Under natural conditions, tulips bloom only after winter colds. Low temperatures contribute to the formation in the bulb of substances that activate plant growth. If you need to approximate the flowering period, you should take care of a certain temperature, humidity and lighting in the room.
In autumn, you can do the forcing of tulips and please yourself with a bright bouquet, for example, on New Year's Eve or on Valentine's Day. Yes, changing the flowering time is quite possible.
The meaning of the term
Forcing is forced flowering at the wrong time for it. Now you can choose: December, February or March. The timing of the forcing of tulips depends on the variety of planting material. On average, it is from 15 to 22 weeks.
What is cold for?
Of particular importance is the cooling period, the so-called period G (Gee), when the formation of buds of flower stalks occurs in the bulb. Duration depends on the variety, approximately 40-60 days. For the tulip to bloom in March, this figure should be 4-5 months.
As you know, plants have 3 periods of development: dormancy, rooting and active vegetation.
Lowering the temperature during distillation is necessary to remove plants from a state of dormancy and good rooting. Low temperatures contribute to the formation of the root system, program the flowering of future plants.
Special technology
For the rapid development of flower primordia, two tulip forcing technologies are successfully used: the so-called “five-degree” and “nine-degree”, when the temperature in the room is reduced to +5 or +9 degrees, respectively.
After digging, the bulbs are stored until September 1 at a temperature of +23 degrees. Then the temperature is lowered to +17 ° C until October 1. To get a bouquet for the New Year or Valentine's Day, bulbs should be planted from October 1 to 10. Late forcing is scheduled for March 8, bulbs are planted until October 15.
Cool Secrets
Violation of the cooling regime will adversely affect the quality of the future crop. During the rooting period, the temperature in the room should not be higher than 6-9 degrees. The slightest overheating or shortening the lead time will lead to various anomalies: flower stalks will be short, there will be many “blind” buds. If you increase the cooling period, the stems will sharply grow, but will be long, brittle, begin to bend, and lie on the ground. Too high temperature (+20 degrees and above) contributes to the development of fungus and other troubles.
Forcing to a certain date involves the use of only those varieties that can bloom at a certain time.
About landing features
Before planting for some time, the bulbs are stored in dark rooms, air humidity of at least 60%. Then they land in a special container for rooting. The planting depth is calculated so that after watering the top of each bulb is at the level of the edge of the substrate and slightly lower than the top edge of the box. The optimal capacity depth for normal bulb development is approximately 8 cm. Drainage holes are mandatory.
Where is better to drive out tulips
You can use a greenhouse or open ground with temporary film shelter. But, in this case, it is difficult to maintain the desired temperature. Therefore, many gardeners use a room with artificial lighting - a basement, an attic, a separate room. For distillation, you can use flower pots, pallets, containers. Ideally, the landing boxes on the legs are suitable, which are convenient to install one on the other during the cooling period. When preparing tulips for flowering, they are then taken out to a warmer and more lighted place. Another plus of such containers - their design provides free access of air to the bulbs, which is also important. By the way, the premises for distillation must be regularly ventilated, but drafts should be avoided.
Beautiful bouquet
If a pot is used for planting, the bulbs are placed almost close to each other. Form a bouquet in advance - take an odd amount - 3, 5, 7 bulbs.
In order for the tulips to be arranged symmetrically during flowering, at the time of planting, the convex parts of the bulbs are placed towards the center, so that the first leaves are directed outward. This is also necessary so that its leaves do not interfere with the normal development of neighboring plants.
Step by step forcing tulips
The distillation process consists of several stages. Let's consider each of them.
1. Choose a variety
The timing of forcing tulips at home depends on the choice of tulip variety. This makes it possible to pre-determine the date of flowering. Some varieties - pink-cherry “Christmas Marvel” or salmon “erikot beauty” - will bloom on New Year's Eve, others - orange-red “orange” or light pink “pink impregnation” - by March 8th.
2. Choice of bulbs
Of great importance for the forcing of tulips is planting material - the bulb itself. It is better to use large enough samples (I class or extra class), with a diameter of 3.5 cm or more. Some gardeners take planting material and smaller. But the larger the bulb, the better the plants will develop, and the larger the flowers.
Ready for forcing can be determined by the weight of the bulbs. Severe suggests that it already has a flower bud. Bulbs weighing 25 g or more are suitable for distillation. The root tubercles should be clearly marked on them.
Many gardeners clean tulip bulbs for distillation. This is done, firstly, in order to check their quality. On the surface there should be no mechanical damage, mold, rot, which can lead to the death of the future flower garden.
Secondly, the roots are easier to penetrate into the substrate, so the bulbs take root faster. In dense scales, the roots begin to grow up and push the bulb out of the soil, which adversely affects the decorative qualities of future flowers.
3. Soil preparation
A mixture of peat and sand is added to the soil for forcing tulips at home. It is better to use the river, it has larger grains of sand, which is good when preparing the soil - it must be necessarily loose.
The substrate should not contain salts, they impede the development of the root system.
4. Planting bulbs
There must be holes at the bottom of the landing tank. This prevents root decay. Drainage is laid at the bottom, the substrate is poured on top, it is compacted and, slightly pressing in, the bulbs are planted. Above is the substrate again. Abundantly watered with water. For watering, you can (but not necessarily) use a solution of calcium nitrate (10 g per 5 l of water), this strengthens peduncles. After you need to add soil to completely cover the bulbs.
Planted in a pot so that the bulb is a centimeter lower from the edge of the pot. We fall asleep on top of the sand, it should completely cover the planting material.
The distance between the bulbs does not matter. You can plant as tightly as possible to each other, about 1 cm.
5. Watering
The soil must be constantly moist. Therefore, after disembarkation, water it abundantly and sprinkle lime on top. The latter must be added necessarily. It oxidizes the soil and strengthens the stems.
6. Cooling
Next, the container in which the tulips were planted is transferred to a cool place. The optimum indoor temperature is from 0 to +5 ° C. The roots appear after about 10 days.
For fertilizing tulips at home, no fertilizers are needed.
Daily watering is required, this prevents the drying out of the substrate.
7. Heat and light
A month before the desired flowering date, we move the flower pots (other planting containers) back into the heat. The first 10 days we keep the temperature +10 , then we gradually increase it. Future tulips in this period also need a sufficient amount of light. You can use artificial light bulbs.
8. The first shoots
Soon the first sprouts will appear. Lighting should be added gradually - first put the pot in partial shade for several hours, then transfer it to a lighted place.
9. flowering
The first buds may appear in a week. If you slightly reduce the temperature, flowering will be longer. You can cut tulips for 2-3 days, when the buds become the brightest. Keep them in a cool place.
After, when the flower has faded, the bulb can be used further. It is suitable for planting in open ground. True, often the flower is no longer so large.