Proper planting of tulips in the fall is the key to their early and maximum flowering. Knowing when and where, and most importantly, how to properly plant a decorative culture, you can get an excellent result and beautifully decorate the local area or garden plot.
When to plant tulips: in autumn or spring
The bulbous crops planted in the spring do not have large differences in the care of tulips in autumn planting.
The choice of season depends on climatic conditions, among other things, autumn and spring plantings have their advantages and disadvantages, which must be taken into account
Pros and cons of each season
| Period | Advantages | disadvantages |
| Spring | You can carry out a comprehensive planting of decorative crops immediately after the design of flower beds. There is no need to store planting material in winter. The risk of bulb death from frost is minimal | Tulips planted in the early spring period come into bloom later or do not form peduncles at all. It is required to conduct hardening of the bulbs and their obligatory processing before planting |
| Autumn | Planting stock during the autumn period most often builds up a powerful root system, is nourished with nutrients from the soil, and survives the winter safely. Natural hardening of the bulbs occurs. Spring flowering is plentiful and long. In the autumn, the choice of planting material is very rich | Underground excavation requires strict adherence to deadlines depending on weather conditions. There is a risk that the rooting process does not have time to go before frost and the bulbs freeze. Planting material can be damaged by various pests wintering in the soil, pathogens, as well as rodents |
General landing dates: table
The assortment of bulbous plants is rich, for each species there are optimal planting dates, which vary depending on the time of year and the region of cultivation.
| Regyon | Autumn |
| Moscow and Moscow region | From the third decade of September to October 15 |
| Leningrad region | From the third decade of September to mid-October |
| Middle lane | September 20-30 |
| Ural | In the north - until September 10-20, in the southern - until October 10 |
| Siberia | from late summer to September 15 |
| South | From mid-September to the second decade of October |
| Belarus | From late September or early October |
The rooting of the tulip bulbs takes about a month and a half, so it is very important to strictly observe the timing of autumn planting. Decorative culture even before the onset of frost should build a good root lobe that nourishes the plant throughout the winter period. If the planting is too early, the growth processes of the flower are activated, and the late planting does not allow the roots to fully develop. In case of violation of the recommended planting dates, late flowering, winter freezing or death of the plant is observed.
The rules for autumn planting of other bulbous flowers can be found in more detail from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/posadka-lukovichnyx-cvetov-osenyu.html
How and where to store bulbs until fall
During storage of tulip bulbs until autumn planting, certain requirements must be observed:
- at the initial stage of storage, the temperature regime should be approximately 23-25aboutFROM;
- by August, the temperature in the storage should be lowered to 20aboutFROM;
- about a week before planting on open flower beds, the temperature drops to 15aboutFROM;
- excessive humidity in the store should be prevented, as otherwise the risk of developing bacterial and fungal diseases increases;
- it is important to monitor the humidity in the store, otherwise drying out or the death of the bulbs;
- good ventilation should be provided in the room.
If necessary, the lower shelf of a conventional refrigerator can be used for storage.
Experienced growers are advised to wrap flower bulbs with newsprint, which will prevent the development of diseases, decay or excessive drying.
How to process the bulbs before planting
Preplant treatment is a very important stage, which improves survival and is the prevention of diseases and pests of ornamental culture. For this purpose, industrial preparations or time-tested folk remedies can be used.
The main methods of preparation:
- Peeling bulbs.
- Visual analysis of planting material for damage and damage by pathogenic microflora.
- Bulb sorting according to size.
- Disinfection procedure.
Rigid integumentary flakes are removed from the planting material, under which hidden foci of infection are most often located.
Peeled onions are better absorbed from the ground.
After cleaning and thorough inspection, the bulbs are sorted by diameter.
Traditionally, for processing planting material, a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate or the modern antifungal drug Fundazol is used, 15 g of which is dissolved in 5 l of water
On sale there is a wide range of the latest processing tools, thanks to which the bulbs are protected and growth processes are stimulated in them.
| A drug | Breeding | Processing method |
| Vitaros | 2 ml / l of water | Spraying before planting |
| Epin | 0.5 ml / l of water | Soaking the bulbs for a day |
| Maksim | 2 ml / l of water | Soaking the bulbs for half an hour |
| Fitosporin | 20 g / l of water | Spraying before planting |
Is it worth fertilizing the earth
For growing tulips, flower beds with light, sandy, and humus-rich soils are distinguished. Sandy and heavy soil is unsuitable for such a flower culture. Coarse river sand is necessarily introduced into clay soil, and sandy soil that is too light can be improved with humus, peat or soddy soil.
It will also be useful material on how to care for the soil in the country: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/ot-chego-zavisit-plodorodie-pochvy.html
The ornamental plant feels best on well-lit flower beds that are well-protected from gusts of cold wind, without stagnation of water, but late-flowering varieties can be placed in partial shade. Too much shading causes chopping of the bulbs.
To combat the high occurrence of groundwater, drainage grooves are set up at half a meter depth
Excessive amounts of organic matter can adversely affect the flowering process. In this case, the flowers have an irregular shape, and all formed peduncles differ in curvature. When fresh manure is applied in any quantity, rotting of the plant roots is often observed, therefore, such daughter bulbs are unsuitable for reproduction.
Good effects on the growth and development of tulips are distinguished by siderata plants that are sown in the ground, as well as previously disinfected compost. It is very important that the soil of the flower bed has a neutral or alkaline reaction, for this, measures are taken for liming the soil. However, in some countries, fertilizing during the cultivation of tulips is considered extremely harmful. In addition to organics, the application of fertilizers of mineral type, which positively affects the flowering time and size of the bulbs, is of no small importance.
You can learn about how to chalk the soil in the garden from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/izvestkovanie-pochvy.html
How to plant tulips in open ground
Immediately after the etching procedure, planting material is planted on pre-prepared flower beds. Lost planting time threatens with swelling of the bulbs and a decrease in germination. For landing, special grooves must be made, the depth of which is about 10-15 cm.
The standard landing interval between the bulbs is about 9-10 cm, but on heavy soils, landing is performed at a shallow depth
On light soil, the bulbs are planted deeper. Among other things, varietal features affect the depth of planting:
- bulbs of extra-class varieties are deepened by 15-18 cm;
- planting material II-III parsing are planted to a depth of 10-12 cm;
- children sit down with a little deepening.
On dry ground, furrows need to be shed abundantly with standing warm water. Fertilizer is applied to the bottom if such an event was not carried out during the process of digging. It is lightly sprinkled with sand, after which the bulbs are planted bottom-down. In order to minimize the risk of root fragments, planting material cannot be pressed into the ground strongly, and before filling the bulbs are lightly dusted with ordinary wood ash. Tulips are planted on the former flower garden in about 3-4 years.
How to plant in boxes and containers
The cultivation of tulips in boxes and containers is very popular in many countries, including Russia.
The capacity should be roomy, which will allow to plant a large number of bulbs
To fill the container or box, preference should be given to ready-made soil mixtures, guaranteed to be disinfected and free of plant parasites. If necessary, the nutrient substrate is prepared independently by mixing garden soil, vermiculite, quality humus, clean sand of medium fraction and perlite with the addition of coconut fiber. The structure of the finished mixture should be sufficiently loose.
The layout of the site for the placement of tanks is carried out in the autumn period, approximately in September. Containers or boxes are placed in the dug landing pits, the bottom of which is covered with sand, after which tulip bulbs are planted. Their layout varies between 4-15 cm and directly depends on the size of the planting material and the variety of decorative culture. All onions are sprinkled with nutritious soil substrate, after which the planting is mulched with a two-centimeter layer of humus or peat.
What care do tulips need after planting
With strict observance of all planting rules in about 4 weeks, the bulbs acclimatize and form a powerful, healthy and strong root system.
Decorative bulbous crops are not too whimsical to care for, but need sufficient care and attention from the moment the first leaves are formed until the preparation for winter
Plant care after planting involves:
- irrigation measures, which should be especially plentiful at the stage of a set of buds and during the period of mass flowering;
- the regime of abundant watering must be maintained for two weeks after flowering;
- regular removal of all weeds in the flower beds, as well as shallow loosening of the soil around the ornamental crop;
- three-time fertilization.
To feed tulips, special liquid preparations or granular form preparations are used, which should be applied three times during the growing season:
- during the formation of the first sprouts, top dressing is carried out with a mixture based on a pair of parts of nitrogen, the same amount of phosphoric salts, as well as parts of potassium compounds;
- at the stage of formation of the green bud, the decorative culture is fed with nitrogen and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which are applied in a ratio of 1: 2: 2;
- immediately after flowering, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied without supplementing with nitrogen components.
An important procedure that is part of the standard care for tulips is the pruning of wilted flowers and peduncles. Such an event contributes to a good ripening of the bulbs, which subsequently become very high-quality and productive planting material.
Growing tulips in open ground is an exciting and uncomplicated task. However, it is the observance of all the rules of autumn planting and a competent approach to the care of the decorative culture that becomes a guarantee of a beautiful flower garden and healthy bulbs suitable for plant propagation.
