Home Gardeners

Tulips-Tulipa

Tulips are wonderful flowers that adds beauty to your home indoors. Though the flowers are costly to buy you can easily grow them from its bulb. It makes you easy to decor home with different tulip varieties. Even when you invite friends or neighbours to your home they will be surprised watching at tulips that spreads fragrance at its surroundings. Because of aromatic and anti-septic properties  it has application in cosmetics and health to treat skin related problems.

Tulipa is a perennial flowering plant that blooms in spring season.Flowers are usually large, bright color blotch at the base. They originally found from East Turkey to Central Asia.  It is mostly cultivated in temperate regions. Dutch country- Netherlands produces tulip flowers in large amounts of world markets.

Tulip Varieties:

There are 52 tulip species and flowers are available in maroon, white, cream, yellow, black and purple as well. Some plant varieties include single late, greigii, viridiflora, kaufmanniana and rembradant. Below is the list of most common tulip varieties to grow in your garden that are based on growing area, flower blooming time and temperature.

S. No	Variety	Color	Specification
1	Darwin hybrid	Orange	Wind and weather resistant
2	Triumph	Purple	Medium stems & can grow easily in containeres
3	Double	Purple	Double flowers
4	Fringed	Purplish white	Petal edges with cut fringes
5	Fosteriana	Yellow	Long flowers, in rich colors
6	Lilly flowered	White	Reflexed petals, excellent for bedding & Cutting

Companion Plants:

It seems fantastic to create tulip combinations in your home garden. Planting other flowering plants helps to stay in garden for long time and able to inhale the fresh air during early mornings. Tulips love to grow mostly with perennials like daylilies, wall flower, columbine, Siberian bugloss, bleeding heart and creeping phlox. All these plants help to improve the blooming time, fast growth with high yield and colorful combinations.

How to Grow Tulips from Bulbs?

• Pick up the hybrid seeds variety of tulips that can produce color variations. Before sowing the seeds in pots, store them in a cool place. After a week sow the seeds in a pot or large container.
• First clean the pot with warm water to remove dust, worms and bacteria. Size of the pot should be 8-12 inches both deep and wide.
• Fill the pot with potting mix soil and maintain the ph between 6&7. If you find the soil alkaline then add mulches such as peat moss, animal manure, oak leaves and pine needles.
• Water thoroughly where the bulbs are planted. Do not overwater as tulip bulbs don’t like excess water and may results in damaging the bulb.
• Prefer a sunny location as tulips do not grow well in shade. Provide sufficient sunlight for a minimum of 6 hours a day for the bulbs to germinate quickly. Best temperature for tulips is 40-50F to establish healthy roots.
• Seedlings may appear within 6-8 weeks and flowers bloom within 18 months after sowing the bulbs.
• Tulips are self-pollinating plants as they transfer pollen from anther to stigma without any pollinator. Sometimes it also acts as a cross-pollinating as insects, wind or humans can transfer pollen to bloom flowers quickly.
• Prune when the foliage turns brown color usually at the end of May. Trim off the older leaves, stems to ensure new and better growth.

Nutrient Deficiency

S. No	Element	Deficiency Symptom
1	Nitrogen	Yellow leaves, thin shoots
2	Phosphorus	Dark green leaves, scorched leaves
3	Potassium	Brownish yellow color leaf margins
4	Calcium	Light green foliage, stunting leaves

Pests & Diseases

Pests	Diseases
Aphids	Botrytis blight
Beetles	Root rot
Worms	Powdery mildew
Slugs & snails	Damping off
Spider mites	Gray bulb rot
Caterpillars & larvae	Blue mould

Fertilizers:

A fast release fertilizers may result in the nutrients being washed away. Use organic mix fertilizers such as bone meal, green sand, compost and N-P-K fertilizers in the ratio of 9-9-6 to deter pests. To prevent from any of these diseases use fungicides or remove and burn the infected plants as soon as possible.

Harvesting

• To harvest tulips that lasts longer in flower vase, cut the stem diagonally, wrap (2/3^rd) of the flower in a paper.
• Commercially grown tulips are harvested in late summer, sorted in sizes and sold.
• Leave the flowers to settle in water for an hour then remove the stems and again cut the stems.
• Use sharp knife or scissors to cut the beautiful fragrant flowers.
• Tulip flowers should stay fresh for a week after harvesting the bulbs.

How to Grow Tulips in Water?

Tulips flowers come in a wide range of colors, sizes and is mostly suitable to grow at outdoors. You can easily propagate tulip varieties from its bulb  by considering a glass of water and a tulip bulb.

• Take a glass of water and insert tulip bulb into it.
• Change the water in glass or jar for every couple of days.
• Place the entire setup in a sunny location to generate new shoots and roots.
• Flowers may bloom within 2 months, you can cut and is ready to decor at homes.

How do You Care for Tulips?

• Do not overwater the plant as it can result in root rot.
• Fertilize the plant during fall season for better results.
• Test the nature or ph of the soil before planting tulips in pots.
• Water the plant once in a week to maintain the soil moist but not soggy.
• Water the plant early morning or evening times to prevent from evaporation.
• When you grow tulips indoors, place it near a window location to receive sunlight.
• Follow the instructions & warning labels on seed covers, fertilizers before applying them.
• Encourage re-flowering by pruning the first flower that emerges from the bulb.
• Make sure the pot has enough holes at the bottom for air circulation and proper drainage.
• Dig a hole about 10 inches deep and wide to establish roots when prefer landscape method.
• Keep pets like dogs & cats away from tulips bulbs as they can spoil beautiful flowers from blooming.

How to store tulip bulbs?

After harvesting bulbs from the plant, place them in airy garage. Now allow the bulb to dry for several days. Put the dried bulbs in paper bag and store them in a cool, dark place until you got the right time to plant.

How to propagate tulips?

You can propogate tulip bulbs by division method. In this method separate offsets when bulbs are lifted and stored dry in a tray. Replant those offsets about 8 inches deep into the soil.  They may not flower if you plant the bulbs too shallow.

When to plant tulips bulbs?

Plant tulip bulbs in fall season, 6-8 weeks before you expect the frost  and maintain the soil temperature below 60 F. You can also plant bulbs in spring season at outdoors by providing nutrients to bloom until the spring falls.

Are tulips toxic to cats and dogs?

Tulips are toxic to both cats and dogs as they contain harmful components within the bulb.  When your pets eat these bulbs can cause vomiting, diarrhea and other health problems.

What are the uses of tulip flowers?

Tulips are the popular garden plants that grow well in moderate climatic conditions. They are used as ornamental plants for home decorating and as cut flower (bouquets) on large scale.

• Cosmetics: It is also used in perfumes, lotions and powders for its fragrance by crushing its petals for dry sensitive skin.
• Health:  It has anti-septic properties that serves as the best remedy for cough and cold, fever, headache and also reduces the risk of cancer in humans.

It’s fun to grow and enjoy beautiful tulips starting from seeds or bulbs in your garden that spreads fragrance, purifies air by keeping surrounding atmosphere hygiene. If you have amazing ideas about growing tulips, please share your experience with us.

Recommended readings:

• Gardenia Plant – How to Care for Gardenia plant at Home and Garden
• Growing and Caring of Onions – How to Harvest Onions