In order to grow a decent harvest, you need to take care of it since the fall. This also applies to vegetable plantings, and flowers – especially bulbs . For example, many people are concerned about the question of how to choose tulip bulbs, and how to provide them with decent storage conditions, so that in spring the flowers sprout together and delight with a riot of colors. Use the advice of experts to stock up on excellent planting material.
Choosing tulips: rules for choosing planting material
The further success of growing tulips depends on the correct choice of bulbs. Deciding on a variety is only half the battle. It is important to purchase high-quality planting material.
So, we choose tulips – to your attention a few simple rules for choosing planting material, following which you can avoid an unfortunate failure.
1. It is necessary to purchase bulbs before the start of the planting season, not reaching the last moment. The best time to do this is between late July and mid-September. At this point, the bulbs dug out in the current year are at rest. With a later purchase, it is likely that all the highest quality planting material will already be dismantled by more efficient flower growers. In the spring, bulbs should not be purchased, since this is probably last year’s unsold planting material. It is not known under what conditions it was stored, whether the multiplication factor of such bulbs has decreased.
It is very likely that when buying in the spring you will have to nurse such a bulb for several seasons.
2. When buying, pay attention to how the scales of the bulb look like. Do not buy bulbs with thick, dense, dark brown scales. It will be much more difficult for roots to grow through it. In addition, dense scales are evidence that the bulb has been overexposed in the soil. This may lead to a deterioration in its quality. It is best to choose bulbs with thin, golden brown scales. On such scales, the presence of a crack is permissible, if the bulb as a whole is not damaged.
3. Bulb size is also important when choosing. Ideally, the bulb should be 3.5-4.5 cm in diameter and 11-12 cm or more in circumference. This is an adult, well-ripened bulb. But you can also take somewhat smaller, younger ones, as long as they are healthy and intact.
4. Evaluate the purchased planting material externally. On the surface of the bulb there should be neither mold, nor dried pulp, nor any noticeable mechanical damage. Also unsuitable for planting are bulbs with a soft surface and a long, thin stem that has started to grow. Normally, only the dense tip of the stem can be seen, but it should not grow yet.
5. The condition of the bottom (lower part of the bulb) is another important indicator when choosing. Root tubercles should be clearly visible on the bottom of the bulb. The bottom itself should be tight. If it is soft, and the roots have already begun to grow, you should not buy the bulb, it is considered to be of poor quality.
6. The weight of the planting material also plays a role in the selection. The bulb should be dense and heavy. If it seems too light for its size, then it is rotten.
7. Newly purchased bulbs must be quarantined. How to store tulip bulbs before planting if you bought them in a store? Such planting material is stored separately from the rest. They also need to be planted in the first year at a distance from the rest of the plantings of tulips , so that if a virus is present, it will not be transmitted to other flowers. Only by observing all the storage conditions for tulip bulbs, next year, making sure that the plants are not affected by the virus, can these bulbs be planted along with dump plantings.
Where and how to store tulip bulbs until autumn, and then before planting
Here you will learn how to store tulip bulbs until autumn, and then until planting, provided that you dig them yourself.
Your own planting material grown in your flower beds also needs to be properly cultivated and stored. Good, high-quality bulbs are obtained only if they are dug up annually after the tulips have faded. It is necessary to dig up tulip bulbs for storage in a timely manner. For early and mid-flowering varieties, the digging time begins when the leaves turn completely yellow and wither, for late-flowering varieties – when the leaves are just starting to turn yellow and lose their elasticity. If the bulbs are overexposed in the soil, this will also negatively affect them – the quality of such bulbs decreases and the ability to forcing is completely or partially lost.
Before drying the tulip bulbs, they are cleaned from the ground, old roots are removed and laid in one layer on a drying mat. They are kept outdoors, under a canopy to avoid direct sunlight. In the bright sun, they will turn out to be overdried and may not rise the next season.
Air drying lasts 7-10 days at a temperature of 20-25°C and air humidity of about 50%. After that, the bulbs are sorted. They are divided according to varieties and sizes. Then laid out in separate containers. Do not apply too much – the bulbs should be stored stacked in no more than three layers. Otherwise, air will be difficult to access to the lower layers, they can rot, rot. The field of such preparation, planting material is sent for further storage.
And where to store tulip bulbs before planting in order to maintain high-quality planting material? Until planting, tulip bulbs are stored in a well-ventilated area, avoiding both waterlogging and overdrying. It is necessary to maintain air humidity at a constant level of 60-70%. The optimum storage temperature for the first month should be 20-22°C. It is these conditions that contribute to the laying of the kidney for the next season. In the second month of storage, the temperature is lowered to 18°C. In the last two weeks before planting, it is further reduced to 12 ° C. Storage in the lower compartment of the refrigerator or in the cellar, common among ignorant hobbyists, leads to a decrease in the quality of the bulbs and their multiplication factor. They will germinate after planting, but the resulting plants will not produce flowers and do not form children.