In order to ensure the bright beautiful flowering of tulips next spring, it is necessary to plant the bulbs in time. Planting tulips in autumn is carried out at a soil temperature of +5 to +10 degrees. At the end of September, the temperature just drops to this level. But in different climatic zones there are different dates.
Too early planted bulbs quickly take root in warm soil and begin to actively release leaves in early spring, which is why they fall under spring frosts. To prevent this from happening, the timing of planting tulips should be observed. In the climatic conditions of Central and Central Russia, this is the end of September, October or the beginning of November. The main condition is that the layer of soil where the bulbs are placed does not have time to freeze.
It is allowed to plant tulips in autumn at a later time - on the eve of December or even at its beginning. In this case, the soil must be prepared in advance, and the bulbs should be planted under the covering material. Around the beginning of February, they will take root well, and in the middle of springbloom beautifully.
Soil preparation is done two weeks before planting. They dig up the earth, add humus, add sand and peat, it will be useful to add potash fertilizers and superphosphate. You can not use unripe manure due to the high pathogenic flora in which the bulbs will start to hurt. Also, experienced flower growers do not recommend planting tulips in the place where asters grew - they are considered bad predecessors.
Tulips are planted in regions with a warm climate at a later date - in the 2nd and 3rd decade of December. The depth of the furrow depends on the size of the planting material. To do this, first calibrate (or sort) by size and grade. It is better to plant children separately to a depth exceeding the size of the onion by 4 times. The same rule must be observed for large adult tubers. From above, mulching with a layer of peat, sawdust or fallen leaves is necessary. In order for the plants to be he althy and not die from fungal diseases, the bulbs are pickled in a solution of potassium permanganate or in a special preparation before planting.
The optimal scheme is planting tulips in autumn in three-line ribbons or islands. The distance between the tapes should be at least 60 cm, between the lines in the tape - 20-30 cm, between the bulbs you can leave from 5 to 10 cm.
Islands look picturesque when 10-20 plants are planted in one place at once. It should be borne in mind that after flowering, large bulbs will give babies, so the distance between them must be at least 10 cm. To excludeloss of children at the bottom of the prepared hole put a mesh of polyester. When the time comes to dig up the bulbs for storage, the mesh is removed from the ground along with the layer of soil and all the bulbs.
Planting tulips in autumn on cultivated fertile soils will give positive results if the site is protected from small rodents. For this, poisonous baits for mice are laid out. If there are moles on the site, then the mice dug by them find dug tubers, which are a real delicacy for them. To prevent this from happening, the bed is covered with spruce branches and the soil is well trampled around.
