The tulip has faded what to do. Luxurious flower bed: how to cut tulips after flowering

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. 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, in the future, 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.

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 off 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 must 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.

Tulips have a bewitching beauty, riveting the eye with a riot of colors. Unfortunately, their flowering period is very short. And now there is a flower bed with withered plants on the site, the tulips have faded, what to do next, and how to store them until the next season you have to figure it out.

In order to maintain an attractive appearance of the garden plot, tulips can be planted in separate containers, which are easily removed after flowering. The second option: place them between perennials with a long flowering period.

leaf cutting

Do not rush to cut the leaves, as nutrients and trace elements enter through them. When the still green foliage is removed, the bulb stops its development.

As soon as the leaves turn yellow, they must be cut off, leaving a small stump. Install a small stick so as not to lose the onions before digging.

Should I fertilize a wilted plant?

After flowering, remove the peduncle and continue watering with top dressing for 14-20 days. This time is required for the bulbs to accumulate nutrients. Nitrogen and chlorine should not be present in fertilizers, but phosphorus and potassium will help strengthen the plant.

Watering should be plentiful, avoiding drying out in the ground. To do this, you need 500 ml of water under one root. Pay attention to the amount of fertilizer, 40 gr is enough for one square meter. top dressing, otherwise the bulbs will take too long to form.

Repotting tulips after flowering

Flower transplantation is carried out to prevent the degeneration of the plant, although this does not eliminate all risks. Some varietal tulips can grow in the same area for up to 4 years without requiring a transplant. However, they also require a change of location for optimal development.

There are certain rules to follow for this:

  1. Before transplanting tulips, you must wait until the end of flowering and cut off the faded leaves. It must take from 14 to 30 days, otherwise the bulbs will not have time to accumulate the necessary supply of nutrients for the next season.
  2. The plant should be transplanted into nutrient soil, on which crops suitable for further growing tulips have previously grown. The holes are placed in increments of 30 cm between the bulbs, while the distance between the children should be at least 15 cm.
    Before placing the tulip in the hole, a warm solution of potassium permanganate is poured into it. It happens that in the selected area the earth is cracking, it is worth mixing it with peat beforehand. If you neglect this advice, the flowers will hurt or die.
  3. Bulbs without defects are used as planting material. When transplanting, watering is not required, since the soil was moistened in advance. The first watering is carried out after 4 days, and after two weeks, you can start feeding the flowers.

When to dig up tulips after flowering?

In June, flower growers have a question: when to dig up tulips after flowering? It is necessary to wait until the leaves turn completely yellow, and the stems lose their hardness. Only in the presence of these indicators is it possible to dig up plants.

How to properly dig up a plant?

For digging, it is better to use a pitchfork, as a shovel can damage the plant. Carefully dig the soil so as not to leave the bulbs in the ground.

Drying tulips in the open sun is strictly prohibited. Pre-sort the children from adult bulbs and place in a warm place. After three days, the plants must be rid of the ground and remove rotten and diseased rhizomes, as well as separate large from small ones.

Large planting material is more productive, but children are also suitable for planting, only in a separate place.

The bulbs will take about 5 days to dry if the weather is dry, high humidity increases the time to 14 days. All this time, the container with the plants should be in the shade without direct sunlight.

Storage conditions and processing of bulbs

Care of tulips after flowering, as well as their further storage, must be carried out taking into account the temperature regime, humidity level, ventilation and lack of light.

Wicker baskets made from natural materials, wooden boxes, paper containers or nets are best suited as containers. Sorted roots are laid in a maximum of two layers. The next couple of months, the bulbs will form buds and leaves, so you need to monitor the storage conditions very carefully.

Humidity

The optimum level of humidity is within 60-70%. In drier air, the bulbs will begin to shrivel, so humidify the air if these signs appear. High humidity will cause early germination and cause the material to rot.

Temperature regime

The first three weeks in the storage should be maintained at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees. Further, this indicator should not exceed 20⁰С.

Quality ventilation

A prerequisite for successful conservation is the presence of a good ventilation system in the room. During storage, the use of high plastic containers and plastic bags is unacceptable. Such conditions will not allow the bulbs to be stored until the next season.

Some gardeners prefer to store bulbs in the refrigerator. However, this is not the best option. Low temperatures lead to late budding. Such a bulb will not bloom.

Pay special attention to children, as adult bulbs will degenerate over time, and new ones will be required for further reproduction.

Periodically review the material and remove rotten plants. If there are rodents in the storage, it is better to store the bulbs in nets, hanging from the ceiling.

You do not know what to do with tulips that have already faded? Read our article, and this question will no longer torment you.

Tulips won the hearts of many girls. March 8 without these delicate spring flowers is not a holiday. Many people want to admire them not only in a vase, but in their own garden. But then spring came, the tulips bloomed, and warmth settled in the soul, time passed - they faded, and what next? What to do if tulips have faded, dig them up or leave them in the ground for the winter? This question worries many gardeners, we hope that our advice and recommendations will help at least some of them.

Start with the fact that dig up tulips. As for the time of this procedure, it is different for each region - in a warmer climate, digging up tulips is carried out in early June, and in a cold one - in the last days of June. There is a sign by which it is easy to determine the readiness of tulips for digging: when the leaves of the flower turn yellow, and the stem in its upper part becomes so soft that it can be bent without breaking, then it is time to get the bulb out of the ground.

After the tulips have faded, you need to carefully cut off their stems, leaving only two leaves, and let the bulb ripen. Also, to accumulate strength, the plant immediately after flowering must be fed and wait until the leaves turn yellow, after which, with a clear conscience, you can start digging. It is better to do this in warm sunny weather, while the ground should be dry. If tulips were dug out of damp ground, then it is advisable to rinse the bulbs and dry them thoroughly. It is recommended to use a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then put all the bulbs in 2-3 layers in cardboard boxes and hide in a dark place until September. And you yourself can switch to caring for other plants:, and many others.

Many beginner gardeners are interested in the question: is it necessary to dig up tulips all the time? Of course not. Ordinary tulips are not picky and can grow in one place for up to 7 years. But hybrid varieties begin to grow worse if they are not dug up. Excellent conditions for tulips - planted in the fall, and dug up in early summer. There is even a folk saying that says: children go to school - we plant tulips, children from school - we dig. But there are times when it is not possible to adhere to such a busy schedule, what to do when the tulips have faded, and there is no way to dig them up? In this case, the best option is to dig up tulips once every 2 years.

Now, to facilitate the care of tulips, namely for their reproduction, you can purchase special baskets in which dug out bulbs are planted, and next spring you can remove them from the ground without damaging them.

Experienced gardeners use large containers instead of baskets, for example, plastic 5 liter water bottles. This allows you to quickly and without harm to the plants move them to another place, without waiting for the leaves to turn yellow. To do this, several holes are made in the lower part of the root container, a neck is cut off from the top, handles are made on the sides for easy extraction of containers from the ground. The bottom is sprinkled with sand, the earth is on top, and the whole structure with tulips is planted in the ground.

Immediately after the tulips have faded, the plants must be moved deep into the garden, where they will not be visible, and it will be convenient to continue to care for them. There should be enough earth in the container so that the bulb gains strength and the leaves turn yellow in due time. In the vacant place, you can plant some other plant.

And the most important thing - after digging up tulips, you should carefully check all the bulbs, remove the sick, and transplant the healthy ones so that they are not very deep into the ground - the deeper the bulb, the less it has the opportunity to bloom.

Recommendations on how to care for tulips after flowering will certainly be useful to those gardeners who are interested in preserving their varietal characteristics. Growing any bulbous flowers has its own characteristics. To ensure the lush flowering of a flower bed with tulips next spring, you need to get high-quality planting material. And the main preparation of the bulbs begins from the moment the petals fall.

Watering and feeding

It would seem that just yesterday, blooming tulips amazed with their magnificence and were the main accent of the flower bed. And today, disheveled buds and untidy stems have become unattractive. About what to do, maybe cut them clean and forget until next spring, inexperienced gardeners ask. You need to remember rule number 1: when the tulips have faded, you can not immediately cut off the leaves from them. Even if they turned yellow and withered. Another 2-3 weeks after flowering in the bulbs continue to accumulate useful microelements and the energy of the sun coming through the leaves of plants. To interrupt the process of formation of planting material means, later, to get a weak bulb, which is unlikely to please the next year with a large flower.

Another 1 question of interest to beginner gardeners: do I need to cut the seed box? If the tulips have faded, it must be immediately removed or cut off with the stem, leaving at least 2 leaves on it. Then it will not take energy from the bulb to ripen the seeds.

All fallen petals should also be removed. Once in the axils of the leaves, they cause their decay.

When the bulbs have faded, what can be done to keep the flower bed in an attractive form? You can mask yellowed leaves with perennials, such as phlox. Some gardeners use a different technique: they take a metal hairpin and bend the unsightly faded stem to the ground. Another way is to grow tulips in special baskets or containers. During flowering, they will decorate the patio, flower bed, terrace, and then containers with ripening bulbs can simply be removed to another place in the garden.

As already mentioned, for some time after flowering, the bulb actively accumulates nutrients in itself. She needs moisture and nutrition. Therefore, do not relax. Care for tulips after flowering consists of watering as needed and one top dressing. You can purchase conventional mineral fertilizers intended for bulbous crops, only they are applied 2 times less than what is written in the instructions. Otherwise, the bulbs may get a chemical burn. It has a beneficial effect on tulips and a phosphorus-potassium mixture (30-40 g per 1 m²). But what should never be done is to introduce manure, nitrogen and chlorine.

So, to summarize rule number 2: after flowering, tulips need watering and feeding for another 2-3 weeks.

Planting material preparation

Another nuance in growing tulips: they are dug up annually and transplanted to a new place in the fall. The exception is red tulips, but even after a certain number of years they begin to disappear. In the southern regions, where in early April the air warms up to 20 ° C, gardeners transplant bulbs every 2-3 years.

A few words about why tulips require an annual transplant. Their bulbs have the peculiarity to go deep into the ground, and every year it gets deeper. To germinate, they require a lot of food and strength, and as a result, they can die. Rule number 3 should be remembered: tulip bulbs must be dug up annually.

Another 1 question that may arise when growing tulips: how to find the location of the bulbs? Indeed, after the foliage dries, the bed is leveled. But tulips can be distinguished a little earlier with flags or other marks.

The most suitable time for collecting bulbs is the middle of summer. Can you tell if they are ready? You need to dig up 1 copy and examine it: it should be covered with brown scales and have roots.

Now they are preparing several cardboard boxes where they will put the bulbs, leaflets with the inscription of the varieties, and a container with a disinfectant solution (you can use 5% potassium permanganate). Then you can get to work. Let it be not too cloudy outside, but not sunny either. With a garden spatula, the bulbs are carefully dug up and the weak, small and damaged ones are discarded. High-quality specimens are treated with a solution, and then laid out in boxes, depending on the variety. The dug heads are dried and stored in a ventilated warm room for 1.5-2 months, always shading. And then they are planted in a new place.

Tulips are often given to the beautiful half of humanity on March 8, they are, as it were, a symbol of spring, femininity, and tenderness. But what if the flower was presented in a pot? It can be saved and planted in the fall in a flower bed. Care after flowering will be the same: regular watering until the leaves turn yellow. After the stem becomes completely dry, the bulb is dug up, dried and stored in a box until September. When the time comes to plant bulbs, it, along with everyone else, is placed in the ground.

Formation of a future flower bed

Bulb flowers are usually planted in late August - early September. Then their flowering will fall in April-May. In cold regions, tulips are planted not in autumn, but in spring, and they are stored at a temperature of +20 ... + 23 ° C in a dark place.

Before planting, planting material is inspected for diseases. Spoiled specimens are discarded, and good bulbs must be re-treated with a fungicide to prevent diseases, for example, Maxim.

Planting material is prepared, what to do next? You need to choose a place for the future flower bed. It is not recommended to plant flowers again in the same area where they grew. Soil depletion can only be avoided by constantly changing the location of tulips.

The site is chosen sunny, with light soil. The land is prepared in advance, 2-3 weeks before landing. It is dug up with the introduction of mineral fertilizers. Add some sand to heavy soil.

Planting material is planted in two ways:

  1. 1. Landing in the pits. It is necessary to loosen the earth, make recesses for half a spade and evenly distribute the onions. Planting pattern - 10x10 cm, allowing tulips to bloom and not interfere with each other. Planting depth should be no more than 3 bulb lengths (photo). It is not recommended to press them into the ground. Then the flower bed is watered with warm water, and after 2 weeks it is fertilized with saltpeter.
  2. 2. Landing in trenches. Many gardeners choose this method to get beautiful flower beds. A flower bed is drawn and trenches up to 20 cm deep and up to 25-30 cm wide are dug along the lines. The bottom is sprinkled with superphosphate. Next, they take the largest onions, lay them bottom down along the bottom of the trenches and pour a little earth. Smaller specimens are distributed between them and again crushed with earth.

And what to do with the children, where to plant them? A beginner summer resident may ask about this. The landing of children is carried out along the edges of the trenches. Then everything is covered with soil and watered with warm water.

Care for tulips is completed by mulching the beds with peat, dry leaves or straw with a layer of 10-15 cm. These works are carried out with the onset of the first cold weather.

Getting a blooming oasis of large, beautiful, healthy flowers next season is easy, just follow all the tips listed on how to care for tulips from flowering to complete drying of the stems.