At what depth are tulips planted? Planting tulips in open ground - choosing a variety, preparing soil and bulbs, care and disease control

Why tulips are planted in the fall, when and how to plant bulbs for abundant spring flowering, and a number of other questions that novice gardeners ask when they see a neighbor’s plot, immersed in bright colors. The main value of tulips is their early flowering, when nature is not characterized by a riot of colors. Therefore, everyone wants to get a lot of positive emotions from lush flowering in the front garden - a picture of spring awakening.

The tulip is a perennial bulbous plant from the Liliaceae family, adapted to growing in completely different climatic zones.

But despite the ability of a flower to adapt to a variety of conditions and the ability to survive, in order to obtain a spring flowering meadow, a number of features of the lily representative should be taken into account even when carrying out autumn planting work:

• timing and depth of planting;
• selection of planting material;
• site and soil preparation;
• landing method.

Almost anyone who is interested in growing tulips knows about the need to dig up the bulbs and store them in a dry, dark room after lush flowering in the spring. And with the arrival of autumn, the dug up bulbs are planted again in the garden. Implementing such an approach will make it possible to constantly monitor the quality of cultivated tulips, promptly removing small planting material infected with fungal diseases and rotted planting material, maintaining an excellent overall picture by maintaining the healthy state of the plants. Moreover, by systematically digging up and planting the children, the gardener can, without additional financial resources, breed the variety that he likes the most.

Important! Proper planting is the key to a successful result, expressed in friendly and lush flowering.

Selecting bulbs for planting

When purchasing bulbs, a thorough inspection of the planting material is carried out, with special attention paid to the following parameters:

• Dimensions – bulbs with a diameter of 3-4 cm are suitable for planting in the garden.
• Appearance - the bulb should be covered with brown scales, which perform a protective function. The coating must maintain integrity and thinness: a compacted shell indicates that the bulb has been in the ground for a long time, which can lead to delayed germination.
• Condition – planting material must be dry, strong, and free from visible cracks and stains. Upon inspection, there should be no mold, no growing stem primordium, and no soft bottom with emerging roots.

Attention! By purchasing one diseased bulb, a grower can infect healthy planting material, jeopardizing not only future flowering, but also the possibility of further propagation of the entire batch of tulips.

Time and timing of planting in autumn

The correct choice of time for planting bulbs determines the quantity and quality of blooming tulips with the arrival of spring. The main difficulty is the variability of weather conditions, due to which the dates may shift. As a rule, the optimal time is considered to be from mid-September to mid-October.

However, there are four techniques that can help you determine deadlines more accurately.

1. Tulips are planted a month and a half before the soil freezes, according to long-term averages.
2. Planting is carried out after the temperature on the earth's surface drops below 15°C.
3. Planting work is planned after the first morning frost, indicating night frosts.
4. Planting takes place between four and eight weeks after the tulip planting material becomes available for sale.

How to plant tulips in the fall?

To achieve good flowering, having extensive experience in growing tulips is not a key indicator. Beginning gardeners can also get excellent results by following the rules for planting spring flowers.

Selecting a location

The most suitable area for planting bulbs is a well-lit area: a lack of light leads to stretching and curvature of the plant, as well as loss of the intense color for which the flower is so valued by gardeners. Poor tolerance of the bulbous flower to stagnant water and strong winds requires the grower to search for a flat area without depressions and drafts.

Soil requirements

The flower prefers to grow on neutral or slightly acidic soils: an increased level of acidity provokes the formation of “blind” buds. Before planting, the soil should be enriched with nutrients by purchasing special fertilizers for bulbous plants at a flower shop or preparing a nutrient composition yourself.

To improve the fertile layer of soil per 1 m2 you will need to add:

• compost or rotted manure - 2 buckets;
• dolomite flour – ½ kg;
• wood ash – 200 g;
• double superphosphate – 50 g;
• ammonium nitrate – 25 g.

Important! The use of fresh manure, which acts as a source of infection, is strictly prohibited. Such organic fertilizer can be applied to the site only three years before the planned planting of tulips.

Preparing bulbs for planting

Before planting tulips, it is necessary to calibrate, sort and disinfect the bulbs, which will help facilitate the planting process, not confuse varieties and protect the planting material from damage by various diseases.

• Calibration and sorting - all planting material is grouped by variety, and then divided according to the diameter of the bulbs. It is better to refrain from using small fractions, provided that the variety is propagated in sufficient quantities.
• Dressing - disinfection is carried out using a solution of potassium permanganate, Fundozol, Topsina-M, where the bulbs are placed for half an hour. Treatment can also be carried out during planting: the planting material, half covered with earth, is watered with the working fluid of the last two preparations at a flow rate of 1 liter per linear meter.

Advice! For faster rooting, growth stimulants can be used if desired. If you have to plant tulips closer to winter, then their use is necessary.

At what depth should I plant?

The depth of planting directly depends on the size of the planting material. When planting, you must follow the rule: the layer of soil above the bulb should be twice the diameter of the bulb itself. If its diameter is 3 cm, then the soil layer on top should not be thinner than 6 cm. This is explained by the fact that the children, which should be completely covered with soil, are formed above the mother bulb. When purchasing larger tulips, this rule also applies, but it is worth considering that the maximum planting depth is considered to be 15 cm.

At what distance should I plant tulips?

The distance between the bulbs depends on their size and variety:

• Large bulbs are planted at a distance of at least 10 cm.
• When planting medium and smaller tulips, the distance is maintained from 5 to 8 cm.
• If planting is carried out in groups by variety, then a distance of 20 cm is maintained between them, which avoids mixing bulbs of different varieties during digging.

Attention! If the planting material is large, then planting is carried out at a great distance to avoid oppression by one plant of its neighbors.

Planting tulips in open ground

Depending on the desired result in the spring, planting tulips can be done in 4 ways:

1. In holes - the most popular and simple method, for which the bulbs are kept in a disinfectant and then planted in holes with a depth equal to triple the diameter of the bulb.
2. In trenches - planting in this way is carried out by collectors who want to avoid the possibility of mixing varieties. If it is necessary to plant several rows, trenches are prepared at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other.
3. In beds - the method is used when creating any flowering composition. Bulbs of different varieties are placed in a depression made with a shovel in the form of a pattern born in the imagination of the gardener.
4. The basket is a convenient planting method that allows you to find all the planted bulbs when digging, without losing the children, and also protect the plantings from damage by mouse-like rodents. To plant in this way, just find a plastic basket, place it in a prepared hole and sprinkle with a small amount of fertile soil. Then distribute the bulbs in it and sprinkle with the remaining soil.

Attention! Regardless of the chosen method, the gardener should know that the bulbs are under no circumstances pressed into the soil, but are placed in a pre-prepared recess.

Caring for tulips after planting

After the onset of stable frosty weather with a slight minus, the plantings are mulched with a peat layer of up to 5 cm, which prevents cracking of the soil during the winter season and ensures a stable temperature regime at the depth of the bulbs. With the help of mulching, damage to the roots of tulips is prevented, the loose structure of the soil is preserved, and the infestation of weeds is reduced.

Important! With the arrival of spring, the peat layer is not removed.

Thus, failure to comply with agrotechnical requirements for planting bulbs: incorrect timing, location, poor-quality planting material and other violations can cause the fact that with the arrival of spring, the garden plot will be deprived of early spring rich colors. To prevent this, you should simply adhere to the rules described above.

The blooming of tulips marks the triumph of spring. If a site is decorated with tulips year after year, planting and caring in open ground is the key to such success. Perennial bulbous plants native to Asia have long been the subject of admiration both in their homeland and in the Old World, where they arrived in the mid-16th century.

Thanks to the universal love for these flowers, within a hundred years Holland began to be called the country of tulips, and today tens of thousands of varieties of these spectacular, but quite accessible plants are distributed throughout the world.

Timing for planting tulips in the ground

Cultivated tulips bloom in spring or in the first half of summer. Therefore, the optimal planting time is autumn. In 3–4 weeks, the bulbs acclimatize and form a root system, but do not form the above-ground part. This allows the tulips to overwinter well, and with the arrival of warmth, produce strong foliage and open large corollas.

When determining the date for planting tulips, it is important not to make a mistake! If the bulbs get into the ground too early, they may leaf out. And the coming winter will take the plants by surprise. The aboveground part will freeze, the underground part will weaken and will not be able to guarantee spring flowering. Late planting threatens that the tulips will not have time to take root; severe frosts will kill or spoil them.

How to choose the optimal time? When to plant tulips in the ground in different regions?

Experienced flower growers advise paying attention not to the calendar, but to the weather outside the window. The best start for plants is to plant in soil that has cooled to a temperature of 10-12°C.

In the middle zone, such conditions develop by mid-September. To the south, tulips are planted later; to the north, the dates shift to the end of August.

If for some reason the tulips did not appear in the flower beds in the fall, they can be planted in the spring. Unfortunately, in this case, the plants have less time to prepare for flowering and accumulation of nutrients for the next year. To get the desired result and simplify caring for tulips in open ground, before planting, it is better to germinate the bulbs in containers filled with loose nutrient substrate. Before planting, the bulbs are cooled for a day in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.

Tulips are moved to flower beds when it gets warmer and the soil warms up to +15 °C. This method can be used in all regions, including areas where tulips in open ground do not survive the winter.

Planting tulips for growing in open ground

For bright flowering, garden tulips require:

• sun or transparent partial shade;
• nutritious, necessarily loose soil with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction;
• wind protection;
• moderate

An area suitable for growing tulips is dug up to the fullest extent, loosened, breaking up clods, weeds are selected and nitrogen and, for example, humus and wood ash are added. Dense, heavy soil is mixed with sand and peat.

For tulips, as well as for other bulbous crops, you should not add fresh organic matter, which is often a source of bacterial rot and fungal diseases.

The depth of the furrows for growing tulips in open ground depends on the size of the bulbs. Therefore, they are pre-sorted, simultaneously separating diseased and damaged specimens. And healthy ones are immersed in a deep pink solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour and dried thoroughly.

Under adult large bulbs, furrows are made with a depth of 20 to 30 cm, pouring a 10-centimeter drainage cushion of coarse sand onto the bottom. The children are planted, slightly pressing, into holes with the same drainage, but twice as shallow, that is, to a depth of 7–10 cm. When the soil has been leveled, the plot.

Caring for tulips after planting in open ground

Only to constant and competent care will tulips respond with a massive opening of bright flowers. Bulb crops, as a rule, are unpretentious, but still require attention from the appearance of the first leaves until late autumn. Caring for tulips after planting includes:

• watering, especially abundant during the set of buds, mass flowering and for 2 weeks after its completion;
• removal of weeds around plantings;
• careful loosening, so as not to damage the root system and bulbs;
• feeding flowers three times.

After watering, the soil under the plants should be moist at a depth of 30–40 cm, that is, per meter of area, depending on the type of soil, you need to spend at least 10–40 liters of water.

Fertilizers in liquid or granular form are part of caring for tulips after planting. They are added three times:

1. At the phase of the appearance of the first shoots, using a mixture of 2 parts, 2 parts phosphorus salts, 1 part potassium compounds;
2. By the time green buds appear, feeding the plants with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a ratio of 1:2:2;
3. After flowering, use potassium-phosphorus compounds, completely abandoning nitrogen.

When talking about caring for tulips, we cannot forget about a simple but useful procedure. When the flowers fade, they are cut out along with the peduncles. This will allow the bulbs not to waste energy that is precious for bulb growth.

If seed pods form and ripen on the stems, there is no need to expect large bulbs, and the children will not be able to gain significant weight.

Before growing tulips, you need to know that a crop can remain in one place for no more than 4 years. Then the risk of accumulation of dangerous bacteria, fungi and soil pests increases, the bulbs naturally age and require replanting. The bulbs remaining in the soil gradually go deeper, so next year it is more difficult for the sprouts to break through to the surface. As a result, the flowers become smaller, the peduncles become weaker and shorter.

Dig out when the leaves completely wither and fall off. It is useful to shed the vacated area with a solution of phytosporin, potassium permanganate or any available fungicide. Plants that remain in the soil for the winter are thickly mulched with peat, sawdust or covered with spruce branches to avoid freezing.

Video about proper planting of tulips

Kirill Sysoev

Calloused hands never get bored!

Extraordinarily beautiful, bright and varied tulips, symbolizing love, happiness and the beginning of spring, have long won the hearts of millions of flower growers and gardeners around the world. In general, not very whimsical, these flowers still require proper care. In this case, soil preparation and timely planting of tulip bulbs in the ground are especially important.

When are tulips planted?

The best time to plant tulips, according to most gardeners, is the beginning and middle of autumn. In this case, the bulb has time to take root even before the onset of cold weather, tolerates winter frosts well and throws out a peduncle in the first warm days of spring. Tulips planted in winter bloom 2-3 weeks earlier than flowers planted at other times.

If for some reason it was not possible to plant flowers in the fall, you can do this in the spring. In this case, there are two options - wait for suitable conditions and take the bulbs directly into open ground, or plant them first in pots or boxes in the house, and after the weather warms up, transplant them into the garden or flowerbed. Dutch flower growers prefer to plant tulips in the spring.

Having decided to decorate the garden and flower beds in front of the house with bright flowers with a sweetish aroma, it is important to understand that the timing of planting tulips will differ for each region depending on its climatic conditions. Where winter comes earlier, planting dates will be earlier. The approximate time for planting bulbs in open ground can be presented as follows:

Taking the indicated dates as a basis, when planting flowers you should focus on the weather - even in the same regions in different years, autumn may come a little earlier or much later. The most optimal condition for planting is a stable soil temperature of up to +8 +10°C. At lower temperatures, the bulbs will not have time to take root and will die. If the temperature is higher, tulip shoots may appear ahead of time. In this case, when the air temperature begins to drop, they will freeze and will not bloom in the spring.

In some cases, it is possible to plant tulips at sub-zero temperatures. But in this case, after the bulbs are laid out in the soil, the bed (flower bed) must be reliably protected from frost. You can mulch them with coniferous branches or fallen leaves. In addition, after snow falls, it is necessary to provide a thick snow cover over them. These measures protect them as much as possible from the cold.

When planting in spring, you still need to pay attention to the temperature of the ground - bulbs can be placed in open ground no earlier than the soil at a depth of 10 cm has warmed up to 9°C or higher. The timing of spring planting is much wider than in the autumn and can be extended until the end of June.

But after July 1, it is no longer possible to plant tulip bulbs - they will not have time to gain the necessary nutrients in order to withstand the winter cold. In addition to weather conditions, when planting tulip bulbs, many gardeners additionally use a calendar based on the phases of the moon. In 2019, the lunar calendar recommends planting tulip bulbs:

• April 17, 18, from 4 to 7 or May 22 to 24, from June 14 to 18;
• from September 25 to 27, or from October 1 to 4 and from October 19 to 23.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account the type of flowers. Currently, all their diversity is divided into:

• early flowering;
• medium flowering;
• late flowering;
• species and hybrid.

To comply with flowering dates, the first ones are planted 2 weeks earlier than other varieties.

Treatment of bulbs before planting

Large and exceptionally healthy bulbs are selected for planting, carefully examining them from all sides. If there is mold, any damage, or rotting has begun, there is no point in planting the material. Medium and small specimens are also planted in the soil, but you should not expect them to bloom in the first year - for this they still need to accumulate nutrients and ripen. The treatment of planting material is no less important - after all, if at least one bulb is infected with a fungus, the disease may well affect the entire flowerbed.

Experts advise processing tubers immediately before starting the process. To do this, they are placed in a disinfectant solution half an hour to an hour before planting in the soil, and then allowed to dry a little. All this must be done with the utmost care so as not to damage the delicate roots; new ones will not grow in place of the broken ones.

The most universal, simple and accessible means for treatment is considered to be a weak solution of potassium permanganate. To soak the bulbs, potassium permanganate is dissolved in water in a ratio of 2 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of liquid. Such disinfection allows you to destroy all pathogenic bacteria on the surface of the bulb and is the key to the beauty and strength of future flowers.

In addition to potassium permanganate, you can also use a purchased fungicide solution for treatment. The most effective means for disinfecting tulip tubers are:

• Fundazol. To prepare a disinfectant solution, 30 g of the product is dissolved in 10 liters of water.
• Vitaros at the rate of 2 ml of the drug per 1 liter of water.
• Epin – 1 drop per 2 liters of liquid. The bulbs are soaked in this solution for 24 hours.

There is no need to rinse the planting material after soaking.

Planting tulips in autumn

The main advantage of autumn planting of tulips is their maximum acclimatization and earlier growing season. At the same time, flowers planted in the autumn will be much larger and brighter than their spring “brothers”. This is due to the fact that bulbs planted in the spring do not have time to gain the necessary strength for full flowering in a short period. While autumn ones, by the time spring arrives, already have a strong root system and a good supply of nutrients.

Gardeners consider the disadvantages of autumn planting to be the difficulty of calculating the correct timing for planting tubers in the soil - if they are not followed, the bulbs will not only not have time to replenish their mineral reserves, but also, having lost immunity, may get sick or die. In addition, with this type of cultivation, care must be taken to protect the planting material not only from frost, but also from rodents.

Soil preparation

An important condition for growing tulips and their long flowering is the correct choice and preparation of the soil. Here it is necessary to take into account that these flowers love loose, fertile soil. However, they prefer an alkaline environment and sunlight. Plant roots can reach 50 cm, so it is impossible to plant flowers in places with high groundwater levels - this can lead to rotting of the root system and death of the plant.

They begin to prepare the soil a couple of weeks before adding planting material to it. As part of the preparation, the soil is dug up to a depth of at least 20 cm (if the soil is very dry, it must be moistened before digging). If the soil is too dense, it is worth adding sand to it - this will allow the young roots to grow better, and wood ash is added to deoxidize the soil.

It is recommended to add fertilizer to the soil, which can be either organic or non-organic. In this case, under no circumstances should you use fresh manure; it will burn all the rhizomes of the young plant. To enrich the soil with useful microelements necessary for the full development and growth of tulips, use:

• compost;
• dolomite flour;
• peat.

How to plant

When choosing a place for planting, preference is given to well-lit areas protected from the wind. The thin and fragile stem can easily break off in windy weather. At the same time, the scheme for planting tulips in the fall can be very diverse - depending on the planting location (flower bed or bed), the features of the landscape design and the owner’s ideas.

For a flower bed, the best option is to plant the largest bulbs in the center, and medium and small ones at the edges. In this case, strong and tall flowers from stronger tubers will not obscure those that are lower and weaker. A similar rule should be followed when forming a flower garden from several different varieties at once.

Regardless of where the flowers will be planted, the area intended for them must first be leveled, avoiding the formation of depressions - so that water does not accumulate in this place during rain and when watering. Otherwise, during the first frost, the collected water will freeze and damage the bulbs. After leveling, according to the planned pattern, a small furrow is dug in the soil.

As for the planting depth, according to agrotechnical rules, it depends on the size of the planting material:

• very small bulbs are placed to a depth of 3.5-4 cm;
• fine material - 8-9 cm;
• medium bulbs – 11-12 cm;
• large – up to 15 cm.

To calculate, you can use the formula according to which the planting depth of tulips should be equal to the height of the bulb, multiplied by 3. Experts also advise maintaining the distance between the bulbs when planting. Each subsequent hole should be 10-15 cm away from the previous one so that the tubers do not interfere with each other. The flowers will look much more beautiful when placed closer together, so provided that the tubers are dug up annually, they can be planted 5-6 cm apart.

To make the planting task easier, experienced gardeners have come up with many “tricks”. More often a plastic box with low sides or a basket is used. With their help, you can not only lay out the planting material as correctly and beautifully as possible, but also dig up the bulbs much faster in the summer, after flowering. In this case, you have to dig up and pull out of the ground a plastic container, and not the tubers themselves, which reduces the risk of damage to the roots and the planting material itself.

Planting work should be carried out on a sunny, windless day. The holes are dug in the morning. If the soil is dry, then some time before laying the bulbs in it, it needs to be watered. When planting, you should never press the tubers into the ground, but you should make sure that an air cavity does not form under them. The seedlings are sprinkled with loose soil on top.

Planting tulips in the ground in spring

In cases of early frosts in the fall or when purchasing planting material late, tulips can be planted in the spring. But for this it is necessary to properly preserve the planting material during the cold season. To preserve the bulbs, you need to dig them up, sort them, dry them slightly, put them in boxes and put them in a cellar or basement. The room where the box with planting material will be stored should be well ventilated, and the temperature in it should be about 0°C.

In addition, in order for tulips to bloom in the same year, you should follow several rules:

• Before planting flowers, they are hardened by placing the bulbs in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
• For the purpose of disinfection, the tubers are washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
• Flowers are planted only in well-warmed soil.

To ensure rapid germination and flowering, it is important to correctly determine the planting site, after which it is dug up and fertilized. The same rules apply here as for autumn planting. The biggest disadvantage of planting in spring is the fact that even if all the rules are followed, flowers planted during this period will not be able to achieve the same friendly and uniform flowering as those planted before winter. In addition, spring flowers will be less prepared for possible negative natural phenomena (for example, late frosts).

Potted planting

Annual planting of tulips in the spring in the Moscow region and other regions can be done at home - in boxes or pots. Subsequently, the seedlings can be transferred to open ground. In this case, it will not be possible to achieve rapid flowering of tulips - after replanting, they will need time to get used to and take root in the new place. In addition, the bud of such a flower will be much smaller than the one that was originally planted outside.

Another option for growing tulips is forcing, which produces flowers at a certain time. Thanks to this method, you can grow flowers by March 8 and even by the New Year. It is necessary to prepare plants for forcing in advance - even before they are dug out of the ground. Preparation consists of proper feeding - so that the bulbs accumulate as many useful substances as possible.

An important condition necessary for timely forcing is proper storage of the material and its rooting (both are done at low temperatures). In addition, when choosing tulips for home germination, you should pay attention to their variety - among the flowers there are those that are excellent for early forcing, medium or late germination.

In order for a tulip to feel no worse in an artificial flower garden than on the street, and to produce the largest possible flower, it still needs to be provided with room to grow - about 5 bulbs can be grown in a container with a diameter of 20 cm and a depth of more than 50 cm. The soil for them is prepared no less carefully than for those planted in open ground:

• At the bottom of a pot (box) with holes, drainage is laid out, consisting of a mixture of fine expanded clay, charcoal and gravel. The thickness of the drainage layer must be at least 5 cm.
• Soil is poured over the drainage (it can be special, purchased in a store, or taken from the garden, but processed and deoxidized).

After the soil has been prepared, plant tubers are placed in it, having previously been exposed to low temperatures (on average it should be from 16 to 22 weeks) and treated with disinfectant compounds. Once planted, they are covered with soil and watered abundantly. It is advisable to use a solution of 0.2% calcium nitrate for this. Having completed planting, the pots (boxes) are put away in a cool place until the time comes to “awaken” the bulbs. During storage, you must carefully ensure that the soil is moist.

Care

In the first two weeks after planting tulip bulbs in the ground, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil to make it easier for them to take root. It is also necessary to remove every weed that appears in the garden bed or flowerbed so that it does not damage the still fragile flower with its roots. As for fertilizer, the tulips only need the fertilizer that was applied during planting. When growing varietal flowers, they will need to be fed with mineral fertilizers containing:

• phosphorus;
• nitrogen;
• potassium.

You can also use humus or peat. It is necessary to fertilize with minerals 2-3 times a year. You can apply fertilizer for the first time in winter - by scattering it directly on the snow (at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 1 m2). The second time is when an above-ground sprout appears. This time it is necessary to thoroughly water the emerging plants with a solution of fertilizer. The third and last time, fertilizing is carried out after the end of flowering - so that the bulbs accumulate as many useful substances as possible.

When caring for flowers, great attention should be paid to the amount of water, especially during the appearance of buds. In this case, watering should be carried out exclusively at the root - moisture should not fall on the leaves, flowers and stems. After the flowering period ends, the flower stalks must be cut off to allow the tuber to grow. You can dig up the bulbs after the top of the plant has completely turned yellow.

Video

Tulips are one of the earliest spring flowers, which appear in abundance in retail sales for the Eighth of March holiday, and after the snow melts, they begin to appear from the warmed ground in private flower beds, soon to bloom with fragrant delicate flowers. If you have finally decided to place lovely tulips in your garden, you will most likely have a logical question: when to plant tulips?

Nature will tell you the correct answer

It would be logical to start planting bulbs in the spring, along with other flowers and vegetable crops. But it was not there! Most experienced flower growers unanimously claim that autumn is the only suitable time when it is better to plant tulips. Although there are also supporters of spring planting, who can give many reasons why it is preferable to plant tulip bulbs in the ground in the spring. So, when should you plant tulips, and who is right?

Autumn is the only suitable time when it is better to plant tulips

To come to the right conclusion when is the best time to plant tulips, you should pay attention to how these flowers grow in nature. Having understood the natural rhythm of life of wild tulips, you can easily understand what the more delicate varietal flowers growing in flower beds want.

Video about proper planting of tulips

Most types of tulips are native to Central Asia. Here, wild tulips are found in rocky and sandy deserts, in arid mountainous areas, foothills, on scree, in rock crevices, and also in steppes. In early spring, the mountain slopes and deserts of Central Asia present a truly picturesque picture - blooming tulips play with bright colors in the sun, covering the ground with flowering carpets.

As soon as the spring warmth turns into hot heat, the tulips quickly fade, dry out, and all the life in them is concentrated in the bulbs. The bulbs go deeper into the ground, and with the arrival of cool autumn weather, they form new roots in order to bloom again in the spring immediately after awakening.

Thus, flowering of tulips in the natural environment occurs only after a period of winter cooling, which is necessary for the formation in the bulbs of substances that affect the germination and flowering of the plant.

Tulips bloom in their natural environment only after a period of winter cooling.

The optimal time to plant tulips

The life cycle of cultivated tulips is the same as that of wild ones, so the most suitable period when you need to plant tulips is autumn. Once in the ground, the bulbs have time to grow roots before frost, after which life in them freezes with the onset of winter. In spring, the stem quickly emerges from under the snow and delicate buds form in a short time. At the end of flowering, the tulips are dug up and the bulbs are sent for storage until autumn planting.

Featured tulip planting dates– from the second ten days of September until the last days of October. The right time to plant tulips depends on the region and the local climate. So, in central Russia, bulbs are planted starting from the twentieth of September, and in the southern regions - from October.

The life cycle of cultivated tulips is the same as that of wild ones

You can determine when to plant tulips by looking at the soil temperature:

• as soon as at a depth of ten centimeters the soil temperature dropped to +7+9 degrees, it was time to start planting the bulbs;
• if the temperature is higher, the bulbs will sprout, which will die at the first frost, and rooting will be worse;
• at a lower soil temperature, the bulbs simply will not have time to take root well before the onset of frost, which will lead to stunted growth of tulips in the spring and unsuccessful flowering.

Sufficient time for rooting of planted bulbs is about 20-30 days at optimal soil moisture and temperature in its upper layers up to +7 degrees.

Tulip shoots

But if for some reason the recommended dates were missed, when can you plant tulips in this case? According to experienced gardeners, it is possible to plant bulbs until the first days of December - this is still better than postponing planting until spring. And so that the bulbs do not freeze and the tulips do not lag behind in development in the spring, it is recommended to cover the flowerbed with spruce branches, dry leaves or straw and sprinkle snow on top.

Features of spring planting

It also happens that flower growers remember the need to plant tulips only on the eve of spring. Although the time is not the best, don’t completely give up on these elegant flowers now. Tulips planted in spring also grow, but begin to bloom much later. You can speed up their flowering using a simple technique:

• Place tulip bulbs that have been recently purchased in the refrigerator overnight (not in the freezer!);
• the next day, rinse with a pink solution of potassium permanganate;
• plant the bulbs in the ground.

Video about methods of planting tulips

You need to plant tulips in open ground before April, but if frost is still possible in your region at this time, first plant the bulbs in a container of a suitable size, and only then carefully transplant them into a flowerbed.

The main thing is to remember: regardless of what time you plant tulips, agricultural techniques must be followed carefully, otherwise, due to improper care, the plant bulb will shred, and after it the stems and flowers will become smaller.

Tulips- one of the most beautiful spring flowers, and there is hardly a single garden in which tulips do not bloom in spring. It should be noted that, in addition to decorative qualities, these flowers have another advantage - unpretentiousness. Fiddle with them a little, and the result always justifies the effort. But, like every plant, tulips have their own growing conditions. For example, it is better to plant tulip bulbs in open ground in mid-autumn, before winter. Autumn planting of tulips is a responsible matter, because the attractiveness of your spring flower bed depends on how successful it is. Therefore, when planning to plant tulips in the fall, think in advance and prepare the entire process down to the smallest detail.

Listen to the article

When to plant tulips in the ground in the fall

Timing for planting tulips

It takes at least four weeks for the bulbs to take root in the ground, and if the tulips are planted late, the bulbs may not have time to grow roots before frost, and in the spring your tulips will be late flowering or not bloom at all. In any case, plants planted late will be weaker and more susceptible to disease. In what month should you plant tulips? The optimal time for planting tulips is from the end of September to the end of October. However, both climatic and weather conditions in September in different regions can vary greatly, so it is better to determine the time of planting tulips not by the calendar, but by the condition of the soil and weather. You can plant tulip bulbs in the garden when the soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm is no higher or lower than 7-8 ºC - at lower or higher temperatures, difficulties may arise with the rooting of the bulbs.

When to plant tulips in the fall in the Moscow region

Tulip bulbs should meet the winter in the ground with a well-developed root system, but it must not be allowed that, having formed it, the bulbs continue the growing season and begin to grow leaves. Therefore the answer to the question “When to plant tulips in the Moscow region?” important for all gardeners in central Russia. Rooting of the bulbs occurs at a temperature of 7-10 ºC, provided that at night it is not colder than 3 ºC. Typically, this temperature in the Moscow region lasts from the third ten days of September to mid-October, so planting tulips in the fall in the Moscow region is carried out around this time, unless, of course, the weather suddenly interferes with your plans.

When to plant tulips in autumn in the Leningrad region

When to plant tulips before winter in St. Petersburg? In the Leningrad region, tulips are planted in the ground at approximately the same time as in the Moscow region - from the second half of September, when it is Indian summer.

When to plant tulips in the fall in the Urals

Planting tulips in autumn in the Urals depends on the region: in the Middle Urals, tulips can be planted from September 10 to 20, and in the Southern Urals - until October 10.

When to plant tulips in autumn in Siberia

In Siberia, the conditions for growing flowers are much more severe than even in the Urals, but, nevertheless, tulips grow in this region with frosty winters. In what month are tulips planted in autumn in Siberia? Frosts in these places come early, so it is considered quite reasonable to plant tulips in August - in its last ten days. And if autumn does not fall from the first days of September, then the bulbs can be planted until the middle of the first autumn month.

Planting tulips in the ground before winter

Soil for tulips

Before planting tulips, prepare for them a sunny, wind-protected area with a low groundwater level and loose neutral or slightly alkaline soil, preferably sandy. Heavy clay soils are diluted with sand.

Acidic soil must be limed before planting bulbs - add 200-500 g of chalk or slaked lime per m² of area, depending on the acidity level of the soil. It is advisable to dig up the soil on the site deeply, adding for each m² 100-150 g of wood ash, 2 buckets of peat (humus aged two to three years or compost), 50 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium sulfate and 25 g of ammonium nitrate. But do not use fresh manure either as fertilizer or for subsequent mulching of the area, as this can lead to root burns and fungal diseases. Also do not apply mineral fertilizers containing chlorine to the area with tulips.

At what depth to plant tulips

To correctly position tulip bulbs in the ground, you need to follow this rule: the planting depth is equal to three times the diameter of the bulb. That is, small bulbs are immersed to a depth of 7-8 cm, and large ones - 12-15 cm. But when planting, the composition of the soil should be taken into account: on light soils, bulbs are planted 2-3 cm deeper than normal, and on heavy soils - 2-2 cm. 3 cm smaller. If the bulbs are planted too deep, they hardly produce children, and if they are planted too shallow, they may suffer from frost.

Tulip bulbs should be carefully examined, damaged and diseased ones should be discarded, and dense bulbs without spots should be selected for planting. For preventative purposes, immediately before planting in the ground, soak the bulbs for half an hour in a pink solution of potassium permanganate. If the fall is dry, water the holes or furrows before planting.

We are often asked how to beautifully plant tulips on a plot. Everyone has their own idea of ​​beauty, so it’s up to you to decide whether to plant tulips along garden paths, in islands on the lawn, or in a mixed flower bed next to other spring flowers - muscari, spring flowers, hyacinths, crocuses and irises. Place the bulbs in a row at a distance of 8-10 cm from each other with row spacing at least 20-25 cm wide - on average, up to 50 large bulbs can be planted per m². When planting, dust the bulb with wood ash, place it in a hole or furrow and make sure that no air pocket has formed under the bottom of the bulb - lightly press the bulb into the soil, then sprinkle it on all sides with sand, and then with a mixture of peat and humus. After planting, compact the surface of the area and water it.

If you group tulips by variety, you will make it easier for yourself to care for them. Small bulbs are planted closer to the south so that flowers grown from large bulbs do not block them from the sun.

Caring for tulips after planting

Caring for tulips in autumn

You will no longer have to take care of the bulbs this year, except that in the event of an abnormally dry autumn you will need to water the tulips, and when the temperature reaches sub-zero and the soil freezes to a depth of 4-5 cm, you will need to cover the tulip planting with mulching material - a layer of sawdust, peat, crushed bark or straw 3-5 cm thick. In the middle zone this happens in November, and in Siberia frosty days can be expected already at the end of September.