Caring for tulips after flowering

Tulips always delight us in early spring, as they are one of the first flowers in each new season. In order to make the greatest impression on others and to please yourself, you will need special care for the tulips after flowering.

Tulip care after flowering: highlights

tulip care after flowering

After the tulip has faded, you should pay special attention to the following points.

The flower head should be removed immediately after the plant has bloomed. This must be done so that the forces and nutrients in the plant do not go into the formation of seeds. They were aimed at strengthening and forming the new bulb that you plant for the next season.

The leaves should also be left, as the process of photosynthesis takes place in them. And they are needed in order to maintain the nutrition of the plant.

When removing flowers, it is better to do it by hand rather than using a special garden pruner. Since with the first method, the risk of contamination of tulips with various viruses is less.

Feeding flowers

tulip care after flowering

The larger the bulb, the brighter and larger the flower will be. Therefore, to increase the size of the bulb, you should feed the plant after it has faded. Several options can be selected.

For example, you can feed tulips with ash infusion, having kept it for a day beforehand. You can also feed with potassium magnesium. In addition, potassium nitrate is suitable.

It is necessary to feed the plants after watering to keep the ground moist.

After the plant has bloomed, and indeed during the entire vegetative period of the tulip, fertilizers should not be used, which contain large quantities of nitrogen. Since this can cause the bulb to rot.

Watering

While the leaves are still green and the plant continues to grow, water the flower regularly and regularly. At least once a week if there is not enough rainfall.

Caring for tulips after flowering in the garden. Digging out the bulbs

Caring for tulips after flowering involves digging out old flower bulbs every year. This is done so that the flowers do not become smaller every year, and the bulbs themselves are not vulnerable to various diseases, and also do not die out. This is especially the rule with regards to good rare varieties.

So, around the middle of summer, you need to dig up the bulbs of adult plants. If the plant is babies, then they can be dug out in a year. As experienced summer residents recommend, it is better to dig up the bulbs in clear weather in the absence of precipitation. You also need to dig a little deeper than the bulbs were originally planted. Since they could also grow up.

After all the tulips have been dug up, it is necessary to remove the bad, diseased, unusable bulbs. And then it is recommended to soak them for a while in a special antiseptic solution.

Digging up the bulbs too early may result in the bulb, as well as the babies, not being formed yet. All this will be the reason that the size of the flowers next year will not look so impressive, since the buds will become small.

Also, you should not linger with this event. Since the late digging of the bulbs is risky in that the planting material will already be infected with some kind of disease. Or the protective skin of the bulb will be damaged.Thus, the bulb will become unsuitable for planting next year.

An experiment can be done here. When you see that the leaves of the tulips have begun to turn a little yellow, then you should bend the stem of the flower. And if it bends well and does not crack at the same time, then the flower can be dug up and carefully inspected the bulb.

If the scales turn brown, then it's time to dig out all the other specimens.

Storage rules

After all the bulbs have been dug out, it is necessary to spread them in two layers under some kind of canopy or roof, and leave for about a couple of days. When the bulbs are dry, it will be easier to separate them.

To do this, the dried onions must be cleaned from the remaining roots, from the scales, and immersed in a manganese solution for about 30 minutes. This is necessary in order to disinfect the bulbs from bacteria and microorganisms that cause rot. In addition, nutrients will penetrate into the bulbs.

After disinfecting the bulbs, they should again be dried a little and then laid out in any containers, according to their size, in one layer. It is desirable that the container is made of wood. Leave containers open.

The storage process is also very important for future flowering. Therefore, some rules should be followed. First, for about 30 days, the bulbs are stored at a fairly warm temperature, equal to about 25 degrees. In the room where future tulips are stored, it is desirable that air passes well.

It is also important to monitor the humidity of the air. It should not be dry or waterlogged. The optimum humidity will be about 70%.

At the end of summer, it is advisable to lower the room temperature by 5 degrees. And in the following autumn months by another 5 degrees. If you ignore these rules, then there is a risk that tulips will not bloom in the next season.

Bulbs should also be constantly inspected for rot and mold. If found, discard unneeded copies.

Bulb disease

Tulips are generally very susceptible to diseases such as gray rot and fusarium.

These diseases can be recognized when the following symptoms occur.

A gray coating formed on the bulbs, after which it began to rot. It means that the onion was struck gray rot.

If you see dark spots with a brown edging on the onion, and also smell an unpleasant rotting smell, then the bulb is ill fusarium.

If the disease is in the early stages, then the affected area must be cut off with a knife. Disinfect the bulb itself, treat it with ash, and then dry it.

We plant tulips in open ground. Post-flowering care

It will generally be best to plant tulip bulbs during the fall months, around October. Some gardeners plant them in the spring. In this case, tulips will bloom, but this will happen later in time. For a month they will only form roots and adapt to the surrounding soil.

In addition, it will be good if you choose a new place for planting tulips every year. So there is less risk of plant diseases.

The place for planting tulips should be dry so that there is no stagnant water in the garden. The soil must be prepared in advance. Approximately two weeks before the planned landing date, the land must be properly dug up, and the necessary fertilizers must be added to it. For example, compost, superphosphate and ash.

Also, if the soil is too acidic, lime must be added. If clay soil prevails on the site, then a certain amount of peat can be added here. A dug garden bed should be watered abundantly and left for two weeks for the earth to settle.

Before planting the bulbs, they must again be carefully examined and disinfected in a special solution. The bulbs should be planted about three times deeper than the bulb itself.In addition, a distance of about 10-15 cm must be maintained between the seedlings.

If the bulb is very small, 5 cm between the flowers will be enough. You plant flowers in several rows - about 30 cm should be retreated between the rows.

Mulching the soil is not encouraged here. Since organics can become bait for various animals, including rodents, which can harm the bulbs. In case of severe frosts, it is recommended to cover the bed with a special agrofibre, securing it with any heavy objects around the edges.

Thus, it can be summed up what if tulips should be properly fertilized after they have faded. Properly prepare the bulbs and store them, observing all the rules, then you will get an excellent spectacular tulip bloom next year.