How to care for tulips

how to care for tulips

Tulips are one of the most beautiful plants there is. Everyone knows the Dutch tulip fields, some of the most impressive (and they have several places worth visiting). But When it comes to having them at home, do you know how to take care of tulips?

Although they may seem very easy to you, they actually have some details that, if you don’t know, can end up dying. Since we don’t want that, we have prepared this guide so that you know how to take care of them so that they last a long, long time. Go for it?

how are tulips

tulip flower

tulips are well known for its flowers that can be of a great variety of colors, although the most common are white, yellow, pink (there are also red, orange and even purple so dark that it looks black).

Conclusion perennial and bulbous plants. However, they are usually treated as annuals, that is, at the end of their flowering period, at the end of summer the bulbs are cut and dug up to store them all winter and replant them in spring.

How to care for tulips

field of tulips

Do you want to have a tulip plant but you are afraid that they will die in two weeks? Don’t worry, they’re generally pretty sturdy, and you shouldn’t have a problem with them. But for you to stay calmer, here are a series of tips for your care.

Location and temperature

that the tulips they worship the sun It’s something we all know. They love to be in full sun. And it is that, to develop, it needs a lot of lighting, and the direct sun endures it well.

That implies that, if you have it inside the house, it is best to place it on a balcony or terrace where it gets the most light per day. Why? Because if you put it in semi-shade or in the shade, it is most likely that you will end up losing it.

Regarding the temperature, its ideal is between 15 and 20 degreesbut can tolerate more degrees of heat. However, with the cold does not happen the same. From 5 degrees Celsius it begins to suffer.

This is one of the reasons why many experts treat the plant as an annual, because the winters are cold and so that the plant does not suffer, they cut it and store it until the following year.

In a pot or in the garden?

One of the common questions about tulips is whether it is better to put them in a pot or in the garden, planted directly in the ground. The truth is that it is indifferent. Yes indeed, caring for tulips in a pot is more demanding than keeping them in the garden.

Therefore, the decision should be made regarding the time you can dedicate to them per day or per week.

Substratum

When caring for the land of tulips, it is normal to use any type of land because the truth is that they are not demanding. But if you really want to give it the best, then bet on sandy soils with many nutrients. It is not recommended that, when planting them, you crush the soil too much, it is better to keep it loose because that way the roots will be able to develop much better (keep in mind that they are weak at first).

Search one earth with a neutral or at least slightly acidic acidity. Its ideal is a pH between 6 and 7. If the land you get is alkaline, you can lower it with peat, pine needles, manure… On the contrary, if it is acid, you can use a little lime to raise the pH.

It is also good to add some drainage to the soil because it will oxygenate the interior and at the same time help the roots to grow through the holes.

Irrigation

To care for tulips, watering is one of the most important factors. Actually, we cannot give you a guideline for watering x days a week because it will depend a lot on whether they are indoors or outdoors, the ambient temperature, the weather they are in, etc.

Normally, outdoors, the rain is allowed to water them, as long as they are regular, but if it does not rain it is important to water them so that they do not dry out.

What will tell you whether to water or not will be the land. Dip a couple of fingers in and see if it’s moist or cool.. If so, it still has accumulated water and you can leave it for a few more days. If you feel it dry, water it.

Indoors, you do have to water a little more, but everything will depend on the demand for water that the plant makes (there are some that hardly require water).

tulips indoors

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During the spring and part of the summer it is advisable add a fertilizer for flowering plants to help her and give her a “shot” of energy.

We recommend that you do not use the full dose that the manufacturer says so as not to overpay too much. Keep in mind that the soil will be new every year and that it already has nutrients, if you contribute too much you can run out of the plant due to exhaustion.

Pruning

The tulip pruning always occurs in autumn or early winter. But in reality it is the plant that is going to tell you. A tulip has a limited “shelf life”, there will come a time when the plant begins to turn yellow, lose leaves, the stem becomes soft and finally the plant disappears. This is unavoidable, it happens to all tulips and you have two options after waiting 5-6 weeks in case it grows back:

  • The first option is to remove all the wilted parts and remove the bulb to store in a cool, dry place until the following spring.
  • The second option is to keep the bulbs in the pot and provide protection against the cold as well as new soil, because the nutrients of the old one are very likely to have been lost.

Plagues and diseases

Like many other plants, tulips are not exempt from pests and diseases. The most common that you can find are: snails and slugs (which come to eat the plant), gray mold, bulb rot, nematodes.

If you suffer bulb rot, that would mean that a tulip will not grow from it again.

Multiplication

The multiplication of tulips is produced by separation of the bulbs. Many times these give off shoots that, if you separate them carefully and don’t plant them until the “wound” heals, can give you new tulips.

Has it become clear to you how to care for tulips? Do you dare to have them in your garden?

How to care for tulips

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