Blooming in spring, tulips transform flower beds, filling the world with multicolor and delicate aroma. Bulbs need care and annual timely digging. Proper agricultural technology is the key to a beautiful flower garden, and you need to know when to dig up tulips after flowering.

Why dig tulips after flowering?

Varietal tulips are the result of the work of breeders, and they are more tender than their wild ancestors. They need regular care, without which the flowers will degenerate and gradually wither.

Dig tulips for transplantation for the following reasons:

  • abundant flowering - if you do not dig up the bulbs, then every year the flowers become smaller, and then the plants cease to bloom annually;
  • prevention of deepening - without removing from the ground, tulip bulbs annually deepen by a few centimeters, and in the spring it is more difficult for a germ to break through to the surface. Significant forces are expended on this plant and can no longer fully bloom, saving energy to maintain life;
  • comfortable temperature - after flowering in the bulbs, new buds begin to be laid, which will give flowers for next spring. For their normal development, heat must be at least +25 Co. In the soil, the temperature is always lower and slows down the development of the kidneys, causing flowering disorders in the next year;
  • removal of children - tulip bulbs give abundant small bulbs - children who need to be regularly planted. Leaving tulips in the ground, not digging after flowering, the gardener causes a thickening of the planting, because of which the sprouts can not normally break through and damage each other. Buds are not formed in such a situation;
  • the accumulation of diseases - remaining constantly in the ground, the bulbs accumulate pathogenic bacteria in themselves, which, without drying out, begin to rot, leading to the death of the plant;
  • pest attacks - if you do not dig up the bulbs, then the pests begin to hit them, because the plant cannot resist them due to weakness. Digging flowers, the gardener sees the bulbs and can clean them from pests in a timely manner;
  • full preparation of the soil - without digging the bulbs, it is impossible to fully prepare the soil for planting them. The land after flowering tulips, exhausted and compacted, needs to be cultivated. The lack of bulbs allows you to fully rake up the soil and qualitatively fertilize.

When flowers are planted in special baskets, they do not deepen over the years, but still need to be dug up to plant children and treated for pests and diseases. The advantage of baskets for growing tulips is the ease of digging up plants without the risk of cutting the bulb. Also, after drying the aerial parts, you can easily find bulbs on them.

Even the most exotic tulips can easily tolerate winter, and for this period they are planted back in the open ground.

It is not necessary to store material until spring.

When to dig out tulips after flowering?

It is important to know exactly when to dig up tulips after flowering. Errors in the timing are dangerous, as they can cause the death of bulbs or a complete lack of flowers for the next year. Growing Dutch varieties of tulips, dig them up annually, observing the deadlines, since otherwise the plants will die.

To determine that the plant is ready to be dug up, you can by its appearance.

Work begins only when the tulips have bloomed and matured. It is not necessary to extract green plants from the ground, as this will disrupt the process of their reproduction, and children will not be able to fully form.

Signs of tulip readiness for digging are:

  • yellow color of leaves;
  • leaf decay;
  • the stalk is yellow and does not fall yet.

After digging, the state of the bulb determines its maturity. If the first bulb is not yet ready, then the rest are left in the ground for another 5-7 days. Ripe onions have children who themselves are almost completely separated from them; the upper flake (skin) of the bulb is an even brownish-golden color, sometimes slightly peeling.

Digging time for Russian regions

The territory of Russia is vast and includes various climatic zones. Because of this, there are no universally identical terms for digging tulips. By region, they vary in 1 month.

  • Digging bulbs in the southern regions begin from the 3rd week of June. They finish work until July 1, when intense heat will only lead to excessive drying out of the material left in the ground and their loss of vitality. If, due to the particularly strong heat, the leaves turned yellow earlier than the end of June, then tulips are removed ahead of schedule.
  • In the middle lane, tulips dig from the last days of June until July 10. Bulbs left in the ground for a long period will overripe. Their children will be lost, as they will completely separate from the bulb and remain in the soil. Also, overripe tulips are more easily affected by bacterial infections, since they crack the skin.
  • In the Urals, excavation is shifted to an even later date. There, tulips are extracted from the ground from July 15 until the beginning of August. As in the South, when the leaves are yellowed early due to the intense heat, the plants are dug up early.
  • In Siberia, where the climate is particularly harsh, tulips are ready to dig up quite late. The soil temperature in the region is low, and tulips after flowering do not ripen very quickly. The time for digging them is from the 20th of July to the beginning of August.
  • It should be borne in mind that varieties of tulips that bloom at different times and are not dug up at the same time. The early varieties are dug up first, and the later ones are the last.If you dig up all the plants after the early varieties have turned yellow, then from tulips of middle and late flowering you will not be able to get a full-fledged baby. Flower breeding will be impaired. If you dig out all varieties, guided by late tulips, then the early ones will dry out and lose the children in the soil.

Regardless of the climatic zones, first of all, it is necessary to focus on changes in the state of the plant. Weather from year to year can vary greatly, which affects the rate of bulb ripening.

Dig the tulip bulbs correctly

Digging bulbs should be done correctly, otherwise the plant may die. Also, errors become the cause of damage to the buds of the future peduncle that began to be laid and the loss of flowering for the next year.

  • A day for work is chosen dry and warm. You can’t dig flowers in the rain. The soil must be dry, and therefore watering ends 1 week before digging tulips. In wet ground it is more difficult to find children, and the higher the risk, pulling the stem a little harder, damage the bud.
  • Dig bulbs with a pitchfork. Using a shovel is more dangerous, since the risk of damaging the planting material with it is much greater. Digging, departing from plants at least 10 cm, so as not to touch the bulbs. Tulips are lifted by the stems and put in a plastic mesh box, because if the bulbs are not ventilated, they will easily rot.
  • Immediately after the tulips are removed from the ground, the bed on which they grew is cultivated from weeds until it is dug up and compacted. If this is not done, then in the spring weedy plants will become clogged, as they grow much faster. At the same time, it is checked whether small bulbs have come off in the soil. Leaving them in the garden is not advisable, since in the spring during germination they can damage the planted bulbs.

Bulb storage temperature

Dug bulbs are dried under a canopy, protecting from sunlight. If you put tulips in the sun, they will dry out and die. Drying should last 20 days at a temperature of from 20 to 27 C.

Storage of dry bulbs until planting should be carried out correctly. It is required only for the southern regions. Tulips are placed in mesh boxes and left at a temperature of 15-17 Co. Humidity at the storage location should not exceed 70%.

Pre-landing treatment

Before planting, the bulbs must be treated for spoilage and parasite damage. Also, before planting, they discard all bulbs that are affected by rot.

To disinfect the bulb before planting, it is dipped in saline, which is prepared at the rate of: 1 tbsp. per 1 liter of boiled water. Planting material is lowered into the composition for 2-4 minutes and then immediately planted. The solution not only destroys pathogens and parasites, but also strengthens the plant before winter.

How to plant tulips after flowering?

Tulips are planted when the soil temperature becomes 7-8 degrees. At higher bulbs, they can release an arrow that will freeze in winter. If the temperature is lower, then the plant does not have time to form enough roots and runs the risk of freezing. Soil temperature should be measured at the depth of the bulb (15 cm), and not on the surface.

  • Plant tulips in ridges or holes at the discretion of the grower. Bulbs fall asleep completely and after a little densify the earth above them with the help of a scoop. Then planting is watered once.
  • Extra care for tulips is not required until spring. They are not sheltered or fed in the winter.

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