It is worth mentioning right away, even at the very beginning of the material, that digging bulbs after flowering is not necessary at all. If you forget to do it or just be too lazy, then nothing terrible will happen. But experienced gardeners recommend digging up tulip bulbs every year. Let's see why.
If you correctly deal with the dates and process, when to dig up tulips after flowering, they will bloom well and actively, and also multiply for many years. Here a lot, of course, depends on the variety. For example, early tulips, which are suitable for cultivation in the middle lane of our country, do not require annual digging. But for decorative varieties, this is an extremely important process that cannot be ignored. Will help calendar of the gardener for 2015 for the Moscow region.
A bit of botany: why dig up
Every year, the tulip bulb is updated. That is, the flower gradually forms a new bulb, which replaces the old. Only such renewal allows the tulip to bloom the following year. In addition, children can grow around the main bulb, which are suitable for propagating a flower.
If the care is very good, then you still need to think about when to dig up tulips after flowering in baskets or in the open ground. Because the onion needs space and nutrition. Flowering every year, without digging and proper wintering, will be poorer and will soon cease altogether. If you dig up the bulb every year, store it and plant it correctly, then the tulip will bloom annually and will not lose its decorative properties.
Important! If you do not dig up tulips, then every year the bulb will go deeper into the ground. This does not happen with all flowers, but for tulips this phenomenon is characteristic. In deep earth, many parasite larvae rest, which can begin to actively develop on the bulb. Also, going deep into the soil leads to the fact that onion bulbs no longer form daughter bulbs, and the flower is not suitable for propagation.
All this leads gardeners to the idea that valuable varieties of tulips, the flowers of which differ in excellent decorative qualities during flowering, must be dug up. This should be done every year. It is also important the quality of the soil in which you will plant the bulb again in spring. The land where cucumbers or carrots were previously grown is not suitable.
When to dig and how
We examined the feasibility of the fact that the bulbs must be dug out necessarily. Now you need to consider when to dig out tulips after flowering in the open ground. When a large half of the leaves turn yellow, you can think about digging. An important condition is to wish this in the morning in dry weather.
Advice! Do not dig the bulb when all the leaves are already yellow. The fact is that under such conditions the bulb will crumble and it will be possible not to notice part of it and leave it in the ground. It is clear that a deformed tulip bulb may not bloom at all next year.
If the tulip variety is early, then it will be possible to dig them out with most of the dried leaves. But later varieties can begin to be dug up when the leaves just started to dry. If we talk about specific dates when to dig up tulips after flowering, then this is done at the end of June or at the very beginning of July (in later varieties).
How to store bulbs properly
After digging, the flowers will need to be stored properly.To begin with, standard preparation for storage is carried out: the bulbs will need to withstand 30 minutes in a light solution of potassium permanganate. Leaves should not be removed; after soaking, they themselves can then easily be separated from the bulb.
When all the leaves die, then the bulb will become golden and dense in color. This is a time of strength and juice: it is during this period that the flower lays flower stalks for next year. It is necessary to provide 20 degrees of heat in the storage room. During the first months, the bulb needs heat, but then it can be stored even in the refrigerator on the lower shelf.
Now it’s clear how and when to dig up tulips after flowering. If for early wild tulips this is not necessary, then for decorative flowers the procedure is simply necessary.
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