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The genus,
Tulipa, represents a wide array
of flowering bulb plants. They can cover a long
blooming period in the spring with early, mid and
late season types.
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Tulips, like all bulb plants,
store the energy they need for the next season's
plant within the bulb. Therefore,
bulbs planted in
the fall need nothing more to develop a plant and
bloom the next spring. So, even though they would
prefer full sun, tulips can be successfully grown in
the shade...for the first season. In order for them
to bloom the second season, however, they must
receive enough sunlight long enough to rebuild their
bulb. This may not occur in shaded sites or where
the temperatures get hot and the foliage dies back
before the plant has had time to replenish the bulb.
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The general rule of thumb is that bulbs should be
planted at a depth of about 2 to 3 times their
height. This means that a 2 inch high bulb should be
planted in a hole 4 to 6 inches deep. In heavier,
clay type soils, 4 inches is best while in loose,
well-drained soils, 6 inches might be better.
Tulips are one of those plants
that need to experience a certain number of days of
cold temperatures before they will bloom. For most
tulips, it takes a 13 week exposure to temperatures
below 40 degrees F to make them form flower buds.
This why it may be difficult to grow tulips in the
Southern United States where winter temperatures don't allow
for proper chilling every year.
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If you plan on having your tulips around for future
years of bloom (as opposed to situations where you
dig them up and discard them after the first year's
bloom), you should add some fertilizer around the
plants as soon as the leaves emerge. This allows
time for the nutrients to moved down through the
soil to the area of the roots. The old
recommendation of fertilizing when the tulips are in
bloom is no longer valid.
The most important factor to
future success with your bulbs is to
keep the foliage on the plant
as long as possible into the growing season.
The leaves, of course, are the site of
photosynthesis where the tulip captures the energy
of the sun and stores it in the bulb. Once the
leaves turn brown or you cut them off, growth of the
bulb is done for the year. If it has not reached a
certain size by then, the next year's crop will be
either bloomless or produce a much smaller plant.
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Generally speaking, tulips don't have a lot of
serious problems. Bulb rot can be a problem in
poorly drained sites and occasionally, fungal leaf
spots may attack the foliage.
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Tulips should stay in the ground
over the winter if you expect to have a crop of
flowers the next spring. You do not need to
routinely pull them out in the fall.
However, if you need to move them
or want to redo the bed or border, they may be moved
to a new location and "healed in" temporarily. To do
this, dig a trench about the same dept as the tulips
are planted. Dig up the entire bulb and foliage and
move it to the trench where you bury it. Be sure the
foliage is kept on the plants since this must
produce energy for expanding the bulb.
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