Can blooming tulips be cut? What to do with faded tulips

Tulips during flowering are very beautiful, but this period does not last long. Literally after a few days, the flowers begin to fade and look no longer so attractive. Not all flower growers know how to care for tulips after flowering, and make annoying mistakes when trying to immediately cut or dig up the bulbs.

What to do after tulips bloom

Caring for tulips after flowering is quite simple. The main rule is that the flowers cannot be cut 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 for about three weeks. nutrients. Premature digging deprives them of this 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 the leaves immediately, because when they are removed immediately after flowering, the development of the bulbs lags behind. It is necessary to provide tulips with sufficient watering and fertilizing with fertilizers.

Many gardeners at this time have a desire to clean yellow leaves, but you shouldn't do that. Experienced gardeners recommend simply pressing them to the ground or planting them with tulips. perennials to give during this period aesthetic appearance flowerbed. You can decorate the flower garden during this period by first planting daffodils or phloxes with tulips.

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

Tulips: care after flowering

Tulips are bulbous species and do not require particularly careful care, but they have special requirements for watering. The irrigation rate is 10-40 liters per square meter, but it depends on the weather. The drier the weather, the more abundant watering should be..

Top dressing of tulips after flowering should be carried out without fail. This procedure will allow the flower bulbs to pick up maximum amount nutrients. The choice of fertilizers must be approached with caution, as top dressing of tulips with fertilizer complexes with nitrogen and chlorine is unacceptable.

Beneficial for the storage of bulbs affects the use as top dressing potassium and phosphorus. Such a complex is applied in the amount of 30-40 grams per square meter of soil. It is enough to fertilize the plant once.

Crystallin and aquarin are considered good top dressing. The composition of top dressing contains phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. On the market for garden preparations today you can purchase various brands, the composition of which may vary slightly. These products do not contain chlorine, so they are considered completely safe for tulips. Their use allows: to provide onions with a sufficient amount of nutrients. As a result of introducing a complex composition into the soil, it is possible to obtain a significant increase in the quality planting material.

Why you need to dig

Digging up tulips is a must. You can not leave the bulbs in the ground, because when this rule is not respected, then degeneration of the plant occurs and flower stalks become very small. Many novice flower growers face this situation, when a few years after planting expensive varieties of tulips, instead of double, fringed, multi-colored flowers, you can see weak flowers with small inflorescences. In exceptional cases, flowers simply do not sprout, and there is no time to blooming flower bed an empty space appears.

To explain this situation, it is enough to know about the features bulbous plants. Over time, many small baby bulbs form around the parent head. Over time, they grow, which leads to the drowning of the mother's head down. Weak onions are not able to give a full-fledged luxuriantly flowering plant.

The most persistent are considered red varieties of tulips, which can support abundant flowering for several years.

Tulips have faded: what to do next

After the leaves of the plant have completely withered, you can start digging up the flowers. Digging of bulbs is recommended from the end of June to the second decade of July. Digging can be done with a shovel or with a bayonet shovel. To avoid the possibility of damage to the heads, it is recommended to focus on the remains of dry stems. It is preliminary recommended to assess the readiness of planting material for this procedure. To do this, one onion is dug up and its visual inspection is carried out. healthy tulip bulb dense, smooth and slightly shiny. You can start digging up flowers if the following signs are present:

bulbs have good roots;
brown spots are visible on the scales;
the ends of the stem are easily wound around the finger.

Most varieties of tulips are recommended to be dug annually. Disease-resistant varieties can be dug up once every 2 years. It is best to remove the bulbs from the soil on a sunny day, as this will allow you to get dry, clean bulbs. When digging, the following rules should be observed:

deepen the shovel carefully, otherwise the roots may be damaged;
excavation starts with early varieties;
defective bulbs are to be discarded.

Before work, it is worth preparing cardboard boxes in advance and making inscriptions which of the varieties or colors of tulips are in it. In the future, such simple actions will help to avoid confusion with planting varieties and errors in color combinations.

After digging, all planting material is washed under running water and dry thoroughly. Recommended to do pickling onions with 5% manganese solution. If the planting material has high humidity, then during storage it will rot and crack.

For good drying, it is enough to keep the heads in a dry room for 14 days at a temperature of 22-25 C 0. During this period, the formation of a bud and a flower stem occurs. If at this time the temperature is low, then such formation does not occur and the next year the bulb may not bloom.

Care and storage rules after digging

After the drying stage is completed, you can start sorting the planting material. Each bulb is descaled. Children are separated from each adult bulb and placed in a separate container. At the same time, the diseased, defective material is culled and the bulbs are sorted by size.

All planting material is folded into boxes, which are stored in a dry, dark room. It is recommended to use a container with a mesh bottom. Laying out the onions should be done no more than two layers. The first 4 weeks the bulbs are stored at a temperature of 23-25 C 0 . Gradually the temperature is reduced to 17 C 0 .

Proper Care for tulips and compliance with the rules of storage will allow the bulbs to rest and next year you can expect abundant flowering from them.

Ringed spring sonorous marches on garden beds, bulbous crops, which so delighted flower growers after a long winter with bright colors, completed their procession. Flowerbeds of faded tulips with drooping leaves look depressingly sad. Many try to plant seedlings of annuals in place of faded bulbous flowers as quickly as possible.

But annual crops require frequent watering, which harms the bulbs ripening in the soil. Dig up bulbs - early, not dig out - harmful to their development. This article is all about how to care for tulips after they bloom.

June: what to do with tulips

After flowering, handsome, droop and look untidy. But at this time, the formation of a replacement bulb and babies takes place in the ground. If during this period it is wrong to care for plantings, you can lose many varieties.

After the final withering of the flowers, it is necessary to remove all flower stalks on the plants. Do not stop watering the plants for another 10-15 days. The tops of the plants wither most quickly when high temperature. At this time, watering should not be stopped, especially if the plants are standing with green leaves. You can not carry out frequent abundant watering, it is enough to keep the soil in a slightly moist state.

At this time, it is useful to carry out the last top dressing, phosphorus-potassium compounds are added at the rate of 30 g per 1 m2. It is strictly forbidden to use preparations with a high content of nitrogen and chlorine to feed mature tulips.

How to increase the decorativeness of the flower bed

When the above-ground part of the tulips fades, the process of growing bulbs continues underground, it is not recommended to carry out abundant watering of such flower beds. I would like to quickly bring the flower garden into proper shape, increase the decorativeness of the flower beds, for which they often use portable containers with planted flyers. It is not recommended to prune yellow leaves if they have not completely withered, otherwise the process of baby formation may completely stop. It is best to bend the leaves to the ground and cover them with decorative materials.

The soil around the pots can be mulched with colored bark or peat, which will not be difficult to remove when digging up tulips in the middle of summer.

In the period from the end of spring until the digging of the bulbs, the flower beds will again find a finished decorative look. On the mulch you can put decorative garden figures which can be easily removed if needed.

Looks great in a planter on a leg geranium, petunia, lobelia, nasturtium, tuberous, arabis, ampel forms snapdragon, lefties.

When watering containers, water from drainage holes does not spread over the flower bed where tulip bulbs are formed, so you can not be afraid of rotting of young bulbs and children.

How not to lose your baby

If tulip bulbs are not dug up for several years, they go deep into the ground, get lost, unable to grow through a huge layer of earth. In order for the varietal baby not to be lost, and the bulbs not to deepen, some measures must be taken since autumn.

In autumn, when planting tulips in the ground, you can use special containers with bottom holes that limit the growth of the baby. In the summer, you just have to dig out the container, not a single bulb will be lost.

If many tulip bulbs are planted in autumn months, on the flowerbed choose upper layer soil, dig a pit (up to 20 cm deep), line the bottom plastic mesh for windows, bringing to the surface its ends. Pour a layer over the mesh fertile land and lay out the tulip bulbs with an interval of 5 cm. After the flowering of the tulips and the dormant period, the net is pulled out of the ground, lifting all four corners at the same time. All tulips and the baby will remain in the mesh bag, they will not be lost or injured by sharp tools.

When to start digging bulbs

It is possible to start digging bulbs only after a thorough wilting of the above-ground part of the plants, but it is best to conduct a trial operation by digging a few bulbs with different places flower beds.

The scales of the bulb should be covered with dark brown spots, the baby should be fully formed. On adult bulbs, formed roots are visible.

You must follow the basic rules:

They start work on a sunny day, if it started to rain at the time planned for work, work can be completed, but the bulbs are immediately washed and laid out for ventilation.
You need to dig the ground carefully - remember that the nest with the baby can be at a considerable distance from the central stem.
Particular attention should be paid to diseased, rotten and mummified bulbs, such material is immediately disposed of and burned.
Healthy bulbs are treated in a solution of potassium permanganate and dried. If there is a fear that the tulip bulbs are affected by rot, it is worth discarding the diseased bulbs and treating the planting material with preparations for rot and fungal infections.
To preserve the varietal characteristics of tulips, it is worth digging them out annually.

How to store bulbs until autumn

After digging, the tulip bulbs are sorted into varieties and cuts, after which they are dried in partial shade in the air. So that the planting material of tulips is well preserved until autumn planting, the bulbs are laid out in boxes with ventilation holes.

For about a month, the bulbs are dried at a temperature of 23-25 ° C, humidity up to 70% in rooms with good ventilation. Gradually reduce the storage temperature of planting material:

August- Set the temperature to 20°C.
September- the temperature is lowered to 15-17°C.

Compliance with the temperature regime is fundamental for the development of tulips for the next year, because flower buds and the formation of flower stalks occur just in the last summer months.

Do not neglect the visual inspection of the bulbs, so you can immediately notice rotten and diseased specimens that must be immediately destroyed.

Already in September-October, tulips and baby are again planted in flower beds in the garden in order to enjoy a bright carpet of charming spring flowers grown from their own bulbs in early spring.

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 have faded, what to do next? Should I continue to care for faded plants? How to use the vacated space in garden design? When to dig and plant bulbs? Let's discuss these and other questions in more detail.

Care after flowering

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

spring vegetation;
bloom;
division and maturation of the bulb;
the period of summer dormancy (warming up);
autumn planting;
winter dormancy (cooling);
spring vegetation.

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

Continue watering regularly for 2 weeks after flowering. Make sure that the earth gets wet to a depth of 30–40 cm. The roots of a 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 containing potassium and phosphorus. This portion of food will go to the formation of scales of the replacement bulb, the growth of children. Dissolve 30–40 g in a bucket of water granular fertilizer and water at the rate of 10 l/m².

Remove wilted flowers and seeds promptly. The seed box left on the stem delays the nutrition from the bulb, preventing it from fully forming.

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

Important! Some gardeners, out of ignorance, cut off the leaves of tulips immediately after flowering. This cannot be done! Without the aerial part, the growth of the bulb stops. Leave at least 2 bottom leaves when cutting flowers.

Digging and storage

By the second half of June, the foliage and stems of tulips will turn yellow and dry - the time has come for digging. The question of how often to do this is being discussed by more than one generation of flower growers. It all depends on climatic conditions and varietal properties. Based on biological needs, in July-August, the bulb needs warming up at a temperature of 23-25⁰С. In the steppe zone, subtropics, the soil warms up to such temperatures, and in middle lane Russia? Definitely not. In addition, if you do not dig up the bulbs for a number of years, degeneration occurs - the flowers become smaller, varietal characteristics disappear, and the multiplication factor decreases.

Transplanting tulips after flowering - necessary element agricultural technology flower culture. Dug out bulbs are thoroughly dried for a week in a warm, shaded, ventilated place. After that, the planting material is cleaned from roots, old scales, sorted by size, diseased and damaged specimens are rejected.

This is how ripe bulbs look during harvesting

Store tulips before planting - for 2–2.5 months. At this time, a flower bud is being laid for the next year, so it is important to create optimal conditions. The temperature regime during the initial storage period should be higher (23–25⁰С), after 1–1.5 months it is reduced to 15–18⁰С, at the time of planting it is brought closer to natural conditions (10–12⁰С). In order for the bulbs to "breathe", pour them in 1-2 layers, do not allow the integumentary scales to dry out.

How to plant a flower bed after tulips?

The unsightly appearance of faded tulips and withered leaves spoils the look of the garden. Being engaged in the design of tulip beds after flowering, gardeners use several proven methods.

Weaning in baskets

Planting bulbs in special perforated containers is gaining popularity among flower growers. This is convenient when digging up planting material - the bulbs do not “spread”. But, most importantly, immediately after flowering, the baskets, together with the soil and bulbs, can be removed from the flower bed and, having slightly dug, left to ripen in an inconspicuous corner of the garden. This method completely solves the problem of when to transplant tulips after flowering in order to have time to arrange flower beds with summer flowers.

Planting seedlings of annuals

If you plant tulips in dense groups, then, having dug up the bulbs in mid-June, you will have time to plant the vacant beds with late-flowering annuals. To do this, grow seedlings in individual containers. It takes root well, does not get sick and quickly grows salvia, zinnia, petunia, begonia, marigolds. You can plant annual dahlias, antirrinum, chrysanthemums - they will delight you with flowering until late autumn.

Selection of decorative neighbors

Widely used design technique"decorative neighborhood", which allows you to mask the unsightly appearance of faded plants. Plants are selected with different periods of vegetation and flowering, but so that they actively move into growth no earlier than the second half of May. The generally recognized "neighbors" of tulips are perennial hostas, astilbes, and ferns. If you do not plan to dig up tulips, ground covers are ideal - sedum, phlox, periwinkle, purslane.

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

What to do after tulips bloom

Caring for tulips after flowering is quite simple. The main rule is that the flowers cannot be cut 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 this opportunity, so next year the flowering of tulips may be less plentiful.

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 perennials along with tulips to give the flowerbed an aesthetic look during this period. You can decorate the flower garden during this period by first planting daffodils or phloxes with tulips.

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

Do narcissists need a haircut?

Diverse in shape, size of flowers, color, and also resistant to adverse conditions, unpretentious daffodils inhabit many gardens near Moscow. Exuberant May flowering pleases gardeners, but what to do with the leaves after it ends? Cut or not?

We start from the nature of the plant. root system Narcissus is a perennial. The roots live at the expense of the bulb, which grows from the inside and on which, in turn, children appear, giving life to a new plant. The more nutrient reserves the bulb retains, the more strength the plant will have for flowering next year. And this process of accumulation of nutrition is directly related to the leaves. While 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 the leaves of daffodils immediately after flowering. For a better future, you will have to endure a not-too-pretty present. Moreover, try to keep the soil moist both during the formation of buds and during flowering, until the leaves wither.

So that drying leaves do not spoil the harmony of your flower garden, consider this feature of the bulbs even when planting and combine daffodils with other perennials: daylilies, hosts, geyhers, astilbes and brunners, which, growing to summer season, cover withered foliage with their green "wings".

There is an interesting and very effective design technique: slightly drooping narcissus leaves that have fallen apart to the sides are collected like hair in a bun and braided “braids”, which are then laid on the ground. And the beauty of the garden, and the benefits of the plant.

When to prune daffodils after flowering for the winter?

When the plants bloom, they need to be fertilized. Fertilizer choose from a large percentage 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 before winter, but it is erroneous. In particular, plants need this if they were planted in the 2nd half of September. This late boarding, because, before the arrival of cold weather, the flowers do not have time to fully adapt and may not survive in a 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 mulching materials (for example, agrofibre). The soil needs to be mulched before frost hits. How to properly mulch the soil, you can learn from the article: "Rules for mulching the soil." It is possible to remove the mulch layer only in the spring, when there will be no sudden changes in temperature and the risk of frost on the street.

Florists are often interested in the question of what to do with tulips after flowering. After the tulips have faded, the chores do not end with them. In order for them to please with colorful flowering in the new season, a number of actions will be required. Necessary:

Water tulips abundantly after flowering;
Apply fertilizer;
Dig up and properly store the bulbs.

So the last petals from tulips fell off, but this does not mean that plantings can be abandoned without care. For the formation of good quality bulbs, 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 it.

Should tulips be cut after flowering?

When to prune tulips after flowering photo

When to cut tulips after flowering? Cut off the flower stalk first: cut the flower stalks after all the petals have fallen off. If you leave flower stalks, the bulb will give nutrients to the formation and maturation of seeds. If you cut off the ground part completely, the bulb will also not receive the necessary amount of nutrients, so be sure to leave the leaves. When the leaf plates turn yellow and dry on their own, then the bulbs are ripe and can be dug up.

Watering tulips after flowering

For 1-2 weeks after cutting the flower stalks, it is necessary to water the plantings abundantly, loosen the soil and remove weeds.

How to feed

Feed tulips immediately after flowering with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer to prepare for future wintering and flowering; nitrogen cannot be applied.

Tulips after flowering what to do video:

When to dig up tulips after flowering in the open field

Should I dig up tulips after flowering?

You can not dig up tulip bulbs for several seasons in a row. Dig bulbs if necessary, seating less often when the lawn has become thickened. It is also necessary to dig out in regions with severe winters for indoor storage until spring.

When to dig up tulip bulbs after flowering?

When to dig up tulips after flowering in Siberia and the Moscow region? Digging up tulip bulbs when the leaves turn completely yellow and dry. Stick to the following order:

For digging the bulbs, it is better to choose a warm sunny day so that the bulbs can dry out normally;
Work carefully with a shovel so as not to damage the roots and bulbs of tulips;
After digging, carefully inspect the bulbs. Sickly in appearance, rotten throw away;
If you have to dig the bulbs in rainy weather, rinse them and dry them in a warm, ventilated area;
If there are signs of disease (fungus, spots, dots), treat the bulbs with a 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 transplanting tulip bulbs that have just faded. It is necessary to wait until the ground part begins to turn yellow and dry out (it is advisable to cut off the faded flower stalks immediately after shedding the leaves). By this time, all the nutrients will have passed into the bulb, and it will be ready for the new growing season. Tulips are planted after flowering or in June, immediately after digging, or in mid-September to mid-October. In regions with harsh winters (for example, in the Urals), many flower growers plant tulips in the spring.

Transplanting tulips after flowering in June

The leaves should lie down and dry, then proceed with the transplant. Doing this is quite simple: dig up the bulbs and plant them less often, maintaining the same level of planting. You can not dry the bulbs on purpose, but plant them immediately after digging. You can trim dry tops after transplanting, so it is more convenient to control the planting depth. But if you are sure that you are not mistaken, you can trim the leaves right away.

How to store tulips after flowering

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

In July, store at 24-26°C;
In August, lower the mark to 20 ° C;
Temperatures of 17°C will be required from September if you are planning a spring planting;
In the following months (until planting in the 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 buds are formed, leaf plates and flower stalks are laid.

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

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

Dug out tulips can also be planted in autumn, in the middle - the second half of September, until mid-October. How to dig and save tulips until autumn planting, learn from the video.

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 crumbled 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 up containers with bulbs and rearrange them in a secluded place for the bulbs to ripen.

How to understand that the tulip bulb is ripe? Dig up one of them and inspect carefully. A ripe bulb has superficial scales of a pleasant saturated Brown color with a slight glossy sheen.

For flower growers, the issue of the timing of digging up tulips is quite exciting, their future growth and flowering depends on it. For those who are not yet in the subject, I will explain: tulips are dug up when they fade, on summer rest, planted in autumn, they winter in the garden.

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

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

There are varieties that completely lose their varietal characteristics without drying and a warm dry period in summer - in other words, in the second year, flowers of a different color and doubleness will bloom from undigged bulbs. Sometimes they do not bloom at all, unfold their leaves, vegetate their term and fade safely, without even pleasing a flower. Sometimes they wither and disappear completely. An angry grower may 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 digging: lily-colored, fringed, parrot, green-colored, 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 is better to dig annually.
Tulips that can grow without digging up to 5 years - varieties and hybrids of Kaufman, Foster, Greig.

Although there are tulips that lose varietal characteristics due to inconsistencies in 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 doubleness). Particularly capricious are some varieties of Kaufman's tulips Tulipa kaufmanniana, Greig's tulips Tulipa greigii, some terry varieties, for example, varieties "Stresa", "Miranda", "Princess Charmant" and others).

There is no particular benefit for producers to strive to breed resistant varieties, their policy is simple - you buy new bulbs every year, and after flowering, throw them away, buy new ones.

By the way, there are also light, resistant varieties, among the fringed tulips: Blue Heron, Lambada. From the simple ones - the purple "Queen of the Night", the Darwin hybrid "Blushing Apaldoorn" and the lilac-colored "Claudia", from the Triumph group - "Yokohama" and "Arabic Mystery".

Why dig up tulips

Let's summarize why you still need to dig up tulip bulbs:

The need to divide the overgrown nest of bulbs, otherwise they lack a feeding area.
Selection of healthy planting material and culling of damaged and weak bulbs.
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, for growing parrot and fringed varieties (this leads to a loss of variety). And we can store the dug bulbs in the most optimal conditions.
Soil preparation for the next cycle: during the season, the soil becomes compacted, depleted, loses nutrients and porosity, having cleaned the flower bed, it can be qualitatively prepared for fresh plantings.
Plant the bulbs at the right depth, if you do not dig up the tulips, the bulbs will gradually "go" into the ground.
Another reason for the need to dig up the Dutch is the tendency to rot. There are varieties whose bulbs need to be dug up earlier, immediately after flowering, when the leaves are just starting to turn yellow, not even left in dry ground - they rot.

How to determine the timing of digging tulips

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

Tulip Bulb Timing Tip: If the end of the tulip stem can easily be wrapped around your finger, it's time to dig.

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 disintegrate when dug up, 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. First of all, you need to dig out 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 out ahead of time, can be planted for ripening in containers, boxes. Those. Without cutting leaves and flower stalks, sprinkle with dry earth and put in a warm, dry place.

How to dig bulbs

It is necessary to dig up bulbous on dry ground, when it is crumbly and pliable. Dig with a pitchfork, capturing a piece of land slightly retreating from planting, if the leaves and flower stalks are still strong, shake off the ground and do not cut off the aerial part - the remaining tops still give nutrients to the bulbs.

If the ground is damp, wash the bulbs in plenty of water. Then inspect.

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

Pay attention to mold and rot. Then the bulbs need to be washed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate or foundationazole, you can use the drug maxim, copper oxychloride or medex. Soak 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 grade and immediately be sure to sign. Lay out in one layer.

Put only bulbs together that are healthy, good, without spots. All suspicious in a quarantine box, perhaps the worries will be in vain and the bulbs will lie well, especially after treatment with fungicides.

You can dry the bulbs onion in nylon nets from under vegetables, in which they are sold in a supermarket.

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

In the first two days, the old covering scales will dry out at the bulbs, they can be removed like husks from onions. Remove the remnants of dried roots and particles of earth. Well-dried nests of bulbs break apart easily, if you do not want to, carefully separate them.

After drying and removing the remnants of the leaves (dry, they are easily separated), you need to calibrate the bulbs in order to decide what to do with them next. First of all, select the largest ones for planting, everything is simple with tulips - the larger the bulb, the better. The ideal size is a diameter of at least 4 cm, the shape is round. We plant small things as well as large ones, just remember that they may not bloom in the first year - 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 impenetrable box where mold can easily grow, it is better to store it right on the street, under a canopy. If the weather fails, we take the bulbs home on the mezzanine or under the bed, the old proven way ...

The temperature is important for the flower bud to form in the bulb. Sometimes flower "primers" warn us to overheat, 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.

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

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

If there is a deviation of the temperature regime from the norm and the needs of the variety, after forcing or when grown in open field there is the formation of "blind" buds (drying not yet opened).

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

We store dug out bulbous plants until the optimal planting dates, approximately until 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 growing without digging and blooming for everyone's joy. Indeed, sometimes not digging up the summer is not fatal, but experienced gardeners know that every time, if the summer is warm, it can do, but a week-long cold snap can lead to rot and other diseases.

Olga Treukhina

Tulips grown in the garden delight the eye with their bright blooms in early spring, when all other plants are just awakening from hibernation. But their flowering does not last long, and after that the bulbs have a dormant period when they begin to prepare for the next season. The dormant period is a crucial moment in the cultivation of tulips. Their flowering next year depends on compliance with 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 very coldy. They hibernate without problems in the open ground and in the spring they break out of the ground when the first heat comes. Tulips can be grown in the same place for more than one year, and this does not affect their vegetation. But this does not mean at all that the bulbs can be planted in the ground once and forgotten 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. Caring for the bulbs 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 are often faced with a situation where purchased varietal bulbs that bloom gorgeously in the first year after planting next spring give small, nondescript flowers. And a year later, only leaves appear at the place where the bulbs were planted, and not a single flower forms.

Inexperienced flower growers conclude that they have become a victim of fraud by sellers. But this opinion is wrong. In fact, the cause of poor flowering is a consequence of improper bulb care. Bulbs of varietal tulips must be dug out of the soil to care for them annually.

This is necessary for the following reasons:

Therefore, there is no doubt about the need for annual digging and drying of tulip bulbs for their proper development. Therefore, after flowering in open ground, all bulbs must be dug, sorted and dried.

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

Requiring digging every year. these include fringed, lily-shaped, green-colored, terry late, Rembrandt.
Varieties that can be dug up every two years. These are Darwin hybrids, Triumph tulips and simple, non-varietal species.
Tulips that can not be dug up for 5 years. These include hybrids of Kaufman, Greig, Foster.

Terms and technology of digging tulips

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

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

If the leaves of the tulip begin to turn yellow, and the stem becomes more dry, then it's time to dig up the plant.

It is not worth rushing with the procedure until the leaves dry. If the bulbs are taken out of the soil too early, they will be immature and will not overwinter badly. It is also not worth delaying the process, since there is a risk of losing the bulbs in the garden. Children from overripe bulbs easily fall off and are lost in the soil. In addition, a long stay of the bulbs in damp soil will lead to their damage by fungus and mold.

Important. If the spring turned out to be cold and rainy, and summer heat never came. Bulbs need to be dug out without waiting for the yellowing of the foliage. In this case, the bulbs are planted for ripening in boxes filled with dry soil.

Dig bulbs only in dry weather, when the soil crumbles freely. 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 are cut off from the bulbs. The bulbs are washed in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, after removing the covering scales from them.

After digging, the tulip bulbs are carefully cleaned from the ground and washed in manganese.

If you have to dig the bulbs in wet weather, all the soil from them must be thoroughly washed off. 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.

Rules for drying and sorting bulbs

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

Bulbs should be dried in a well-ventilated place, protected from the sun. It is best to lay them out in a single layer on racks in a barn or in the attic of a country house. In the first week after drying, the top, coarse scales and remnants of the roots will fall off the bulbs.

After drying, the bulbs are laid out in different boxes, sorted by size and variety. At the same time, specimens with damage and signs of disease are rejected. A healthy bulb has a firm, smooth, cream-colored surface. From above, the bulb is covered with a thin, golden-brown scale.

Methods and conditions for storing bulbs before planting

The bulbs are sorted and placed in wooden boxes.

The question of how to store the bulbs before planting in the fall also causes difficulties for beginner flower growers. The perfect place for bulbs - wooden boxes. This storage option is preferable to using cardboard boxes which soften 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 flower growers recommend sprinkling the bulbs with dry sawdust.

Bulb storage temperature

Boxes with tulips are installed in a dry, ventilated room. Optimum temperature storage in the first month - 24-25 degrees at a humidity level of not more than 70%. If weather conditions allow, the boxes can be installed under a canopy right on the street. In cold and damp weather, you should not leave the bulbs on the street. 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 have been stored at home up to this point, it is recommended to move them to the barn or to the veranda. In summer cottages, it is permissible to lower the bulbs into the basement. From the end of August, the temperature of the content of the bulbs should not exceed 15-16 degrees.

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

Lighting and Humidity Requirements

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

Tulip bulbs should not be stored in rooms with high humidity.

Absolutely contraindicated for bulbs high humidity air. The humidity level in the room where tulips are stored should not exceed 70%. Otherwise, the bulbs will become damp and start to become moldy.

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

Experts say that maintaining all cycles of bulb ripening guarantees the preservation of varietal characteristics of plants. In the first month after extraction from the soil, the embryo of a flower is laid and the formation of buds of the replacement and daughter bulbs. In the second month, leaf primordia are laid. And in the last month, the laying of stamens, ovary and pistil takes place. Violation of the recommended temperature conditions leads to the formation of "blind" buds during cultivation in the ground.

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

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

End of spring, beginning of summer. One of the first spring flowers has faded - tulips. The florist begins other chores. It is necessary to dig up the bulbs in a timely manner, sort them, put them in storage and plant them in autumn in optimal timing.

Let's consider each type of work in more detail.

Why are tulip bulbs dug up?

There are several reasons. A feature of the growth of tulip bulbs is their constant desire to deepen. If the bulbs are not dug up after each flowering, then with each season the tulip babies go deeper and deeper into the soil. From a great depth it is more difficult for them to germinate. Shoots every year become smaller and smaller, flowering stops. Over time, tulips will stop germinating. The flowers will disappear.

Another reason forcing flower growers to dig up bulbs every year is the rapid degeneration of varietal tulips. It has been noticed 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 why it is better to dig up tulips is the need for a dormant period. During this time, a flower arrow is formed in the bulb. For the successful flow of this process, an elevated temperature is required - at least 25ºС, but not higher than 35. At the planting depth, it is impossible to withstand such a temperature even in the southern regions.

Prolonged cultivation of any plant in one place leads to the accumulation around it of waste products and pathogens. Digging up the bulbs every year and planting them in a new location will reduce the chance of infection in the plantings and provide plantings with fresh soil.

Nowadays, many tulip lovers plant bulbs in planting baskets. Is it necessary to dig up bulbs planted in this way, because they hardly go deep into the soil? Yes, of course, the baby tulips will not go to great depths, but the small bulbs remaining in large numbers will interfere with flowering, taking nutrition from the mother bulb. In addition, digging up tulips planted in a basket will not require much effort and time, and almost all bulbs will be dug up, including the smallest ones.

Another reason to dig up tulip bulbs is sorting. The bulbs are sorted by size. In autumn, it is better to plant large and small bulbs separately, culling diseased and weak plants.

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

When to dig tulips, the optimal timing?

Choose right time Digging up the bulbs is very important to get a profuse bloom next season.

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

It is impossible to tell in advance when to dig the bulbs. This happens differently in every region. Define the right time possible by external signs.

The main sign of the time to dig tulips is the change in color of the leaves after flowering. Withered and yellowed leaves are the first sign that the formation of the bulb is completed.
Another sign showing that tulips need to be dug is the wilting of the pedicel. If the pedicel can be wound around a finger without breaking, it means that all the necessary substances from it have gone into the bulb and it can be dug up.
Another sign of the ripening of the bulbs is the color of the covers of the bulbs. In sufficiently mature bulbs outer layer deep brown and dry.

But it's not worth the hassle. In an optimally ripened bulb, the babies hold on tightly and do not fall off when lightly touched. If you miss the right time, there is a danger that most of the small bulbs will remain in the soil and give small shoots the next year.

In central Russia, the optimal time for digging tulip bulbs occurs in late June - early July. And of course, you need to dig up tulips, given the timing of flowering. Early-flowering varieties are dug earlier, late-flowering - later. Waiting for everything to bloom The best decision. The bulbs of early-blooming tulips will overripe and lose their baby, while the bulbs of late-blooming tulips will not form yet.

How to properly dig up tulips so that the bulbs are well stored?

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

As a tool, it is better to use a pitchfork. Using a shovel, the likelihood of damage to the bulbs increases. Having dug up the tulips, it is better to dig the site again, removing the remaining bulbs.

It is better to hold a pitchfork or a shovel vertically when digging the bulbs - this way there is less chance of damaging the bulbs.

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

How to store bulbs before planting?

You can get abundant flowering of tulips next season if you properly prepare the bulbs for storage. Flowers should be cut before the buds open, leaving at least two leaves on the plant. If the flowers are not cut, then they try to avoid the formation of seeds, weakening the bulb.

Dug bulbs need:

Dry. The dug bulbs are dried in the shade at a moderate temperature for up to three weeks.
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 off 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.
Before storing, the bulbs are cleaned from the ground, 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

Planting tulips in autumn

Most often, tulips are planted in a flower bed in the fall. By this time, the dormant period ends and the bulbs begin to germinate. Terms are practically unlimited. can be planted and early autumn, or later, along with garlic, shortly before frost. Some flower growers 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 cool place, in the basement or refrigerator. At the end of September, the plants are returned to the flower bed for flowering.

When planting tulip bulbs, you need to remember that:

Depending on the size of the bulb, choose the planting depth. It should be equal to three bulb diameters, but not more than 15 cm.
Larger bulbs look more harmonious in the center, smaller ones at the edges.
The distances between large bulbs leave about 10 cm, for small ones 5-8 will be enough.
Space between tulips different types and the colors are left 20 cm - this will allow the bulbs not to get confused during growth.
A layer of sand is poured at the bottom of the hole, the bulbs are distributed over the surface without pressing them into the sand.
Planting holes are covered with earth and leveled.
In dry weather in autumn, 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!