Their toxin content in no way protects tulips from infection. Some pathogens do not shy away from harassing your lovingly tended heralds of spring. The following lines convey what these are, how to combat and prevent them.
Tulip bulbs should be handled carefully so as not to injure them and make them susceptible to disease
Tulip fire rots the flowers
Within the globally distributed gray mold genus, the pathogen Botrytis tulipae has specialized in infesting tulips. The effects are correspondingly fatal. The leaves already appear stunted when they sprout and are covered with grey-brown, rotten spots. Infected specimens are irretrievably lost and should be discarded to prevent further spread. This is how you effectively prevent the cunning fungal spores:
- Water tulips only moderately, only when the soil has dried well
- Place in the ground at an airy planting distance
- Preferably fertilize organically and do not administer any nitrogen-rich complete fertilizers
Tulip Fire is so named because the disease spreads rapidly in wet weather, leaving the flowers looking like they have been engulfed in fire.
Fusarium bulb blight kills tulips prematurely
If brown, sharply defined spots appear on tulip bulbs, this symptom puts us on high alert. Now it won't be long before the entire bulb is covered with a white-pink fungus coating. The infected flower becomes ailing, the leaves turn yellow and the flower wilts. Unfortunately, the disease strikes in the camp, leaving black, shriveled mummies in its wake. How to avoid the dilemma:
- Regularly check stored tulip bulbs to destroy diseased specimens
- Observe a four to five year break in cultivation in the bed
- Fertilize with low nitrogen or use special preparations for flower bulbs
Avoid any injury to tulip bulbs as pathogens lurk for such an opportunity. Please always store the tubers in an airy, dry and cool place.
tips
If tulips thrive as part of a flower meadow, please wait until the leaves have turned brown before mowing. Until then, the onion extracts the nutrients from the leaves in order to create an energy depot for the next flowering period.