With the advent of warm spring days, tulips are the first to start pleasing the eye. These unpretentious flowers are the classic decor of any flowerbed, but every gardener knows that working with them does not stop until the frosts, because once the right tempering and rooting will allow you to anticipate the duration and duration of flowering, as well as the beauty of buds. Therefore, many would like to know when to dig and plant bulbs of tulips.
When to plant tulips in the fall?
Beginners should not be surprised, because it is natural cooling that stimulates in the bulbs the processes that ensure the growth of shoots in spring and the release of buds. It is not necessary to hurry up in this matter, otherwise the bulbs will have time to go on growth before the onset of frost, but it is not recommended to delay the disembarkation, otherwise the flowering period will significantly shift. Those who are interested in what month to plant tulips, it should be answered that the ideal time is the period from mid-September to mid-October. However, given that the climate in the regions differs significantly, it is worthwhile to navigate through the weather.
Those who want to know when to plant tulip bulbs should wait for the time when the soil temperature will be + 10 ° C at a depth of up to 15 cm. Now it is clear when to plant tulips, but before that you should prepare the soil and the bulbs themselves. It is necessary to take care of the fertility, looseness, water and air permeability of the soil, and plant material to sort out, discard, sort by size, remove the upper husks and disinfect them with potassium permanganate or a special preparation.
Stages of landing in the ground:
- dig out in the ground individual grooves or holes, the depth of which is three times the size of the bulb. The distance between the holes must be twice that of their diameter;
- The bottom of the holes is filled with sand, and bulbs should be powdered with ash and sprinkled with sand on all sides. Place them in the wells;
- fill the ground and level it;
- 10 days later, watering the flower bed, and with the first persistent frost, cover with peat, compost, dry leaves or straw. The main thing - do not forget to remove the mulch in the spring, so that it does not interfere with the shoots.
Works with bulbs after flowering
Many doubt whether it is necessary to dig bulbs of tulips every year. Experienced growers with confidence recommend that these actions, because otherwise bulbs will multiply, will lack space and nutrients. As a result, with each year the flowers will differ significantly in appearance from the first bright and bulky buds. Therefore, after waiting for the plant to blossom, and its above-ground part begins to turn yellow, you can start digging. As a rule, this time is the third decade of June and until the middle of July these works should be completed.
Large, strong and viable bulbs can be obtained provided that the buds are broken off before they start blooming. In addition, an important condition is the presence of two or more leaves, which are required for the plant for photosynthesis. It is equally important to ensure the preservation of bulbs before the autumn planting, and for this they need to be sorted, sorted and dried for two days. Divide the nests into separate bulbs, remove the upper scales, remove roots and etch in manganese. Only now they can be stored in a barn or a dark closed terrace, where the air temperature keeps at around + 20 ° C, there is no dampness and no sunlight penetrates. Having thus preserved the planting material, one can count on successful rooting in autumn and the first shoots of excellent tulips in the spring.