March 8 - International Women's Day - a holiday that almost everyone associates with smiles, beauty and flowers. Tulips are a great example of the latter, they perfectly complement this day with their beauty. In addition, these spring flowers have a delicious fresh smell, and loved ones will be happy to receive such a gift on a spring holiday. Especially valuable are flowers grown at home - with your own hands.
Distillation is a very common way to implement this idea. But what is this process? How to grow a tulip by March 8 competently? What knowledge do you need to have in order to achieve early flowering of these amazing flowers?
Types of Tulips
Tulips are very delicate and beautiful flowers, the aroma of which gives real spring warmth and causes unique sensations.
To date, breeders have bred many of their most diverse species and varieties. Among them are:
- terry;
- parrots;
- greenflowers;
- Kaufman tulips;
- Rembrandt Tulips;
- and many others.
The undisputed leader in the number of tulips grown per year is Holland. It is there that many different festivals are held that are dedicated to this magnificent flower. Bulb tulips sprout. They belong to the family of liliaceae. Under natural conditions, these flowers grow in May. But you really want to admire such beauties throughout the year, especially on the holiday of March 8th. That is why many people who want to have spring flowers in their winter flower garden are interested in the peculiarities of growing tulips at home.
Preparatory steps before distillation
Growing a tulip by March 8 is not so difficult. In order to achieve fresh brightness and the desired beauty of the flowers, the first thing to do is choose a variety, focusing on such characteristics as the color of the petals, the height of the stems and the class of the plant itself. It is also important not to neglect the resistance of one variety or another to diseases, since diseased plants have a less attractive appearance. It is not easy to recognize the bulb infected with the disease, and dots, small spots or strokes may spill out on the petals. You should not take risks, because there are disease-resistant varieties of tulips and at the same time possessing a beautiful and unusual color of the petals.
For example, tulips of the Foster variety have wide leaves of a bluish-green color, with burgundy stripes and spots. They grow very strong and reach a height of 30-50 cm, buds bloom large, oblong-oval and reach a height of 12-15 cm.
Greig's tulips grow low, 20-35 cm. Their flowers are usually red tones, with a wide base. The petals are slightly bent, and the leaves are covered with brown and burgundy stripes.
Another relatively disease resistant is the Kaufman variety. Its flowers are quite stunted, may not even exceed 15-20 cm, but are surprisingly bright - they often collect more than 2-3 shades on their petals.
If the selection of the suitable variety is completed, it is time to go to the next step and begin to prepare the bulbs for growing at home or in the greenhouse. So, we will consider how to grow a tulip by March 8.
Growing Tulips by Spring
The biological traits of tulips do not include growing flowers on a window, and it will not work to force them to bloom in winter, because these plants are not indoor plants - they have long been grown on open ground. There is one single way to achieve flowering ahead of schedule - to grow a tulip on March 8 in a pot or box in a greenhouse or at home. Using this technique, flower growers of our time create an artificial temperature and light regime. Thanks to him, the buds begin to bloom earlier.
It is important to understand that emergency nurturing is not an easy process. For everything to go well and become a pleasant experience, you need to stock up with the necessary knowledge and time. As a result, you can come to the desired result.
Tulip Bulb Preparation
Before you grow a tulip by March 8, you should purchase bulbs. They must be round, large enough, at least 3.5 cm in size, and must be selected in the summer. You can also collect your own seeds from your summer cottage. The most favorable time for this: mid-summer - July. First of all, the seed material must be excavated and dried on the street, then transferred to a cool room, for example, in a cellar, where the air temperature is 18-20 ° C.
How to grow rainbow tulips by March 8: forcing flowers
Now you should proceed to the next step - after storage, the bulbs are cooled. Prepare a room with a temperature of about + 5 ° C (humidity from 85 to 90%). The bottom shelf of the refrigerator or the cellar is well suited. Store seeds all September.
Landing
In October, the time comes to plant them in the ground. To grow tulips in boxes by March 8 is quite simple. A layer of a mixture of river sand and peat is poured into plastic containers with a width of 3 cm. At a distance of 10-20 mm, recesses are prepared for planting and bulbs are planted in them. Then the seeds are watered and again covered with the same mixture as before planting, so that only the tops of the bulbs are visible. It is important to ensure that the soil is accessible to air.
Then add a mixture of a solution of calcium nitrate with water (in the ratio of 1 gram per 1 liter) and watered the seeds again. Then the boxes are sent to a dark room. The temperature in it should be about +5 ° C, and humidity - 85%. When drying the soil, it must be constantly moistened, but this process should not be abused, since the seeds can deteriorate.
Small sprouts of tulips appear in early January and should reach a height of 3 cm. In early February, it is time to take out the boxes in natural light. Room temperature in the room should be approximately +18 o C.
If there is a greenhouse, you can grow tulips at home by March 8 in it. In early February, a month before the expected holiday, the boxes must be taken out to the greenhouse and kept at +14 ° C for three days. After that, when the sprouts turn green, the temperature can be raised to +18 ° C with uniform humidity. Do not forget also about the removal of weeds and incomprehensible sprouts. Watering tulips is carried out only with warm water.
Process description
The increased temperature around the tulip accelerates its growth process, slightly lower - on the contrary, it slows down. Knowing this, you can regulate plant growth by changing the temperature in the room. However, remember that a very high room temperature will cause deformation of the buds.
To grow tulips by March 8, you will also need an additional source of lighting, thanks to it, the stems will begin to grow and stretch up. But with the active accelerated growth of leaves, flowers should not be left in direct sunlight, as otherwise there will be too much greenery, and the buds will eventually not grow.
To avoid premature opening of the bud and its loss, you should also not keep tulips under the sun for a long time.
When flowering is accelerated, the process is suspended. 10-15 pieces of flowers, together with bulbs, are well wrapped in paper and put in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. The temperature in it should be 1-2 about C.
Last steps
When the tulips bloom, they are cut and get a beautiful bouquet, but this does not end the care of the plants. Mostly, a cut of flowers is needed to preserve the bulbs for planting them again next year. But since tulips have just experienced emergency cultivation, next spring they will begin to bloom not so friendly and accommodating, and all the following steps must be completed to get the flowers a well-deserved recovery.
It is necessary to get rid of all peduncles, water the plants and fertilize until the leaves are wilted. When this happens, the bulbs must be removed, freed from the ground and dried.
Until the fall, it will be necessary to preserve the dried bulbs, and now they can be planted again on a site outside the city. But for distillation, they are suitable only a couple of years after the recovery period. For best results, the largest and most beautiful flowers are marked in the future in spring and then selected for the home.
When colored buds appear, the flower stalks should be cut off, because otherwise the flowers will use their internal energy, and not save it in the bulbs for growth at home.
When the leaves of the tulip fade, it is time to dig up the roots.
After this, you can again proceed to the preparation step.
Conclusion
So, we looked at how to grow tulips by March 8th. With a good choice, careful approach and competent observance of all steps of the forcing process, these delicate flowers will undoubtedly delight the family and all those close to you with their beauty and wonderful spring freshness.