In order for tulips to please with their beauty every year, it is important to plant the bulbs on time. But how do you store tulip bulbs before planting?
As you know, bulbs are easily exposed to moisture, disease, pests and temperature fluctuations. That is why it is important to dig up in time and ensure that the tulip bulbs are properly stored before planting.
Timely excavation and preparation for storage
A very important moment in the life of a plant is timely digging. In the case of tulips, the main reference point when harvesting them is the yellowed leaves.
The withered flower is cut off, leaving a couple of lower leaves and a stem. When the leaves turn completely yellow and begin to dry out, it's time to dig! It is best to do this in dry weather. It is worth noting that completely dried foliage quickly crumbles, which complicates the search and cleaning. And too early harvesting does not allow you to get high-quality mature planting material.
After harvesting, the tulip bulb needs to be washed, pickled in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (0.5%)and drying. At the same time, damaged and diseased onions are rejected, children are separated. Dug up in dry weather, clean bulbs are dried in a draft or in the open air.
But is it necessary to carry out all these procedures before storing tulip bulbs? It has been noticed that etching for 30 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate reliably protects planting material from diseases. And re-treatment (just before planting) allows you to get large beautiful flowers next year.
Conditions for proper storage
It's pretty easy to remember how to store tulip bulbs and follow all the conditions. The basic rules are good ventilation, lack of light and moisture in storage, constant temperature.
The best option for storing bulbs is to put the bulbs in wooden boxes, wicker baskets, nets or paper containers. The temperature regime in the first month after harvesting is 23-25 degrees. If the storage has high humidity and temperature fluctuations, then regular inspection and culling of the bulbs is necessary.
It is a misconception that the best storage place is the refrigerator. Too low a temperature will slow down the development of the flower bud. As a result, the bulb will be outwardly he althy, beautiful, but will not give color at all or will be reborn into a “blind” bulb.
Special attention should be paid to children. Since adult bulbs shrink and degenerate every year, he althy offspring are the key to constant beautiful flowering. Babies are also kept at room temperature.temperature, well ventilated, regularly inspected.
How to prepare tulips for planting?
Before landing at a new place, the temperature in the storage is reduced to 15-17 degrees. If it is planned to land in the same place, then green manure must be sown in order to destroy the pathogenic flora. Therefore, before storing tulip bulbs, you need to resolve the issue of a place for their further planting. In the Russian climate, tulips are planted from early to mid-September, depending on the region.
