To make tulips bloom in an unusual time for them, for this you need to make a lot of effort and work. When and how to start preparing tulip bulbs for planting at home? How to calculate the correct time for planting bulbs?
And how to accelerate plant growth so that the buds appear at the appointed time?
Content
What varieties of tulips are best planted for the holiday
Not all tulip varieties are suitable for early planting. When choosing flowers for quality and beauty, you need to consider some of their properties:
- variety of tulips;
- ripening and flowering periods;
- color of plants;
- stalk height;
- home survival;
- disease resistance.
A predisposition to diseases is a very important factor, diseases can spoil the product, because gift flowers should look perfect for the women's holiday.
Hybrids are considered the best of variegated varieties: Foster, Greig, Kaufman. These varieties have a beautiful unusual color, they have low, but strong stems with large flowers - representatives of these varieties can rightfully claim to create a festive bouquet.
Darwin varieties are suitable for distillation: Forgoten Dream, Maurin, Olympic Flame, as well as from the Triumph view: Parade and Record. Since the beginning of February, it has been recommended to grow hybrids: Oxford, London, Diplomat, Keys Nelis, Vivex. The buds of the Darwin group are practically not opened, but the color remains saturated, they are cut for 3 days of flowering.
If you need tall plants, it is better to buy Dutch bulbs. They undergo special treatment with stimulants.
Attention! Before planting, you need to check the bulbs, they must be: healthy, large, dense and round, weighing 30 grams or more, in a volume of about 4 cm.
Own seed material is collected in July, dried in the open air and stored in a dark place, with a temperature not exceeding 18 degrees.
The process of preparing for planting tulips
In autumn, the accumulation of useful substances in tulip bulbs that are responsible for the growth activity of the plant. Preparing planting material for distillation is a very important point in the process of growing flowers. Special temperature and light conditions can awaken plants ahead of schedule.
Bulbs for a month are left in a dark place at a temperature of no more than 9 degrees and a humidity of 80%. The beginning of cooling is calculated from the date of flowering of tulips, it takes 4-5 weeks for growth and the time for cooling itself. This hardening allows you to plant bulbs 6 weeks before the formation of buds.
Planting tulips
The whole process of growing from planting to blooming tulips takes an average of one and a half to two months, so to get beautiful bouquets by March 8, you need to plant tulips in January or early February, depending on the variety. You need to start cooling the bulbs in December.
After cooling, the seed material is planted in prepared boxes. The tulip planting room should be warm and bright. The depth of the pot or container is at least 8 cm. Drainage holes should be made in the tanks.
The soil for planting is made from garden soil, manure and ordinary clean sand (2: 1: 1). Peat (3 cm tall) and some wood ash are added to the mixture.The presence of nitrogen supplements, magnesium and calcium is necessary for the proper development of the plant. The soil should be moist and loose. A neutral soil environment is best for tulips.
The bulb is planted in the soil after cooling, with a flat side to the wall of the pot, the lower leaves will not subsequently interfere with neighboring plants. It is deepened into the soil so that after irrigation the crown of the bulb is exposed, slightly below the top edge of the pot. The distance between the tulips is 20 mm. The earth is watered. Boxes are moved to a dark, cool place. The containers are not covered with a film, in order to avoid fungal diseases. The optimum mode when landing is not more than 10 degrees heat.
In early February, the first shoots will appear, despite the fact that all this time the bulbs have cooled. After a couple of weeks, young growth grows to 3-5 cm. At this time, the pots are transferred to a bright and warm room.
Tips for successfully dropping tulips for Women's Day:
- For timely flowering by March 8, containers with bulbs are transferred to the prepared room from the beginning of February. 10 days, the temperature is kept at 12-14 degrees, then raised to 18 degrees, with a humidity of about 70%.
- Before planting the bulb in the ground, it is carefully cleaned of the upper scales. Such a technique avoids pushing it out of the soil with its own roots and accelerates growth.
- It is better to grow simple varieties of tulips, at home terry flowers are not easy to get.
- Lighting is used daylight and diffused, in case of a lack of light, daylight lamps are used.
- Temperature control can speed up or slow down growth. An increase in temperature conditions contributes to the intensive growth of plants and vice versa.
- Watering is carried out every 3 days, but not poured, the bulbs can rot.
- In order to prevent lodging of flowers, planting material is watered with a 0.2% solution of calcium nitrate.
- The room should be ventilated, but without drafts.
Tulip Care
If the buds appeared prematurely and acquired the desired color, they are cut, wrapped in paper and placed in the refrigerator for storage until the scheduled date.
Growing tulips for the holiday date, you need to know the rules:
- High temperature contributes to the deformation of colors.
- If the cooling of the bulbs was short, then the stems of the plants will be small, and long cooling leads to curvature of the stems.
- Direct sunlight provokes the growth of plants, while the buds do not appear at all.
- Calcium nitrate is administered once at the beginning of planting, then it should not be added.
- Timely dressing will help to grow large beautiful flowers. Calcium nitrate 1.5% is added during the growth of tulips.
If there is a greenhouse, three weeks before the holiday, boxes with seedlings are transferred to greenhouse conditions and maintain a temperature of 14 degrees for 3 days. Then raise to room temperature. It is watered only with warm, settled water.
If everything is done correctly, the first flowers will appear at the end of February. Selectively cut tulips: choose a tall and even stem, a large bud with a saturated color, the plant should be without damage. After cutting, leave at least one leaf, this will help the bulb to continue to ripen.
Before the holiday, flowers are stored in a cool, shaded room so that the buds do not stretch out and open, you can use a refrigerator, but you can not store plants near the products.
In a season or two, the bulbs will recover, they will have several small bulbs that can be transplanted into other pots, they will bloom next year.
Observing all the rules for planting and growing tulips, you can achieve good results and please women with their first spring flowers in March. Tulips presented in a beautiful pot will bring joy.
When and how to plant tulips in autumn in the open ground
When to dig up tulips after flowering and when to plant again in the ground
How to save tulip bulbs after flowering until next spring