buds are small, poorly formed, and new bulbs appear in insufficient quantities. Fertilizing the earth is required not only during the growing season, but also after flowering.

The earth needs to be fertilized with a solution of 1 bucket of water and 2 tbsp. l fertilizers that contain potassium or phosphorus.

When to dig bulbs?

It is undesirable to leave tulip bulbs constantly in the ground, so it is recommended to dig them out every year. It is possible to get planting material after flowering from the soil no earlier than all leaves, peduncles and stems are cut off.

The most suitable period for digging out tulip planting material is summer, namely the last week of the 1st month or the beginning of the 2nd. The procedure can only be carried out in dry, preferably sunny weather. First of all, you need to dig up early varieties of flowers, and later later.

What to do next with them? Bulbs that are peeled from the ground must be carefully inspected for rot or other damage. If the tuber is soft or watery, then it should be thrown out, since the flower will not grow again from such a bulb. Healthy planting material should be dense, with overgrown roots and brownish scales. Then strong bulbs should be lowered into a solution of potassium permanganate (5%) for about 3-5 minutes. After that, lay the planting material on a flat surface and allow to dry.

Bulbs must be properly stored until the next planting in the garden or on the garden bed. For storage, a spacious box is suitable in which air can circulate, for example, with a mesh bottom. Bulbs can be individually wrapped in thick newsprint. Then the planting material is laid out in a box, even in two layers. After that, the box will need to be removed in a warm place with low humidity and temperature:

  • 1st month in the range of 22 to 26 degrees Celsius;
  • 2nd - from 20 to 22 degrees of heat;
  • 3rd - 15-17 degrees of heat.

It is impossible to allow a sharp change in the temperature regime, because this can cause the death or weakening of the bulbs.

When to plant bulbs?

To store the tulip bulbs dug up after flowering is completed immediately prior to planting them in the ground. The most suitable time for planting bulbs is spring or autumn, the main thing is that the air temperature does not fall below 5-7 degrees Celsius.

Before planting the bulbs in the soil, they should be carefully examined after the husk has been peeled to make sure that there are no foci of disease. If planting material is infected, it should be discarded. However, if these are expensive or rare varieties of tulips, you can try to cut a piece of infected tissue along with a small portion of healthy tissue. Then the cut should be dried and treated with fungicide. Damaged bulbs will need to be planted separately from other flowers.

The place for rooting tulips must be located so that it receives a lot of sunlight and there are no drafts. Bulbs should be thoroughly disinfected with a 5 percent potassium permanganate solution before planting.

Note: reuse of one piece of land for planting and growing tulips is undesirable.

Instructions for planting tulips in open ground:

  • dig holes 15 cm deep for large bulbs, and 6 cm for children;
  • the distance between the rows should be approximately 30 cm;
  • in each hole you need to add a little river sand, as well as wood ash, to make the soil more ventilated;
  • the soil needs to be moistened so that it becomes enveloping;
  • bulbs need to be planted at a distance of about 10-13 cm from each other;
  • then the onions need to be watered.

Bulbs need to be planted so that they can take root before the first frost begins. In the winter season, the soil should be covered with peat or humus.

What should be done with tulips that have faded? At first, while the bulbs feed on useful substances, it is necessary to continue to take care of the flower in the usual manner. The soil should be regularly watered and fertilized with calcium and phosphorus. Cut the stem and dig out the bulbs in about 1 month after flowering has ended.

Tulips during flowering are very beautiful, but this period does not last very long. In just a few days, the flowers begin to wither and look not so attractive anymore. Not all flower growers know how to care for tulips after flowering, and make annoying mistakes, trying to immediately cut or dig bulbs.

What you need to do after flowering tulips

Caring for tulips after flowering is quite simple. The main rule is that flowers cannot be pruned or dug up immediately. For several weeks, it is recommended to water and feed the plant well. This feature is due to the fact that when the flower fades, tulip bulbs continue to accumulate nutrients for about three weeks. Premature digging deprives them of such an opportunity, so next year the flowering of tulips may be less plentiful.

After the final withering, the peduncle is carefully removed. This will allow the plant not to waste energy on the need for seed ripening. It is impossible to cut leaves immediately, since when they are removed immediately after flowering, the development of the bulbs lags. It is necessary to provide tulips with sufficient watering and fertilize them with fertilizers.

Many gardeners at this time have a desire to remove yellow leaves, but this should not be done. Experienced gardeners recommend simply pressing them to the ground or planting perennial plants with tulips to give an aesthetic appearance to the flower bed during this period. You can decorate the flower garden during this period, having previously planted daffodils or phloxes along with tulips.


Within a few weeks, the leaves of the tulips will dry out naturally and can be cut off. In order not to lose the place of planting flowers after the leaves have dried, it is recommended that you first make guide notes by which you can easily find it.

Do daffodils need a haircut?

Varied in shape, flower size, color, and also resistant to adverse conditions, unpretentious daffodils inhabit many suburban gardens. Lush May bloom pleases summer residents, but what to do with leaves after its end? Cut or not?

We proceed from the nature of the plant. The root system of the daffodil is perennial. The roots live off the bulb, which grows from the inside and on which, in turn, children appear, giving birth to a new plant. The more nutrient reserves the bulb retains, the more flowering forces the plant will have next year. And this process of accumulation of nutrition is directly related to the leaves. As long as the leaves remain green (sometimes even until August), there is an accumulation of nutrients in the scales of the bulbs.

Hence the conclusion: it is impossible to cut off the leaves of daffodils immediately after flowering. For a better future, you have to endure a not-too-good present. Moreover, try to maintain soil moisture both during the formation of buds and during flowering, until the leaves wilt.

So that the drying leaves do not spoil the harmony of your flower garden, consider this feature of the bulbous trees even when planting and combine daffodils with other perennials: daylilies, hosts, geykhera, astilbe and brunners, which, growing to the summer season, will cover the dead foliage with their green “wings”.

There is an interesting and very effective design technique: the leaves of daffodils, slightly drooping apart, are collected, like hair, into a bundle and braided “braids”, which are then laid on the ground. And the beauty of the garden, and the benefits of the plant.

When to cut daffodils after flowering for the winter?

When the plants bloom, they must be fertilized. Choose a fertilizer with a high percentage of phosphorus and potassium. Now you need to wait until the leaves are completely dry, then remove them and loosen the soil. There is an opinion that daffodils are unpretentious and do well without covering for the winter, but it is erroneous. In particular, plants need this if they were planted in the 2nd half of September. This is a late planting, because, before the onset of cold weather, the flowers do not have time to fully adapt and may not survive in the frosty snowless winter.

The most vulnerable to frost are varieties of daffodils with large flowers. To protect them from freezing - cover the flowers with dry fallen leaves, peat, dry grass, wood ash or special materials for mulching (for example, agrofibre). The soil needs to be mulched before frosts strike. How to mulch the soil, you can learn from the article: "Rules for mulching the soil." You can remove the mulched layer only in the spring, when there will be no sudden changes in temperature and the risk of frosts on the street.

Often, tulips, standing in a vase for 1 to 2 days, lower their heads, begin to fade. Sometimes this is due to the fact that the flowers were cut already blossoming. But more often the reason is that the conditions created for them are not suitable for them. In order for the bouquet to please its beauty for a week or longer, it is worth knowing some secrets of cutting and preserving tulips.

  How to cut tulips?

To keep the bouquet of tulips fresh longer, certain rules should be observed when cutting flowers:

  • No need to wait until the heads are fully opened - it is better to cut off the blooming flowers. If you let them ripen, then such a bouquet will not last very long.
  • The best time for cutting is early morning. Just then the buds are tightly closed. If in the morning there is no way to do this, then you can postpone the cut until late in the evening.
  • When forcing tulips, an important indicator is the length of the stem. If you want to get a bouquet with long legs, then you can cut them at the bulb itself.
  • The stem should be cut obliquely so that the length of the cut was no more than one and a half centimeters.

  How to choose flowers in the store?

If the flowers are not cut in their own area, but purchased in the store, you should pay attention to their buds. They must be tightly compressed, not opened.  Even flowers with completely green buds will do, which in a few days will turn red or yellow in color and bloom.

Stems of flowers should be dense. This can be verified by rubbing them slightly against each other. A soft creak will indicate that the stems are resilient, which means the flowers are fresh. It is worth a look at the foliage. If the leaves turn yellow, then the bouquet will not last in the vase for more than two days.

  How to store tulips without water?

If after cutting it is required to store flowers for some time without water, then you should take them apart 10 or more pieces and wrap each batch in paper.


You can not use polyethylene for this purpose, since it does not allow plants to “breathe”.

The optimal humidity level in the refrigerator for storing tulips is 97%, and the temperature is +2 ... + 4 degrees.  An ideal option would be to put convolutions with flowers in a box with an internal paraffin coating. This will minimize moisture loss. If there is no such box, then do not place fresh fruits and vegetables next to the flowers. They emit ethylene, and this negatively affects the condition of future bouquets.

This method allows you to store flowers at home without deterioration of their external properties for two weeks. It is worth remembering that the stems of plants will grow in the refrigerator, so that they do not bend, it is worth leaving a little free space. It is also used by those who need to transport flowers over long distances. Tulips that are purchased for sale in other countries, such as the Netherlands, are similarly stored during transportation.

  Secrets of the "long life" of the bouquet

So that the bouquet of tulips does not lose its attractiveness for as long as possible, before you put the flowers in the water, you need to make several cuts on the bottom of each stem. This technique will allow tulips to absorb liquid better. In addition, it is worth doing the following:

  • Remove the lower leaves: if this is not done, the water in the vase will quickly deteriorate.
  • To prevent the stems from starting to rot, dilute 4-5 drops of potassium permanganate or activated carbon (1 t.) In water.
  • Another way to prevent decay is to add an aspirin tablet or table vinegar (1 liter - 1 tbsp.).
  • To strengthen the stems of plants, immediately after cutting it is useful to put them for a day in 0. 1% solution of calcium nitrate.
  • The stems of the flowers, which for some time were cut off without water, become less resilient and can bend when they are in the vase. Therefore, it is first worth wrapping them with paper, and then placing them in water. After a few hours, the stalk turgor will return to its previous level, and the paper can be removed.

To prevent the tulips from blooming too quickly, you can purchase special preparations at the flower shop (Bud, Flora). They must be added to water in the quantity indicated on the package.