Growing tulips at home - they are always associated with spring. These perennial bulbous plants delight the eye at the very peak of spring. At the very time when the grass that has just appeared is in full force and nature completes the process of awakening. The maximum beauty of tulips falls on the most beautiful and dynamic season.
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Introduction
An unusual sight on your windowsill
The impression of blooming tulips is so vivid that many want to see them bloom all year round. Fortunately, tulips are among those plants that allow them to be grown at almost any time of the year. The agrotechnics of tulips is such that their flowering can occur at home from the beginning of December to the end of March.
It is quite difficult to get flowering tulips in the autumn period, since a very serious and unusual preparation of the bulbs is required. In addition, many tend to grow tulips for any holiday. There can be several such events during the specified period: Christmas, New Year, Valentine's Day and, of course, March 8.
Spring beauty in the sun
Someone wants to grow tulips for aesthetic satisfaction, and someone, of course, wants to earn some money on this. Consider how you can grow tulips at home, both for beauty and for commerce.
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Growing tulips at home, in conditions of limited soil volumes for their root system, is called forcing. At the same time, the growth of green mass and flowering are provided by the nutrients stored in the tulip bulb. Forcing itself is an extreme growing method, after which the bulb needs at least two years to restore its generative properties.
Another feature of distillation is a small number of daylight hours in the autumn-winter periods and short daylight hours. This implies the use of light sources during the active growing phase. In some cases, it becomes necessary to provide not only light and heat, but also the required air humidity.
Wonderful garden decoration
In our climate, most plants are dormant in winter. At the same time, they do not just "sleep", surviving the winter, but form inside themselves the organs of the next season's plant, which, after waking up, begin to grow. Without this process, the plant will not germinate in the spring; therefore, if the bulb has not passed the hibernation period, a tulip cannot be grown from it.
Therefore, the life cycle of a tulip under natural conditions must necessarily include this period. In tulips, the formation of the rudiments of the stem and bud occurs at a low temperature. Thus, in order for the tulip to sprout, it must be kept for some time in conditions corresponding to natural ones.
Gorgeous composition
But that's not all: if you store the bulb in natural conditions, then leaves form in it first, and only then, at lower temperatures, flowers. We do not need leaves (their growth can be stimulated with fertilizers, or they will form during the growth of a flower), so we immediately move on to flowers. To do this, after the formation of the rudiments of plant organs, the bulb must be placed not in normal conditions, but in those under which a flower will form.
The bulbs must be in the temperature range from +5°С to +9°С. And the time of their storage at this temperature is several months. Depending on the variety and temperature, it lasts from 16 to 22 weeks.
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Selecting a variety for forcing
Not all varieties are suitable for the successful cultivation of tulips at “non-standard” times. Experimentally, it was found that low-growth tulips are best suited for these purposes. Consider them:
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Bulb preparation begins in late summer or autumn. You can either buy bulbs or dig your own. In the case of purchasing seed, bulbs should be selected with sizes from 3.5 to 5.5 cm.
It is mandatory to inspect them before buying: they must be without damage or traces of disease; to the touch - slightly elastic. It is imperative to clarify with the seller the terms of cultivation and storage, since the time of forcing tulips depends on this.
If you use your bulbs, then you need to follow a few rules:
- it is best to start collecting them in the summer, or when the tulips have just faded (depending on what date the forcing is planned for)
- after harvesting, it is necessary to clean the bulbs from excess husks, discard diseased and damaged
- the first month the bulbs are stored at high temperatures (up to 30-34 ° C); this is necessary for tying flowers for next year
The appearance of the bulbs after preparation
Currently, two main methods of preparing bulbs are used, differing in storage temperature (+5°C or +9°C). The first lasts a little less, but requires maintaining the temperature at a constant level, which cannot be provided by home remedies. The second lasts at least 16 weeks, however, it allows storage temperature fluctuations within a fairly wide range (+6 ... + 12 ° C).
Moreover, part of this period, the bulb is stored in a refrigerator or basement, and part - in the substrate in which it is grown. Thus, simultaneous flower formation and plant rooting are achieved.
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Planting dates for tulips in bulbous cultivation
In most cases, the term for planting tulips in the substrate is 2-3 months before the end of the forcing period, but this is not a mandatory requirement. The life cycle of tulips during forcing consists of the following stages:
- digging and pre-storing bulbs at room temperature: up to 1-2 weeks
- storage at elevated temperature (+30-34°C) for setting future leaves and flowers: 3-4 weeks
- cold storage without planting in the ground: 4-8 weeks
- cold storage with rooting: 8-12 weeks
- direct distillation (active plant growth, flower blooming): 1-3 weeks
Crazy color palette
These terms depend on the variety of tulips and on what time it is planned to complete the forcing.
- For example, growing tulips by March 8 may involve up to 3 months of storage without rooting.
- If you plan to grow flowers for the New Year, it makes no sense to delay cold storage without planting in the ground for more than a month.
- The timing of digging the bulbs is also important.
- So, for example, "New Year's" varieties are dug out of the ground as soon as they fade.
- And varieties by March 8 can be dug out after the plant has completely withered or dried up.
- If it is not planned to grow tulips by a certain date, or, in commercial terms, there are no deadlines, then you can prepare the bulbs for planting in a more gentle mode.
- bulbs are dug up after the leaves turn yellow
- the bulbs are cleaned and stored for a week at an elevated temperature (+34°C)
- subsequent storage is carried out at a temperature of 20-23 ° C and lasts 2 months
- the next month, the storage temperature decreases to 15-17°C
- "cold" storage at a temperature of about +9 ° C (which, unfortunately, cannot be avoided) lasts about a month
- after which the bulbs are planted in the substrate and grown at room temperature; or 1-2 weeks they still stand at a temperature of + 9 ° C, and then they are transferred to heat
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With this growing regime, the planting of the bulbs will take place around October-November. This method allows the bulbs to form with less negative consequences, and almost all of them will sprout and bloom without problems. This is primarily due to the fact that rooting will be carried out at higher temperatures than during the "pre-holiday" forcing. Flowering should occur in mid-January.
This method sometimes allows you to grow early tulips for the New Year, but the likelihood of such an event is low.
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Planting process
Regardless of the preliminary preparation of the bulbs, this step is the same for any method of growing tulips at home. The germination of tulip bulbs begins with their rooting in a special substrate. The composition of the substrate can be very diverse. The main requirement for it is a fairly high fertility and a normal level of acidity (6.5 - 7); the latter means the need for liming substrates with peat and sawdust.
For winter cultivation, it is also undesirable to use garden soil in its pure form, since it becomes denser from watering, decreasing in volume. There are two main substrate recipes used in winter tulip growing.
One of them uses ordinary soil as a base:
- 2 parts of garden soil
- 1 part compost
- 1 part coarse sand
The second is softer, since it is based on sawdust:
- 2 parts sawdust
- 1 part soil
- 1 part manure or compost
It should be remembered that every 5 kg of sawdust should be limed with 1 glass of charcoal.
One of the requirements for growing containers is the possibility of air penetration to the roots of the plant. Therefore, if you have few bulbs, you can get by with several ceramic pots (ceramic has the ability to pass air), 15-20 cm in diameter and at least 15 cm high. One bulb sits in one pot.
If there are a lot of bulbs, standard vegetable boxes with perforated walls are recommended as containers for growing. The best option is a standard box 60 by 40 cm with a height of at least 15 cm.
Approximate view of a box for winter breeding of tulips
- The bottom of the box or pots is covered with a layer of drainage, ranging from 1/5 to 1/3 of the height of the sides
- Expanded clay or medium-sized rounded pebbles are chosen as drainage. Use of flat stones is not recommended.
- Next, a layer of soil up to 3 cm high is laid on the drainage, on which the bulbs are placed
- Before planting the bulbs, it is advisable to hold them in a warm solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour
- The bulbs can be of different heights, so it is necessary to pour the substrate under some of them so that all the tops are at the same level
- The density and method of planting bulbs in boxes can be very diverse - from rare spot plantings according to the 10 by 10 cm scheme, to dense plantings, when the bulbs are practically in contact with each other
- After installing the bulbs in a box or pot, they are sprinkled with a layer of substrate of at least 1 cm and watered abundantly.
- Next, the box is sent to a cold dark room, where the time stays, depending on how the distillation will be carried out.
- It is advisable to take out the box once a day for half an hour for airing; watering is carried out once a week
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Approximately 10-15 days before the expected flowering date (if we are talking about forcing), the box with seedlings is brought into the light. At this time, the first hatched and even grown shoots are already clearly visible. The first week it is in partial shade, the second - already on the sunny side.
Bulbs in the substrate after "cold" storage and rooting
- Plants are watered daily and fed with complex fertilizers.
- Water should be at room temperature. The norms and composition of dressings depend on the variety and method of distillation.
- The length of daylight hours in the last 10 days of distillation should be at least 11 hours, and it is desirable to use sunlight as much as possible.
- Some varieties may require high humidity, perhaps even plants will need to be sprayed with leaves and buds from a spray bottle.
- All this must be foreseen in advance so that by the time of distillation it does not become an unpleasant surprise.
- After cutting the tulips, the bulbs spend another 20 days in the ground.
- Then they are dug up and dried as follows: the first two weeks - at room temperature, the remaining time before planting in the ground (in April) - at a temperature of 15-17 ° C.
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If there is no desire to mess with the substrate, which includes earth, tulip bulbs can be grown without it. And there are several such ways. Let's consider them in more detail.
Growing tulips without land
An alternative to a soil-containing substrate is the use of structures made of drainage stones or other materials filled with water. This is somewhat reminiscent of growing orchids, with the only difference being that the roots of orchids are airy and do not tolerate excess moisture, and the roots of tulips can be in water for quite a long time.
Growing tulips without land using drainage
You can use large drainage pebbles, between which the bulbs are fixed. An alternative may be special glass beads.Sometimes it is recommended to use smaller materials, forming comfortable drainage cushions from them using nets.
Using small stones to form drainage and decorative materials
The sequence of actions for such cultivation will be as follows:
- After a month of warm storage, the bulbs are immersed for two hours in a rooting agent solution, for example, epin
- Drainage material is applied to a vase, bath or any other container. The free space between the pebbles should be enough to accommodate the developed root system of the tulip
- The bulbs are firmly fixed in the drainage material. At the same time, their level of location should be such that the water reaches approximately 30% of the entire growth of the bulb, otherwise it may begin to rot.
- The bulbs are filled with water and placed in a cold dark place, the conditions in which correspond to the conditions of "cold" storage (temperature + 9 ° C, no light sources)
- The water level is updated daily to the initial level
- After 1.5-2 months, the bulbs are brought out into the light and within 2-3 weeks are brought to flowering in the same way as they are done with those grown in an earthen substrate.
Further actions with the bulbs are also similar to those described above. The only difference is that their drying at room temperature begins immediately after the flowers are cut.
Growing tulips in water
As a last resort, if there is no desire to mess around with drainage, you can take a very simple path, using special containers for growing bulbs exclusively in water. They are similar in shape to an hourglass. To some extent, this is reminiscent of growing onions on a windowsill, with the only difference being that a tulip bulb is used instead of an ordinary bulb.
Special container for growing tulips in water
The process of growing tulips from bulbs is completely similar to that described earlier with the use of drainage.
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Tulip seeds can be purchased, but you can also get yourself. To do this, after the end of the flowering of the plant, tie up its stem so that the box with the seeds is in an upright position. When the box becomes dry, it is cut off from the stem and placed in a warm, dry place where it dries completely. By October, when the seeds can be planted, they will dry out completely.
Boxes with seeds
The optimal time for planting tulips is the end of October. The soil should be soft and loose. The composition of the soil is as follows: peat, compost and coarse sand are mixed in equal proportions. Despite the presence of peat, it is not necessary to lime the soil.
Each seed is lowered into an individual hole to a depth of 2-3 cm, sprinkled with soil composition and watered. Seeds can be planted both in individual pots and in boxes of several pieces. The distance between seeds should be about 10 cm.
Water procedures
They do not require special care: regular watering and spraying once a week, temperature not higher than + 25 ° C. Already in the spring you can see the first shoots.
However, do not expect that in the very first year, young tulips will please the hosts with flowering. In the first year of their life, they only tie the bulb. Its final formation is completed by the second year of the tulip's life. In the third year, it is dug up in the spring to be planted in the fall.
Thus, obtaining tulip flowers when growing the last of the seeds is possible only in the fourth year of the process. Few people are able to withstand such waiting times, so tulips are practically not propagated by seeds at home. However, if you are engaged in breeding, there is simply no alternative to seed propagation.
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Selling tulips for the holidays is quite a profitable business. The cost of selling both retail and wholesale lots of flowers differs significantly, and the associated costs are quite low. This is primarily due to the fact that most of the time when forcing plants, they are stored at low temperatures, which can be done in winter without too much cost.
Forcing tulips for sale on an industrial scale
Let's make an approximate assessment of the tulip business:
- For convenience, all prices are presented in dollars.
- The cost of one bulb is about $0.30
- Forcing costs per unit are about $0.16
- For wholesale, one bulb can be sold for $0.70, and for retail for $1.15
- Thus, the profit from one bulb in the case of a full cycle from self-planting to self-selling will be 1.15 - 0.46 = 0.69 dollars per 1 bulb
- At the same time, from 1 sq. m. area (these are 4 boxes 60 by 40 cm) you can grow from 200 to 300 tulips. That is, the net profit from one box will be 50 x 0.69 = 34.5 dollars
Forcing tulips at home
Naturally, it will be necessary to agree on the lease of premises where plants will be grown, on the supply of bulbs and the sale of finished products. But these are details. The most important thing is to organize the process in such a way as to have time to “drive out” the flowers by the required date, because their price on another day (even the next) may differ significantly downwards.
Tulips for the new year
Treat your loved ones in the cold winter time with a piece of beauty of everyone's favorite spring.
- The collection of bulbs for New Year's distillation is carried out at the beginning of summer. The optimal collection time is the first decade of June.
- After a month of drying the bulbs at a high temperature (+ 34 ° C), it lies on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, where they stay until mid-October.
- In October, the bulbs are planted in a substrate based on earthen soil (it is better not to use sawdust in this distillation).
- Further, in the boxes selected for planting, drainage falls to the level of 1/3 of the height, the rest is almost completely covered with soil.
- Bulbs should be immersed in the substrate by about 60-80%; you can bury them almost entirely, leaving only the top outside.
- The distance between the bulbs should be small, from 0.5 to 1 cm, but they should not touch each other.
- Next, the box with bulbs is placed in a cold place with a temperature of + 9 ° C. It can be a balcony, a basement or a partially heated room.
- You don't need to cover it with anything. It is necessary to maintain a constant level of substrate moisture. Practice shows that on average one watering is required in 5-7 days.
- 1-2 weeks before the New Year, the box is taken out of its storage place and placed on a well-lit windowsill.
- It is advisable to illuminate the bulbs in the first 2-3 days only with a natural color, and then using diffusers.
- The following days, the total amount of light time should be 10-12 hours per day.
- We compensate for the lack of natural light with artificial light.
Tulips by March 8
Beautifully arranged bouquet
- Forcing tulips by March 8 is somewhat easier, as it is closer to the natural timing of the awakening of these plants.
- Rooting in this case can take longer (and therefore at a higher temperature: +12°C instead of +9°C), which will positively affect the quality of the flowers.
- The collection of bulbs with such forcing can be carried out at least at the end of summer, at least at the beginning of autumn.
- After "warm" and "cold" storage (lasting 1 and 3 months, respectively), they proceed to the germination of the bulbs. This process must begin in early January.
- In this case, the composition of the soil for growing does not play a special role. It can be both soil and sawdust mixture.
- An important difference at this stage is the mandatory treatment of the bulbs with potassium permanganate before planting, since in the spring bacteria are likely to attack the bulbs.
- When forcing, it is better to cover the bulbs entirely with soil, this will ensure more stable rooting.
- Otherwise, the procedure is similar to the measures used for forcing New Year's tulips.
Tulip storage
There are two ways to store cut tulips at home: dry and wet. Despite the fact that the plant is cut, its growth continues a little, therefore, in the case of using special boxes, their size should take into account this growth.
In this case, there should be no light, since light causes the stem to deviate in its direction even after cutting. If there is no refrigerator with light insulation, or storage takes place in a large storage facility, it is necessary to use lighting through a green light filter. Tulips do not react to such light.
dry storage
When the storage process ends, the cut is updated on the flowers and they are placed in cold water for 30 minutes. After that, the stem acquires the required elasticity and the ligaments can be separated. Tulips are ready to use.
How to store tulip bulbs
If there is a need for storage tulip bulbs in the summer, everything is very simple here. Such a bulb has the necessary supply of nutrients for the formation of a new plant and does not need any additional means of stimulation. Summer storage of bulbs is carried out at room temperature (+20 ... + 24 ° C) and can last up to six months. Further storage should be carried out at lower temperatures (+15…+17°С).
In winter conditions, the storage temperature should correspond to the natural conditions of the place where the bulbs are located, although this is also not a dogma. Typically, growers start storing bulbs at 25°C in September, lowering the value by 5°C each month. Depending on the tulip variety, the "stop" of the temperature decrease is made by 15, 10 or 5°C. In this state, they are stored until spring. After that, they are either transferred to "summer" storage, or planted in the ground.
Storage box for large tulip bulbs
In both cases, it is desirable to use a shallow wooden box, the bottom of which is lined with newspaper or paper. Bulbs in a box are laid out in one layer. Sometimes the space between the bulbs is filled with sawdust for better thermal insulation and moisture absorption.
