Need help with my Tulips! - Big Big Forums

Frogs · 04-29-2002, 01:03 AM

They've already bloomed and gone

I dug up the bulbs, like my garden book said. I'm new to Tulips, this is the first year I've had them. Hubby bought me some for Valentine's, so I just had to have more. Okay, here's the problem. When I dug them up, they started breaking apart. Is that okay, am I supposed to take them apart or leave them in the big clusters? When I plant them next year, do I plant the cluster or each little piece? Did I need to dig them up, I'm in Texas if that matters? How do I store them, do they need to be dry or moist? I looked this all up in my garden book, but it doesn't help me any. Thanks in advance for the help, I'm so clueless!

CARROLIN · 04-29-2002, 01:08 AM

JAYBIRD COULD PROBABLY HELP YA...

JUST MAKE SURE DAHUBBY'S NOT AROUND!!! LOL

SORRY JAYBIRD, COULDN'T RESIST.

SMILES.

jaybird · 04-29-2002, 01:10 AM

After my tulips bloom, I leave them alone a few weeks, until the leaves die off and brown. It helps strengthen the bulbs. Then I cut off the plant even with the mulch (or soil) and let them in the ground. I never dig them up. And I've had tulips for years. I'm in the midwest and normally tulip (daffodil, crocus etc) bulbs are planted in the fall, October or November. I've bought tulip plants before and stuck them in the ground in the spring, for the bloom, but I have never dug up the bulbs after the blooming is over.

Try looking at www.pallensmith.com or www.jerrybaker.com These are 2 great gardening sites.

the fugative · 04-29-2002, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jaybird
After my tulips bloom, I leave them alone a few weeks, until the leaves die off and brown. It helps strengthen the bulbs. Then I cut off the plant even with the mulch (or soil) and let them in the ground. I never dig them up. And I've had tulips for years. I'm in the midwest and normally tulip (daffodil, crocus etc) bulbs are planted in the fall, October or November. I've bought tulip plants before and stuck them in the ground in the spring, for the bloom, but I have never dug up the bulbs after the blooming is over.

Try looking at www.pallensmith.com or www.jerrybaker.com These are 2 great gardening sites.

Ditto what JayBird said, I let mine die back and mown them with the lawm mower they come back evey year (If the moles don't invade)

jaybird · 04-29-2002, 01:20 AM

LMBO @ CARROLIN!

Preparing the Beds - Spade and turn the top 10 inches of soil. Mound the dirt into a dome with the highest point in the center to ensure drainage. Place bricks or edging material around the edges of the bed to keep the soil in place and allow water drainage. Make sure there are no low spots that might let water form pools.

Type of Soil - Tulips like a well drained loamy, airy soil. Improve the soil structure with Canadian peat moss. Mix 2 lbs. of Canadian peat moss into each square yard of garden area. Heavy or clay soil requires the addition of sand to increase drainage. Tulips cannot tolerate standing water.

Planting Time - Do not plant tulip bulbs too early in the fall. Wait to plant until after the first hard frost. Generally, plant tulips sometime after November 15.

Planting - Dig individual holes, or a trench 6 to 8 inches deep. Add 1 tablespoon of bone meal to each bulb's hole. Place bulbs in the ground pointed side up and 5 to 6 inches apart. Cover bulbs with soil. After planting, water the beds until the soil is thoroughly moist to help root formation. Cover the beds with a 1 inch mulch of bean straw to protect the soil and hold moisture.

Watering - The tulip bed needs watering after planting in the fall, in early spring before blooming, and after blooming. Tulip beds require additional watering during long dry periods in the winter with no rain or snow. After the tulips bloom, keep the beds watered to prevent surface soil cracking.

Fertilizing - Tulip bulbs do not require fertilizing beyond the addition of bone meal at planting time. Tulips do not like overly rich soil.

Care Before and After Blooming - If rabbits are a problem, sprinkle blood meal on the leaf shoots when they emerge in April or May. Cut the tulip stems when the first petals begin to drop off. Do not let fallen petals stay in the bed, this keeps the garden clean and prevents blight. Nonflowering single leaf shoots are stragglers from weak old bulbs and may be removed.

Digging Bulbs - You can dig bulbs or leave them in the ground for 2 to 3 years. Bulbs remaining in the ground produce smaller flowers next year. In either case, plant annuals among the tulip foliage while waiting for the plants to die back. Do not cut back the tulip leaves. Allow the foliage to die down so the nutrients from the leaves can replenish the bulb. If you can twist the stem cleanly out of the bulb, the plant is dry enough to dig.

Cleaning and Storing Bulbs - After digging, clean the bulbs to remove old skin, roots and dirt. Store the bulbs on a wire rack or in a mesh bas that allows air circulation. Keep the bulbs in a room where the temperature stays between 60 and 70 degrees.

Frogs · 04-29-2002, 01:28 AM

Thank you so much for the help. I printed the info you gave me for future use! So, next year, I'll just leave them in the ground. I guess since you're supposed to peel off the skin, you don't plant them in the clusters, just single pieces? Am I reading that right?

jaybird:I just read the thread about your hubby!

I would have strangled him. Mine ran over my tree awhile back, but of course it was all my fault.....it's only been there for three years. He did buy me another one and the next time he mowed, I told him the big brown thing in the yard that had the little green things on it is supposed to be there, please STAY AWAY FROM IT!

He wasn't very happy with me. That's what he gets for blaming me.

jaybird · 04-29-2002, 01:45 AM

Tree causes divorce. I have a long time friend that used to live down the street from me. About 20 years ago, I bought her a 'friendship' tree, a riverbark birch. She planted it in the front yard, babied it and it grew and grew. Her husband was going to trim it, she told him not to touch it, it was off limits, it didn't get trimmed. She came back out and he'd hacked the branches all back (this was a 20 ft. tree) and it looked like h*ll.

They're divorced.

True story.

CARROLIN · 04-29-2002, 02:05 AM

YOU PLANNED THAT DIDN'T YA...YOU NEVER LIKED HIM
AND YOU KNEW HE WOULD EVENTUALLY BE STUPID ENOUGH
TO MESS WITH IT!!! TOOK AWHILE, BUT YA WON, SHE
LEFT HIM...YOU HOME WRECKER!!! LMBO.

SMILES.

SERIOUSLY THO, DID THE TREE EVER FILL BACK OUT?

Queensown · 04-29-2002, 02:38 AM

I am absolutely NOT a gardener, but we moved into this house last spring, and the most beautiful tulips grew! I didn't touch them, didn't water em, didn't weed the bed, and they are back! =)

jaybird · 04-29-2002, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CARROLIN
YOU PLANNED THAT DIDN'T YA...YOU NEVER LIKED HIM
AND YOU KNEW HE WOULD EVENTUALLY BE STUPID ENOUGH
TO MESS WITH IT!!! TOOK AWHILE, BUT YA WON, SHE
LEFT HIM...YOU HOME WRECKER!!! LMBO.

SMILES.

SERIOUSLY THO, DID THE TREE EVER FILL BACK OUT?

Hehe. Actually they both were good friends of ours, the hubbies fished together all the time. And there were other issues, but the tree was the proverbial 'last straw.'

And the tree did very well, until Gary (Pat moved out) sold the house about 4 years ago. It was beautiful. The new owners cut it down.