Processing tulips before planting in the fall: what and how to do it right

Spring is the time for the awakening of the plant world from hibernation. And the first bells among the thawed patches are the appearance of bright tulips. In order for them to grow strong and bloom in the same season, you need to prepare in advance, process the tulip bulbs before planting in the fall. To do this, the products are pulled out of the storage place, inspected, cleaned from the husk, and disinfected.

How and where to store the bulbs before planting

Once the bulbs are dug up, they are dried. Cleaned of all debris: leaves, roots, dirt. Experienced gardeners recommend pickling tubers in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, especially if you plan to store products before winter.

1. Long-term storage means periodic inspection of the bulbs. Damaged, rotten ones are thrown away.
2. Spread on the surface in one layer and dry in the shade.
3. The children are separated on the 5th day and dried again.
4. The kernels are placed in a box, each tuber is wrapped in paper or sprinkled with sawdust. This will prevent the accumulation of excess moisture.
5. They store containers in the basement, refrigerator (vegetable compartment), unheated room, heat chamber on the balcony.
6. Until autumn planting, keep at 20 degrees Celsius.
7. Before spring planting, the temperature is reduced to 17.
8. To know exactly the storage conditions, to control, place a thermometer in the container.

What is tulip bulb pre-planting?

Tulip tubers are taken out of storage and the bulbs are then prepared for planting.

Preplant processing of tulip bulbs includes several steps.

1. Products are peeled from hard, dry skins.
2. Carefully inspect each specimen for diseases, rot, lethargy.
3. Reanimate damaged instances. Here it is up to the gardener to decide whether to soak the diseased bulbs in a rescue solution or throw them away immediately.
4. The last step is the treatment with disinfectants right before boarding.

Cleaning the bulbs from the husks

The husk is removed on the day of planting. The top layer may contain foci of infection that are invisible at first glance. Remove all dry scales. So the plant will better absorb nutrients from the soil.

Careful inspection

All tulip roots are poured onto the table after storage.Each tuber is examined carefully to detect rot, lethargy, mechanical damage. All he althy and strong are left aside for the time being. Deal with damaged copies. If possible, they reanimate, if not, they throw it away.

Sorting planting material

As soon as the tulips are peeled, they proceed to sorting. Three containers should be prepared - for large, medium, small specimens.

Large and medium tubers are needed for planting. The latter are sent for growing. Of course, the work is troublesome, it takes time. There is another option, without sorting - buy bags of prepackaged rhizomes at the flower shop.

How to disinfect tulip bulbs?

Before planting, tulips are treated with traditional substances: potassium permanganate, Fundazol. Experienced gardeners do not recommend the first method, as it is used after digging for storage.It is better to lower the material into the antifungal drug Fundazol. Dosage: 30 grams of the product is thrown into 10 liters of water.

Among the new drugs are drugs that are simultaneously growth stimulants:

1. Fitosporin. The solution is prepared 2 hours before soaking. Dosage: 10 grams per half liter of water. 20 kilograms of products are soaked in this mixture.
2. Max. Soak tulips for 30 minutes before planting. Solution: 2 liters of water, 4 milliliters of the drug. The mixture is designed for 2 kilograms of products.
3. Epin-extra. The drug has a third function - it activates all the protective properties of the plant. Dosage: for 2 liters of water 1 milliliter of the product. The solution should not be kept in the sun. Tulips are kept for 1 day.
4. Vitaros. The bulbs are placed in the solution for 2 hours (2 milliliters of the product per 1 liter of water).

The bulbs should be pickled and immediately carefully planted in open ground.

Treatment of lightly damaged bulbs

During the storage of bulbs, problems are possible:

1. The high temperature has caused the tubers to shrivel. Such specimens cannot be planted in the ground. Nothing good will come of it. Even if shoots appear, the plant will be unhe althy. And this is a threat to the entire landing. In this situation, it is necessary to replenish the water balance of the bulb. To do this, prepare a solution of water with potassium permanganate 0.5%. They lower gauze into it and wrap the damaged copy. Withstand 2 days - the planting material will acquire its original form. Then boldly put him in the ground.
2. It happens that the bulb is outwardly lethargic. Here, potassium permanganate will not save. They take a growth stimulator, for example, Kornevin, Epin. It is bred according to the instructions and the wilted tuber is lowered. After the planting material is restored, they are planted at the landing site.
3. Soft onion. Juice flows when pressed. In this case, the planting material is thrown away - it is impossible to save it.
4. Rotted places on the tuber. The reason may be high importance. First of all, rotted areas are cleaned to he althy tissue. Treat the wound with green paint. The damaged specimens are placed in a damp cloth for a day. Then transferred to wet sand until complete recovery for 2-3 days. The last procedure is drying in the sun.
5. Frozen bulbs. According to the instructions, the growth stimulator is bred and the damaged elements are lowered for a day. Then the bulbs are poured with dry peat and sent to the refrigerator for another 24 hours. Only then can you plant in a flower bed.
6. Gray coating on the surface of the tuber. It could be Fusarium. The plaque is removed with a knife and treated with a special preparation. The fungicide is sprinkled on the affected areas and left for 2 days. During this time, a cork film is formed.

All resuscitation procedures should be applied to rare varieties. In other cases, it's better to get rid of corrupted instances.

Should I fertilize the land

Tulips can be grown without fertilizing. Only in the second year they will be too different from their counterparts, who are fed. The flowers will be smaller, the stem is thin, the plant is prone to diseases, as the immune system is weakened.

Only in fertile soil, tulips feel good, but plants greatly deplete the soil, draw all the nutrients out of it, so four top dressings are required in a short vegetative period - 2 months.

Flowers need a complex of fertilizers: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, in various proportions. Nitrogen is responsible for the growth of green mass, potassium helps to quickly take root, phosphorus is involved in the formation of buds. At each stage of feeding, one of the components is in the lead.

No less important for flowers are microfertilizers with the presence of elements: nickel, iron, boron, zinc, manganese, copper.

Although they are required in microdoses, they bring considerable benefits to the plant:

• form a strong stem, large inflorescences;
• strengthen immunity;
• participate in metabolic processes and photosynthesis;
• resist diseases, pests;
• increase frost resistance.

Microfertilizers are applied with the help of foliar top dressing. The set of fertilizers depends on the season. When planting in the autumn, top dressings are chosen that act on rapid rooting, protection from external factors. In spring, components are needed for the growth of green mass (leaf, stem), root.

Tulips are grown at home for distillation. Here you do not need to make a lot of top dressing, since another task is performed - rooting the bulbs. Before planting, only a solution of calcium nitrate is required to be added to the soil.The rest of the care is to choose a cool temperature, humidity, watering.

As a conclusion

As you can see, just pulling tulips out of storage and planting them in open ground is not enough. To teach large, he althy buds, you have to try. Go through certain steps before planting: clean, sort, sanitize the bulbs.

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