Is a successful propagation of tulips important to you? Then familiarize yourself here with the right harvesting technique for onions and seeds. Benefit from our tips on the right time and the correct procedure.

Bulbs of tulips should only be harvested after flowering

Don't harvest tulip bulbs too early - that's what matters

The end of the flowering period leads to the active phase of reproduction. Deep in the ground, a tulip bulb is now busily trying to sprout numerous bulbs. This process takes a lot of energy. The remaining nutrients in the leaves are invaluable. So they don't get lost during harvest:

  • Only cut off the leaves when they are completely withered and withered
  • Loosen the soil all around with the digging fork
  • On a dry day, lift the tulip bulbs out of the ground

If there are any, the onions will catch your eye immediately. Cut them off with a freshly sharpened and meticulously disinfected knife.

Harvest seeds before the pods rupture with eagerness

If you are striving to breed a new, furious tulip variety, the plan will only succeed on the basis of generative propagation. Hidden attributes rest in the seeds of your most beautiful tulips, which can be activated during sowing. So that you have vital, germinable seed available, please follow these instructions:

  • Do not cut off the wilted tulip flowers
  • At the end of the flowering period, continue with the normal maintenance regime for 8 to 10 weeks
  • Harvest the bulging fruit capsules just before they burst

It takes a trained eye to spot the perfect moment. If you harvest the seeds too early, you will look in vain for seedlings during the sowing process. If you wait too long, the capsule ruptures and scatters the seeds in the bed, never to be seen again. A ready-to-harvest seed pod is brown in color and crackle dry.

Clean seeds after harvest

To get to the flat, dark seeds, the ripe capsule is crushed between the fingers over a bowl. You then separate the seed from the remains of the shell by repeated sieving.

tips

The balanced supply of nutrients guarantees a rich harvest of strong tulip bulbs and germinable seeds. Therefore, at the end of the flowering period, continue the application of fertilizer. A generous portion of compost with horn shavings (€32.93) is lightly worked into the soil and watered.

Category:

Vegetable garden