When to dig up tulips after flowering and how to store them until planting. Three Ways to Store Tulip Bulbs Before Planting Tulip Bulb Storage

reservoirs 16.06.2019
reservoirs

We will immediately answer the question of interest to many: is it necessary to dig up tulips at all? Experienced flower growers never neglect this agricultural technique, since it helps to preserve large bulbs and their reproduction, and also allows you to get rid of diseased bulbs every year, preventing the spread of the disease in plantings.

Baby tulip bulbs can be grown without digging for two years.

Towhen tulip bulbs are dug

After the end of flowering tulips, the plants are left in open field for the ripening of the bulbs - at this time, nutrients accumulate in them.

When is the best time to dig up tulips? This is best done as soon as the leaves of the plant turn yellow and begin to dry out. As a rule, this happens from the second decade of June - depending on weather conditions.

You should not hurry, because in this case the decorative qualities of the flowers will be weaker in the next season. The delay is also highly undesirable: if the leaves of the tulips dry out completely and the nests fall apart, the bulbs can be infected with fungal diseases or receive mechanical damage, and the children will simply remain in the soil.

Since tulip bulbs do not tolerate direct sunlight, digging is best done in cloudy weather, in the morning or evening. At the same time, bulbs with visible damage, infected and sick are immediately discarded.

Just a few hours of exposure to bright sun can lead to disease and death of tulip bulbs!

Tohow to dry tulip bulbs

To avoid injury to tulip bulbs, do not rush to remove the remaining leaves and stems immediately after harvesting. Experienced flower growers advise doing this after preliminary drying for 1-2 days under a canopy in a well-ventilated place. At the same time, the bulbs themselves are placed in a maximum of two layers in mesh containers to avoid the spread of rot and mold.

Dried nests of bulbs disintegrate effortlessly, they can be carefully cleaned of roots, stems, remnants of the mother bulb. Then the bulbs are sorted by varieties and sizes and dried for another 4-5 days in a dry and well-ventilated area.

Heat process tulip bulbs

Peeled bulbs must be pickled for half an hour in a solution of foundationazole or potassium permanganate (0.5%). Re-treatment of tulip bulbs with a solution of potassium permanganate will need to be done before planting. This will serve not only more reliable protection from diseases, but also additional nutrition, providing the plant's need for manganese.

Tohow to store tulip bulbs

The most important thing when storing tulip bulbs is maintaining the correct temperature and humidity regime. The bulbs prepared for storage (clean, dry, without remnants of roots and leaves) are stored for the first month (approximately during July) at an air temperature of 24-27 ° C and a humidity of 60-70%. During the second month (August), temperature and humidity can be slightly reduced - up to 23°C and 60% respectively.

During summer storage, the laying of the future peduncle and flower continues in the bulb, as well as the formation of the replacement and daughter bulbs. If the temperature is lower than required, then this process simply will not have time to complete, and next year the plants will bloom weakly or not bloom at all. If you store the bulbs in a hot room, they may die.

In September, the storage temperature of the bulbs is reduced to 16-18°C. In early October, before planting in the ground, it is advisable to reduce the storage temperature of the bulbs to 8-10 ° C for 1 week.

Cooling tulip bulbs - required condition future flowering, because only in this case growth hormone accumulates in them.

In conclusion, we add that some varieties of tulips do not have to be dug up annually. It is permissible to dig up their bulbs every five years in order to sort out healthy and young ones, carry out proper processing and plant them in a new place in the new season.

Photo: shutterstock, pixabay.com

Many novice gardeners are interested in the question of how to store tulip bulbs after flowering. Videos on the Internet show how to do this with ease.

When are the bulbs dug up?

Usually at the end of the first month of summer. At late varieties this moment moves forward a bit. But you do not need to wait until the leaves are completely dry. The bulbs are falling apart and small children can simply not be found. If the plant is located on wet soil then it can get sick.

Faded tulips must be dug up along with the bulbs and the ground. All this goodness is transplanted into a box, which is subsequently transferred to the shade. After the leaves have completely dried, the tulips are separated from the bulbs and laid out to dry. In the northern regions, bulbs are dug from July to early August. First, early varieties are extracted, then late ones. It is very important to know how to store tulip bulbs after flowering at home?

How are bulbs dug up?

The bulbs of the plant are replaced annually by new boxes. Then the seeds begin to germinate. To avoid this, it is necessary immediately after the tulip has faded, break off the box. Experienced gardeners recommend digging bulbs in dry weather, but the sun should not burn. They should lie down in the shade for a couple of days. Then they should be cleaned. They need to be freed from lumps of soil. Try to weed out all the bulbs without roots and with dark spots.

The dried material will need to be freed from the ground, leaves and roots. Then they are advised to process for half an hour in a weak composition of potassium permanganate. After that, the sorted bulbs are laid out in wooden boxes in two tiers. If there are unsuitable nylon tights, then it is better to store the material there.


1. After digging, the material is recommended to be distributed according to grades and size. They are laid out in a separate container. It is extremely important to sort out large heads, they will give flowers in the spring.
2. It is advised to remove the earth from each box. They can be washed and treated with a weak composition of potassium permanganate for half an hour. This will help preserve the tulips. If you see that the planting material is unsuitable, then remove it immediately.
3. The cleaned and processed material must be sent to dry in the shade. It is better to identify pallets with tulips in a ventilated area. But there should be no drafts inside.
4. After a week, the bulbs need to be sorted out again. Stems, scales and unnecessary bulbs are removed. All rot is thrown away.
5. Then the dug up tulips should dry for a few more days.

Planting material storage areas

How to store tulip bulbs after flowering? Experienced gardeners do not advise storing planting material in cardboard boxes, as air will not circulate in them. There is another minus of such containers - this is dampness, which will provoke the appearance of a fungal infection.


If possible, it is better to store the bulbs in special chambers where the temperature is maintained automatically. Such devices are very expensive, so they are not very popular.
You can store planting material in an ordinary apartment. You just need to choose places where you would not fall Sun rays. Bulbs should lie away from heaters and drafts.
For efficient storage, planting material is sprinkled with sawdust on top. You can also wrap each onion in newspaper. These two methods will help protect tulips from infection and disease.
Planting material is allowed to be stored in the cellar. It is enough to fill empty boxes with earth. Next, bulbs are planted in it. By winter, they will get stronger, but they will not grow further, since the temperature in the basements is low. But the boxes must be installed so that mice or rats do not get to them.

In order for tulips to delight with their beauty every year, it is important to plant the bulbs on time. But how to store tulip bulbs before planting?

As you know, bulbs are easily exposed to moisture, disease, pests and temperature fluctuations. That is why it is important to dig up in time and ensure proper storage of tulip bulbs before planting.

Timely excavation and preparation for storage

Highly important point in the life of a plant - timely digging. In the case of tulips, the main reference point when harvesting them is the yellowed leaves.

A withered flower is cut off, a couple is left lower leaves and stem. When the leaves turn completely yellow and begin to dry out, it's time to dig! It is best to do this in dry weather. It is worth noting that completely dried foliage quickly crumbles, which complicates the search and cleaning. And too early harvesting does not allow you to get high-quality matured planting material.

After harvesting, the tulip bulb needs to be washed, pickled in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (0.5%) and dried. At the same time, damaged and diseased onions are rejected, children are separated. Clean bulbs dug out in dry weather are dried in a draft or in the open air.

But is it necessary to carry out all these procedures before storing tulip bulbs? It is noticed that dressing for 30 minutes reliably protects the planting material from diseases. And re-treatment (immediately before planting) allows you to get large beautiful flowers next year.

Conditions for proper storage

It is quite simple to remember and fulfill all the conditions. The basic rules are good ventilation, lack of light and moisture in storage, constant temperature.

The best option for storage is to store the bulbs in wooden boxes, wicker baskets, nets or paper containers. Temperature regime in the first month after harvesting - 23-25 ​​degrees. If in storage high humidity and temperature fluctuations, regular inspection and culling of the bulbs is necessary.

The misconception that the best place for storage is a refrigerator. Too low a temperature will slow down the development of the flower bud. As a result, the bulb will be outwardly healthy, beautiful, but will not give color at all or will be reborn into a “blind” bulb.

Particular attention should be paid to children. Since adult bulbs shrink and degenerate every year, healthy offspring are the key to constant beautiful flowering. Children are also stored at room temperature, well ventilated, regularly examined.

How to prepare tulips for planting?

Before landing at a new place, the temperature in the storage is reduced to 15-17 degrees. If it is planned to land in the same place, then green manure must be sown in order to destroy the pathogenic flora. Therefore, before storing tulip bulbs, you need to resolve the issue of a place for their further planting. In the conditions of the Russian climate, tulips are planted from early to mid-September, depending on the region.

After flowering, a summer resident who grows tulips may have questions about whether it is necessary to dig up flower bulbs, how and what to do with them next. If you want to preserve the varietal properties of flowers, especially for the fringed, parrot or green-colored groups, then you need to dig up tulip bulbs annually. Tulip varieties do not need annual digging: Darwin hybrids, Simple early, Triumph, Foster, Kaufman and others. However, it's better not to risk it.

When to dig up tulips

To form a strong bulb, the flower head must be cut off 3-4 days after it opens, preventing the seeds from setting. Leave the length of the peduncle and leaves as long as possible so that the outflow necessary for the bulbs occurs nutrients. It is impossible to dig up tulip bulbs immediately after flowering, as they will become smaller and the flowering capacity will decrease next year. It is best to do this under conditions middle lane in early July, and in the northern regions in the second half of July.

Another guideline for digging tulips is the withering of the stem and leaves, when the top of the stem becomes soft.

Start cleaning with the most early varieties(Kaufman, Foster, Darwin hybrids, Triumph, parrot class).

How to dig up tulips

Dig up tulips in dry, sunny weather. Be extremely careful with small bulbs - they go deep into the ground. If they are not dug at all, then over time they will be lost deep in the soil, especially in sandy ones. When digging tulips, place the shovel strictly upright to prevent damage. You can’t pull the stem, it will come off, and the bulb will be lost in the ground.

If you have to dig up tulips in wet and humid weather, then wash the bulbs under water, and then dry them.

What to do with tulip bulbs after digging

Boxes for storing flower bulbs are disinfected with copper sulphate. The bottom of the boxes should be with holes for air circulation.

After digging, sort the tulip bulbs immediately, remove them with obvious signs of damage, put them in boxes (do not store on the ground to protect them from diseases and pests) and do not forget to insert markers with the name of the variety. Remove boxes of bulbs from the sun. After 2-3 days, when the bulbs dry out, you can clean the roots, earth and unnecessary scales. If this is done immediately, then the bottom can be damaged. Do not use waste in compost. For the prevention of diseases, treatment with fungicides can be applied in the first 2 weeks. To do this, tulip bulbs are soaked for 2 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

In this form, large tulip bulbs are stored for 20 days indoors at a temperature of 23-25 ​​° C. At low temperatures, buds do not form and there will be no flowering next year. From August to (from mid-September), you need to gradually lower the temperature in the room to + 13-15 ° C. But small tulip bulbs should be stored before planting, on the contrary, at a lower temperature so that they do not dry out. Store in the twilight, as an option, first in the attic, and then in a dry basement.

It is absolutely impossible to store the collected tulip bulbs in a bucket - the lower ones will rot.

Recall that in summer cottages utility rooms there may be mice that will be very interested in tulip bulbs, so we recommend periodically checking the planting material. In August, tulip bulbs can be planted in for growing.

How to make it easier for yourself to dig up tulip bulbs

Plant tulips in small-mesh baskets so the bulbs won't get lost in the ground. He took out the basket - and that's it. You can also plant in plastic bottles (5-6 l), making holes in the bottom for the roots. After the tulips bloom, without waiting for the stem and leaves to turn yellow, you take the balloons out of the ground and plant other plants in the same place. Thus, you get a flower garden without losing decorative qualities. Move the balloon with tulips to another more unsightly place for further withering of the aerial part.

tulips (from the Latin "Túlipa") are bulbous plants of herbaceous perennials. The tulip belongs to the Liliaceae family and currently includes more than eighty different species. The homeland of the plant is the mountain ranges of northern Iran, as well as the Pamir-Alay and Tien Shan. Over the course of millions of years of its history, the tulip has settled almost everywhere.

Today, this flower is considered one of the most beautiful plants cultivated by man. Knowing how to store tulip bulbs, you can get an amazing variety flowering plants in spring and summer periods on his suburban area.

General information

Absolutely all types of tulips are typical ephemeroid geophytes, which are adapted to life in mountainous areas, as well as steppe or desert conditions. The plant is unpretentious and grows well in hot and dry areas.

The period of development of tulips from seeds to flowering plants is about five years. Florists use plant bulbs, the change of generations of which occurs every year. How to save tulip bulbs is a matter that requires special attention. However, first of all, it is very important to correctly determine the time for digging them out of the soil.

Storing tulip bulbs is not difficult, but it is very important to observe a number of conditions for keeping them at home before planting.

What tulips need to be dug up

As a rule, tulips are dug up annually. A relaxation in this rule can be allowed for certain varieties of Triumph tulips with red or yellow color. natural views botanical tulips and their hybrids can also not be dug up. However, it should be remembered that such plants are prone to shredding as a result of overgrowth.

Of course, losses can be minimized if you dig up the most capricious and pampered varieties before winter. Such plants need properly organized conservation measures. It is very important to dig up parrot, double and fringed tulips, as well as tulip tubers before winter. Greig, Kaufman and Foster. Simple types of early and late tulips grow very well and bloom without digging. In addition, for three years you can not dig up before winter Darwin tulip hybrids.

Bulb digging time

Amateur flower growers very often focus on folk omens, which allow you to correctly determine the timing of digging the bulbs for storage, as well as planting them in the spring. You can use this “hint”: if the end of the stem of the plant can be rolled into a ring, and two top sheet acquired yellow coloration, then the most favorable period for digging bulbs has come. As a rule, this is done in the last decade of June or in the first decade of July.

If you dig too early, the bulb and the cover layer of the tulip will not have time to form, may be crushed and not remain in good condition until spring. If, nevertheless, the material survives the winter, then the resulting plants will have a low level of flowering, as well as a weak ability to form children.

Too late digging up plants is also very undesirable, as it can lead to loss a large number planting material, including small children.

How to store tulip bulbs before planting in spring (video)

Preparing bulbs for storage at home

Collected tulip bulbs, as well as formed baby plants, it is important to correctly and carefully sort by size. Even quite small size bulbs grow fairly quickly. the right sizes and are very convenient in a one-time distillation.

The main condition that allows you to competently keep the tulip planting material healthy until spring is the integrity of the small radicular scales on the bulbs. All sorted planting material must be placed in separate boxes, which are then placed for storage in garden sheds.

Temperature indicators in the storage room should be at the level of twenty degrees. In the last days of August, you can continue to store planting material in the basement or plant in the ground for wintering. Landing is carried out in accordance with weather conditions growing region.

Many flower growers, who have been growing tulips for several years, etch all planting material with a weak solution of potassium permanganate immediately after autumn digging, and also before spring plantings. This method allows you to protect planting material from decay and pests. In addition, plants are saturated with manganese, which is important after flowering.

If a decision is made to carry out winter storage bulbs, then you should periodically inspect the planting material very carefully, as well as timely remove all diseased, rotten and suspicious-looking specimens. Regular and thorough inspections help to reduce the percentage of losses of planting material as a result of diseases, and also allow you to get the most healthy tulip bulbs by the season.

We also invite you to find out by reading a previously published article on our resource.

Basic rules for storing bulbs in winter

In order to please yourself and others beautifully in the spring blooming tulips, it is very important to pay close attention to the storage conditions of planting material and strictly follow the rules for keeping bulbs.

  • When digging tulip bulbs out of the soil, care must be taken to minimize the risk of planting material damage. So you can protect the bulbs from damage by fungal infections.
  • For long-term storage, it is best to use wooden crates.
  • It is allowed to fill the bulbs with a thin layer of dry sawdust, which will absorb excess moisture.
  • in a good way preserving tulip bulbs until planting is wrapping with dry newspapers. This prevents the plant from absorbing excess moisture, and also protects against damage by pathogens or rot.
  • At home, bulbs are scattered in basement or a special heat chamber.

Of course, it is allowed to use tulip bulbs for the purpose of distillation at a convenient time at home, and also, if necessary, carry out spring growing on the balcony. However, even in these cases, it is necessary to plant the bulbs in autumn period in flower pots or special boxes.

Standard planting dates depend on the timing of the proposed distillation. Landing in the ground is important for creating normal conditions for the growth and development of plants. AT winter period tulip bulbs do not just "sleep" and survive the winter cold, but after rooting they form leaves and a flower. By the time the snow mass has melted, the leaves and flowers of tulips begin to move out of the bulbs towards the soil surface.

How to plant tulips (video)

Experienced flower growers growing on household plots tulips, use special planting baskets for planting, which allow short term decorate any, even the most remote corner of the site, and also facilitate the procedure for digging up bulbs for further storage.

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