Tulips have faded what to do next in the garden. Tulips have faded - what to do next? When to dig tulips, optimal timing

It is impossible to imagine spring without tulips blooming in front gardens in different colors. For inexperienced gardeners, after the tulips have faded, the question arises of what to do next with it. Just forget until next spring or dig right away? No, even after the end of their flowering, care for tulips must be continued in order to form good bulbs for the next year.

Care for faded tulips occurs in the following steps:

Top dressing and enhanced watering

Immediately after the flowers wither, the flower stalk should be removed, the tulips should be watered for another two weeks and be sure to feed, since it is during this period that the bulbs accumulate nutrients.

How to feed tulips after flowering:

  • phosphorus-potassium fertilizer with the calculation of 30-40 g per 1 m2, for example, aquarin, solute, crystallin;
  • do not use fertilizers with chlorine and nitrogen.
leaf cutting

You can cut the leaves of tulips after flowering only when they turn completely yellow. If you do this earlier, then the bulbs will stop developing. Experienced gardeners, in order not to lose their location, recommend leaving a leaf with a label.

So that the yellowing leaves of tulips do not spoil the look of your front garden, you can press them to the ground with something.

Bulb Digging

After the leaves are completely dry after flowering, tulip bulbs are dug up, approximately in late June - early July. You can find out if the bulbs are already ready by carefully digging out one of them, the presence of formed roots and brown spots on the scales will indicate its readiness, or if the ends of the tulip stem and leaves can be easily wound around your finger.

Basic rules for digging bulbs:

  • it is better to dig on a sunny day to dry immediately;
  • if in wet weather, then immediately rinse with water and dry;
  • in order not to injure the roots, the shovel must be lowered deeper into the ground;
  • treat with a 5% solution of potassium permanganate;
  • select and dispose of diseased and unsprouted bulbs;
  • it is better to dig up by varieties, starting with the earliest.

There is no unequivocal opinion on the need for annual digging of tulips, there are recommendations to do this every two years and even after a longer period. But to keep the flowers large, beautiful, and disease-resistant, it's best to dig up the bulbs every year.

bulb storage
  1. The dug bulbs are sorted into varieties and laid out in 1-2 layers in boxes with a mesh bottom so that they do not rot.
  2. 3-4 weeks (in July) dried at a temperature of 23-25°C with good ventilation at a humidity of up to 70%.
  3. Then the temperature of the content is reduced: in August - up to 20 ° C, and in September - up to 17 ° C.

In how to store tulips after flowering, it is very important to observe this temperature regime, since it is at this time that the most important processes take place: the formation of buds, the laying of leaves, the flower of the peduncle.

Throughout the entire storage period, bulbs should be viewed to identify diseased ones and then destroy them.

Tulip transplant

At the end of September, having chosen good weather (it is considered optimal at 5-7 ° C), the remaining tulip bulbs are planted again in the soil, after soaking them once again in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It is better to choose a new place for planting, since the soil is depleted at the previous place of stay and the number of pathogenic bacteria increases. After planting tulips in the prepared area to a depth equal to five times the size of the bulb itself, they must be watered abundantly. A little later, feed with ashes, and with the onset of cold weather with a thin layer of peat or humus.

Following these steps for caring for a tulip after flowering and transplanting it to a new place will provide you with lush flowering in the spring!

Experienced flower growers know that caring for a flower does not end with getting the desired bud, on the contrary, after that the most difficult part begins! Today we will talk about what tulips are after flowering, and how to take care of these rather whimsical plants.
We will find out whether it is worth replanting them every year or if we can limit ourselves to digging them out in 2-3 years, and also find out why this operation is worth doing at all.

So, at the end of spring and at the very beginning of summer, charming tulips pleased us with their flowering, which did not last long: from 2 to 3 weeks. What to do after that? Wait for the complete death of not only the peduncles, but also the yellowing of the leaves, or start digging right now, when the petals have just flown around?

Tulips after flowering, what to do

In nature, these flowers grow in the mountains or steppes, where the climate is sharply continental and unfriendly: cold in winter, very hot in summer. Of course, tulips that have gone through multi-stage selection differ from their wild relatives, but the general principles remain the same.

It is worth digging up tulips after flowering in order to control the process of growing and flowering.

The fact is that the mother plant, that is, a large bulb from the first planting, will go deeper into the soil every year to give place to the children. Not all of them will take root due to diseases and pests and, of course, will not grow in the order in which we would like.

But besides the aesthetic side, there is another, practical one.

If the climate in which we are going to plant flowers is mild and warm, there is no need to dig them up every year after flowering, the bulbs will feel good and so.

You can perform this operation every 2-3 years if necessary.

A long period of warm weather will allow the plant to form a flower bud in the bulb.

  • When we have in front of us capricious varieties that require special conditions and special treatments, with which we always want to “keep our finger on the pulse”, to know if everything is in order with the bulbs, if there are any rotting or insects, we must make an annual digging.
    After that, we sort out the “harvest”, remove damaged or diseased specimens, and let the rest warm up in dry ventilated boxes or boxes until September-October.
  • A transplant may also be necessary due to the multiplication factor. If new young onions appear very actively and begin to crowd each other, it is required at least to thin them out.
  • But if we are going to breed tulips in harsh climatic conditions, it is better to plant the onions again in the spring so that they survive the winter indoors at + 20C.

This such measure is valid only for the northern regions, and the inhabitants of the middle zone should definitely leave tulip bulbs without digging, in the ground. It is under the influence of low temperatures that the flower elements are formed in the bulb in the soil.

Do not forget about simple unpretentious, early and time-tested varieties such as Oxford or Apeldoorn. They may not need to be dug up at all, as they bloom well and overwinter in average weather conditions. They do not breed too actively and, accordingly, do not go underground to great depths.

So, whether it is necessary to dig up tulips after flowering, we have already found out, and now we will find out how best to do this and when.

When to transplant tulips after flowering

Falling petals should be the signal that flowers should be taken care of. Most often, this is the middle of June. It is during this period that it is worth taking care of a faded plant.

Firstly, it looks unattractive and spoils the look of the garden, and secondly, a ripening seed box will draw all the forces of the plant onto itself, due to which the bulb will begin to weaken. We want the opposite effect.

Important! If we are faced with the task not to decorate our garden, but to breed strong and healthy bulbs, we cut off the stem along with the bud even before the latter blooms. This will allow the plant to direct all its forces to the formation and growth of the onion. Be sure to leave some of the leaves for successful photosynthesis.

As soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, we cut off not only the remains of the flower, but also the stems, remove the ground part of the plant, and then dig out the bulb. It is not worth waiting for complete drying and natural death of the leaves, because of this we can simply skip some of the nests and leave them in the ground.

Accordingly, we do not water the tulips after flowering, but immediately dig up the onions. For this, an ordinary shovel is best suited, the main thing is to immerse it deeper into the soil so as not to damage the plants.

We sort the resulting "harvest" into varieties, sort and dry. Sick or damaged areas can be cut off, washed in a solution of potassium permanganate and sprinkled with ash or activated charcoal.

After that, we leave the bulbs in a well-ventilated room with an average temperature of -20C without direct sunlight.

In the early days, raw nests can be kept on paper or a special trellised tray, then, when they dry, we disassemble them into separate bulbs, remove all unnecessary - the remains of roots, scales and rinse in a solution of potassium permanganate entirely. This will help to avoid rot and pests.

Dry again and transfer to boxes with holes. In no case do we clean it in a resealable dish - there our tulips will begin to deteriorate.

It is necessary to keep the material for future planting until autumn. The best time for landing is the period from mid-September to mid-October. Then we plant the bulbs to a depth of about 15 cm in loose soil and leave to winter.

Now you know what to do with tulips after flowering: dig up or not, whether to process the bulbs and whether to cut the stems. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in caring for this plant, the main thing is to follow the general recommendations and especially listen specifically to those that relate to the cultivated variety.

After the end of the flowering period, tulip care does not end. The process of bulb formation and accumulation of nutrients at this time is just beginning and will continue for several more weeks. Therefore, it is impossible to immediately get rid of the remaining foliage and dig up tulip bulbs. To obtain high-quality seed material, it is important to water faded plants in a timely manner and apply top dressing.

Necessary actions after flowering

Caring for tulips does not stop even after their flowering is completed. Otherwise, the flower bulb will stop its development. For the correct formation of bulbs, care for tulips after flowering is as follows:

  • To get large bulbs of the variety you like, tulip heads are cut a week after blooming, before the flowers begin to crumble. This will allow the bulbs to intensively build up mass.
  • Watering does not stop until the plant is pruned.
  • Fallen petals are immediately removed so that they do not accumulate in the axils of the leaves and do not rot.
  • Leaves are not pruned until they turn yellow completely so that the development of the bulb does not stop.
  • To control ripening, they dig one bulb and look at it for the presence of formed roots and brown spots on the scales.
  • In order not to injure the roots when digging the bulbs, the shovel is driven to a sufficient depth.

When watering tulips, the soil must be moistened to a depth of at least 40 cm. The root system of the plant is unable to get moisture in the deep layers of the soil, so watering should be deep.

pruning

After flowering is complete, only those plants that have completely withered and turned yellow can be cut. In most cases, after the completion of nutrition, the flower independently discards the peduncle, leaves and arrow. But some varieties require additional pruning during cultivation.

The peduncle and foliage of the plant are responsible for the accumulation of nutrients and ensuring the correct formation of the bulbs. After the end of flowering, the necessary chemical processes continue to take place in these organs of the flower. Therefore, premature cutting of the remaining above-ground part of the tulip can cause the death of the bulb.

Pruning can be carried out no earlier than a month after the end of flowering. Since the development of each flower is strictly individual, the accumulation of nutrients and the ripening time of the bulbs will also be different. Therefore, massive pruning of foliage is not performed.

Fertilization

To obtain high-quality seed material, it is necessary that the soil be enriched with such useful substances as potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. With their deficiency, the development of the flower slows down: the stems grow thin, the flower forms small buds and an insufficient number of new bulbs. Therefore, tulips need regular feeding.

Since flower buds form throughout the summer, top dressing should be done not only during the growing season, but also after flowering is completed. To do this, potash-phosphorus fertilizers are applied, after diluting them in a bucket of water for irrigation. The concentration should be 2 tbsp. l. to a bucket of water.

How to dig and save bulbs?

Tulip bulbs must be dug up every year without leaving them in the ground for the winter. This will improve the quality of the seed and prevent infection with infectious diseases. Bulbs should be dug up after pruning the plant in late June or early July. At the same time, early varieties of tulips are first dug up and only then later ones.


So that the bulbs dry out faster, they are removed in sunny, dry weather. After digging, the resulting material is carefully examined. Well developed bulbs should have healthy roots and brown scales. Damaged and sick should be thrown out immediately. Then the selected specimens are dipped for several minutes in a 5% solution of potassium permanganate and dried.

Before planting in open ground for storage, the bulbs are transferred to boxes with a mesh bottom so that air circulates better. Seed material is placed in two layers. Prepared boxes are placed in a dark, dry place with good ventilation. The air temperature in the first month in this room should be from +23 to +25 degrees. In the second month, the temperature is lowered to +20 degrees, and before landing on a flower bed, it should be +17 degrees.

When storing the bulbs, sudden changes in temperature should not be allowed, this can lead to the appearance of "blind" buds.

How to plant tulips?

The optimal time for planting tulips begins in autumn in mid-September. Then the plant will have time to take root and in the spring in March it will start to grow. But it is better to be guided by weather conditions. The air temperature at this time should be from +5 to +7 degrees. In the northern regions, this period may shift to the beginning of September, and in the south, tulips are planted only in early October.

Before planting, the seed is peeled and inspected to find possible foci of the disease. Damaged copies are thrown away. If expensive varieties of tulips turn out to be sick, then the damaged areas are carefully cut out with a sharp knife, capturing a small piece of healthy tissue along with the diseased tissue. Then the cut places are dried for 20 minutes and treated with a fungicide. When planting, such bulbs are planted separately from healthy ones.

The prepared material for sowing is once again treated with a 5% solution of potassium permanganate and planted in a well-lit and draft-protected place in the country or in the garden. The site must be different from the former habitat of tulips. For planting large bulbs, furrows are made 15 cm deep, for children, the depth of the furrow should be 6 cm. A distance of 30 cm is observed between adjacent rows of tulips. Wood ash and sand are added to each furrow, which will make the soil lighter. After that, the soil is watered so that it better envelops the seed. The bulbs are laid in a furrow, keeping a distance of 10 to 15 cm between them, depending on the size of the specimen. Planted plants need to be watered again so that they take root better.

It is necessary to complete the process of planting tulips in such a time that the plants have time to take root before the onset of frost. Otherwise, they may die from the cold. With the onset of cold weather, the planting site of tulips must be covered with a layer of humus or peat.

The flowering of tulips is ending, the petals are flying around, and more recently, such an elegant flower bed is losing its attractiveness. What to do with tulips after they have faded? How to care for them after flowering? Do they need to be dug up? What to do with dug up tulip bulbs? When can they be planted again? You see how many questions arise about caring for such an unpretentious flower. We will try to tell in detail and give step-by-step instructions on what to do next after the tulips have faded.

Feeding and watering tulips

As soon as the tulips fade, cut off all the flower stalks, leaving one or two leaves on the plant. Tulips are watered for another two weeks. After flowering, tulips must be fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers: "Kristallin", "Aquarin" or other similar fertilizers that do not contain nitrogen and chlorine.

Digging up tulip bulbs

It is recommended to dig up tulips annually, after 2/3 of the leaf plate turns yellow (but you can dig out less often: once every 2-4 years). At this time, the bulb has almost prepared for hibernation, but the nest itself has not yet disintegrated. This time, as a rule, coincides with the end of the school year: the end of May - the beginning of June. The dug-out tulip bulbs should have already formed brownish scales.

The dug out tulip bulbs, together with the remains of the leaves, are put in boxes and sent to a well-ventilated, dark room, sorted by variety. After a week - another, when the earth and scales dry out, the bulbs are easily separated from both the earth and the foliage. The peeled bulbs are sorted out, the sick are rejected, treated with a 5% solution of manganese, put back in a separate container and sent for storage.

Storing tulip bulbs

  • Tulip bulbs sorted by variety
  • Stacked in boxes with a mesh bottom no more than 2-3 layers
  • The first 3-4 weeks are kept at a temperature of + 23 + 25 ° C in a dark ventilated room
  • Then the temperature is reduced to + 20 ° C, and 1 week before planting to + 17 ° C

During the storage period of the bulbs, you not only store them, but give it a good rest and form a bud, peduncle and leaves.

planting tulips

September is the time for planting tulips. Before planting, the bulbs are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or in any fungicide preparation for 1 hour.

  • It is better to choose a new place for planting tulips so that the bulbs do not become infected with diseases, the spores of which could remain in the previous bed.
  • The depth of planting tulips should be equal to the height of 3 bulbs.
  • After planting, tulips are well watered with plain water.
  • A week later, a bed with planted tulip bulbs is shed with a solution of ammonium nitrate and ash (1 tablespoon of nitrate and 1 glass of ash per bucket of water).
  • Before the onset of cold weather, a flower bed with tulips can be mulched with a layer of peat or any mulch.

In early spring, tulip sprouts will begin to appear from the still almost frozen ground, so that in a month they will bloom with large bright flowers.

ARTICLES

Do I need to dig up tulip bulbs?

There are many different opinions about how often to dig up tulip bulbs - annually, every two years, or at longer intervals. Practice shows that without annual digging, the multiplication factor decreases, the bulbs become smaller, the plant nutrition area decreases, the risk of damage to the bulbs by diseases and pests increases, the soil is depleted, pathogenic microorganisms accumulate in it.

Therefore, it is advisable to dig tulips annually! It is permissible to grow as a biennial crop only small bulbs or group plantings.

Catalog of tulips http://vse-rastet.ru/catalog/120/?SHOWALL_1=1

When to dig?
In central Russia, the time of digging is the end of June-beginning of July. Signs by which time can be determined are yellowing of the leaves. If the upper leaves turn yellow, and the lower ones are yellow-green, then you can dig out.
There is one way to determine the time of digging: if the end of the tulip stem can be easily wrapped around your finger, the bulbs can be dug up.

It is important to clean the bulbs in a timely manner. If the bulbs are dug too early, they do not have time to ripen, the integumentary scales on them have not yet been formed, as a result, the bulbs are poorly stored, the likelihood of mechanical damage and disease of the bulbs increases. In addition, early digging has a negative effect on the reproduction rate and decorative qualities of tulips in the next year. A delay in digging is also undesirable, since it leads to the loss of a significant amount of planting material - tulip leaves dry out and disappear, as a result, the search for bulbs is greatly complicated. In addition, overripe bulb nests crumble in the ground, and small bulbs remain undigged, and some of the bulbs are damaged by a shovel and later serve as a focus for the spread of diseases.

Dug out bulbs by variety are scattered in boxes or other containers in a thin layer, so that they are well ventilated. For one or two days, boxes with bulbs are kept outdoors in a SHADED place. Dried bulbs are cleaned of old scales, remnants of roots, earth. Undecayed nests are divided into bulbs. If the digging of the bulbs was carried out in wet weather, they are usually washed from dirt in running water, and then laid out in boxes in one layer and dried. After digging the bulbs, it is desirable to pickle in a 0.5% solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes. Many flower growers believe that such a double treatment of the bulbs in a solution of potassium permanganate (after digging and before planting) not only protects the bulbs from diseases and pests, but also practically satisfies the need of plants for manganese.

The sequence of excavation by classification:
1 - Kaufman tulips; 2 - Foster; 3 - Darwin hybrids; 4 - class Triumph; 5 - Greig; 6 - Darwin; 7 - class Cottage and Parrots.

If you do not know which group your tulips belong to, be guided by the yellowing of the leaves.

They start digging up tulips from a small baby, and the larger the analysis of the bulbs, the later they need to be dug out, given the degree of drying of the leaves.

Varieties that are not resistant to fungal diseases (some parrot and fringed varieties) are dug up at the beginning of the yellowing of the leaves.

When digging up tulips, do not place a shovel or pitchfork at an angle to the stem. In this position, you can accidentally cut the bulb. In the photo, a hazel grouse bulb pierced with a pitchfork. It would have been cut in half with a shovel. Stick the bayonet of the shovel almost vertically, trying to pry the bulb as deep as possible. This is especially important for plants that were not dug up last year. Don't pull on the stem, it will come off and you won't find the bulb.