How to plant tulip bulbs in a pot: in autumn, spring, forcing at home and on the street

Tulips in a pot at home are gaining popularity, a garden bed for growing them is not at all necessary. But to achieve beautiful flowering in a small container is possible only if the rules are followed.

Is it possible to plant tulips in pots

Perennial tulips are often perceived as exclusively garden plants, unsuitable for home cultivation. This is not true – you can drive out the flowers in pots. The method has its advantages, the soil is consumed less, it is easier to control the level of humidity and temperature.

You can germinate tulips in a pot at home even in winter

At the same time, growing at home has its own difficulties. Tulips require conditions that are as close to natural as possible, otherwise they will not be able to please with flowering.

Suitable varieties

You can grow tulips at home in a pot from low-growing varieties, they have greater endurance and resistance to diseases. Among the most popular varieties can be listed:

• Oxford (Oxford);
  
  

  Tulip Oxford grows up to 50 cm

• Negrita Double (Negrita Double);
  
  

  The height of the Negrita Double variety is about 40 cm

• Christmas Marvel (Christmas Marvel);
  
  

  Variety Christmas Marvel grows up to 25-40 cm

These varieties germinate quickly and easily, so even a novice grower can handle forcing.

Features of growing tulips in pots

Tulips germinate well in small pots, but there are some important things to keep in mind when forcing:

1. Conditions should be as close to natural as possible. Flowers require a stable temperature regime, moderate moisture and diffused lighting.
2. The air in the room where perennials grow should be humid. It is better to keep the pots away from the radiators of the central heating, if possible, in principle, it is necessary to reduce the temperature of the radiators.
3. You can plant a tulip bulb at home in a pot after stratification. Cold storage is a fundamentally important stage, since it is during this period that the planting material accumulates nutrients.

Tulips in pots can be placed on the windowsill in the absence of a draft

The best places for distillation in the apartment are a window sill or a glazed balcony. In these places, perennials will be able to get enough light. But it is important to consider that spring flowers do not like drafts, and they need a very moderate temperature. It is impossible to put pots on a window or on a balcony, if cold air is drawn from the frame, they should not be placed close to radiators.

How to plant tulips at home in a pot

To successfully plant tulips in pots, you need to pay attention to each of the stages. Subject to the rules, the idea will be quite simple.

Recommended dates

Both in the ground and in pots, tulips are planted in the same period. Bulbs begin to be planted in September and end in December. Specific dates depend on when exactly you want to see flowering.

Terms of planting tulips in pots in autumn and winter

Autumn is the best time for planting. If bulbs are to be rooted, independently dug out of a flower bed on the site, then they should be laid for cooling already in September. Purchased planting material can be placed in the ground later, with the onset of cold weather, in October or even November.

As for winter planting, it is rarely practiced and carried out no later than the beginning of December. If you miss the deadlines, then the tulips will bloom too late, and they are grown in pots, including for getting early buds.

Planting time depending on the flowering period

If you wish, you can grow tulips at home in a pot in winter for a specific holiday. Landing times are calculated as follows:

• before forcing, the bulbs must be kept in a cold, dark place for 16-18 weeks;
• after cooling, tulips can be transferred to heat and light, but their development will take another 3-4 weeks.

Since indoor tulip germination takes approximately 20 weeks, flowering can be arranged by the desired date.

Thus, from the desired date, it is required to count about 20 weeks and find out the landing date. For example, to get flowers by February 23, the bulbs will need to be planted around October 6, and for forcing by February 14, no later than September 27.

When to plant tulips in a pot by March 8

Traditionally, it is recommended to lay bulbs in the ground by March 8 no later than October 1. In this case, in early February, the seedlings can be removed from the refrigerator. After that, you need to carry out the usual distillation and get the buds for the women’s holiday.

Selection of containers and soil preparation

The germination container should be deep enough, not less than 15 cm, and preferably 20-40 cm. It is recommended to take wide pots about 20 cm in diameter and plant several bulbs in them at once. Drainage holes must be present at the bottom, otherwise moisture will stagnate.

For growing tulips, it is best to take clay pots, they can create the most natural conditions.

As soil for tulips in a pot, take peat mixed with sand, or garden soil with the addition of an equal amount of compost. Before planting, it is recommended to ignite the soil in the oven or treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate, this will eliminate dangerous microorganisms.

Bulb preparation

Like soil, bulbs must be disinfected before planting. To do this, they are laid for half an hour in cool water with the addition of potassium permanganate. It is also recommended to clean the tubers from the brown upper scales, in which case they will germinate faster. Material for planting in pots should be taken only the healthiest.

How to plant tulips at home in a pot

Planting material is deepened by about 3 cm, while the top of the bulb should be slightly visible above the soil.

At home, several bulbs are planted in a pot at once – flowering in this case will be more abundant

Immediately after planting, the soil in the pot is watered, calcium nitrate can be added to the water – 10 g per 5 liters. If the earth settles slightly, it will need to be topped up so that only the tops of the bulbs still protrude above the surface.

How to grow tulips at home in a pot

An important step in growing indoor tulips in a pot is stratification in the cold. Immediately after planting, the container is moved to the refrigerator or to the basement – the temperature should be from 5 to 10 ° C. Under such conditions, seedlings are kept for 16-18 weeks, periodically moistening the soil.

Tulips begin to sprout already during stratification

Forcing tulips in pots

After prolonged cooling, the pots can be rearranged in a lighted place with a temperature of about 12 ° C. There should be no drafts on the selected window sill or on the glazed balcony, and seedlings should not be placed near radiators. The light is required diffused, without direct sunlight, the duration of daylight hours should be at least 10 hours.

During forcing, tulips in a pot on the windowsill continue to be watered twice a week and sprayed with a spray bottle. You can apply top dressing 1-2 times a month – potassium sulfate and calcium nitrate.

The process of forcing indoor tulips takes about 3 weeks.

If a few days before the desired date, the tulips have already released buds, but have not yet blossomed, they can be artificially rushed. To do this, the temperature in the room is added to 18-20 ° C and the daylight hours are increased by a couple of hours with a lamp.

How to grow tulips in pots outside

In winter, cultivation is carried out at home – the flowers will die in the fresh air. But with the onset of spring, many gardeners prefer to plant bulbs in outdoor pots.

Recommended dates

As with indoor cultivation, it is recommended to plant tulips in outdoor pots in autumn, from late September to mid-November. Bulbs are laid in containers, and then simply left on the street until spring. If the winters are very severe, you can put the pots in the basement or in the refrigerator during the frost.

Planting tulips in pots in spring is also not prohibited, it can be done in March or April. But if you do this without preliminary stratification, then most likely there will be no flowering in the current season. Therefore, it is advisable to still lay the bulbs in a flowerpot back in January-February and hold in the cold, and take them out into the fresh air with the onset of spring.

Preparation of containers and soil

Pots and soil for tulips on the street are selected according to the same rules as for home planting. It is recommended to take ceramic containers, deep enough and wide, not less than 20 by 20 cm. In them, even a few perennials will feel quite free. At the bottom of the pots, holes are made to remove moisture and a drainage layer is poured – charcoal, gravel or expanded clay.

The soil mixture can be bought at a specialized store, or you can make it yourself by mixing 1 part of sand and humus with 2 parts of soddy land. The pH level for tulips is suitable for neutral or slightly alkaline, flowers do not like acidic and strongly alkaline soils. Immediately before planting, the soil is treated with calcination or a disinfectant solution to eliminate possible microorganisms.

How to plant tulips in a pot outside

The pot for tulips is filled with prepared soil so that about 12 cm is left to the edges. After that, the planting material is laid with a distance of 5 cm between individual bulbs. From above, perennials are sprinkled with the remnants of the soil until about 3 cm remain to the sides, and carefully watered, trying not to erode the soil.

When planting tulips in pots in autumn, they are laid deep enough so that the bulbs do not freeze over the winter.

If planting is carried out in the fall, the pots can either be left outside or brought into a cold basement or garage. When laying in the spring, flowerpots are left in the open.

Caring for tulips in pots on the site

Caring for perennials germinating in pots is quite simple:

1. Tulip bulbs require regular watering. It is carried out as the earth dries up in a flowerpot, usually no more than twice a week. Water is poured exclusively under the root, without affecting the stem and young leaves.
2. Before flowering, perennials are fed with nitrogen and potassium fertilizers, on average twice, with an interval of 2 weeks. Potassium sulfate and calcium nitrate are well suited for culture, minerals strengthen the endurance of tulips and accelerate growth.
3. If the temperature in the area is unstable, then in the evenings the pot can be covered with burlap or other non-woven material. Sudden transitions from daytime heat to nighttime cold can injure the bulbs.

You need to keep tulips on the site in a lit place, but not in direct sunlight.

Rules for care during the flowering period

In order for the flowering to be bright, abundant and long-lasting, you must follow simple rules. Namely:

• continue to regularly moisten the soil in pots, the buds consume a lot of nutrients;
• keep flowerpots away from direct sunlight and high temperatures, tulips do not like heat and with excess heat fade very quickly;
• regularly spray plantings – this is especially important for indoor perennials suffering from dry air.

For tulips to bloom longer, they need to be sprayed and shaded from direct sun.

Perennials grow outdoors with a natural slight decrease in night temperatures. Homemade potted tulips can be moved to a slightly cooler area each evening to mimic natural conditions. Flowering in this case will last a little longer.

What to do after flowering

At the end of flowering, tulips in pots must be cut. Only flower stalks are removed, and the stems with leaves are left and continue to be watered until they wilt naturally. Immediately after this, the bulbs must be removed from the pot, cleaned from the ground and dried. Then the planting material is removed to a cool place with low humidity.

In autumn, dried bulbs can be planted in open ground. They are not suitable for re-forcing in pots, since they will need 1-2 years to recover.

After flowering, tulip bulbs are removed from the pot for drying and storage.

Diseases and pests

Tulips are quite sensitive to fungi and pests. The main danger for flowers is:

• fuzarioz;
  
  

  With Fusarium, tulip tubers begin to rot

• Tiefulez;
  
  

  Typhulosis of tulips leads to rotting of the roots, and then the bulbs

• variegation virus;
  
  

  The variegation virus gives the buds an unnatural color

• august sickness;
  
  

  With August sickness, tulip leaves become covered with brown strokes and fade

Diseases develop most often in conditions of waterlogging and elevated temperature. If the plant is sick, then it is almost impossible to save it, usually the infected bulbs are simply dug up and destroyed. The fight against viruses and fungi is carried out prophylactically – before planting, the soil and plant material are treated with potassium permanganate or fungicides.

Of the pests for the plant are dangerous:

• root nematodes;
  
  

  Nematodes lead to the formation of growths on the tulip bulb and prevent the plant from developing

• root onion mite;
  
  

  Root onion mites can get into a pot on the street and damage tulip tubers

• aphid;
  
  

  Aphids especially often harm tulips in outdoor pots.

At the first signs of pest damage, tulips can be treated with Karbofos. If there is no result, the bulbs also need to be dug up and destroyed.

Reasons for possible failures

Growing tulips in a pot or flowerpot is not always possible the first time. The most common mistakes include:

• planting without stratification, if the bulb was not previously kept in the cold, then the tulip will germinate, but will not bloom;
• waterlogging – closed soil is especially often waterlogged, and the roots of the plant begin to rot;
• poor-quality planting material, small bulbs dug out of the flower bed too early do not grow well in pots, because they do not have an adequate supply of nutrients.

For successful germination in a pot, a tulip requires light and moderate watering.

Lack of daylight often leads to failure. If you grow perennials at home in a shaded corner of the apartment, they will not bring buds, or they will be very small, weak and will not open.

Conclusion

Tulips in a pot at home can be grown much ahead of schedule – in March or even in February. The rules are quite simple, but attention must be paid to pre-cooling the bulbs, flowering depends on it.