We owe some of the most magnificent varieties of tulips to chance developments in the course of private breeding. As a hobby gardener, do you fancy creating your own individual cultivation? With a little luck and these instructions, the plan can succeed. This is how tulip seeds turn into promising flower bulbs.

Tulips can also be grown from seed

Harvest ripe seed crops in summer

Tulips attract bees and bumblebees with their colorful flower cups. These have valuable pollen in their luggage, with the help of which the flower is pollinated. At the end of the flowering period, the flowers invest all their energy so that up to 300 seeds can ripen in the ovary. Therefore, do not cut off the withered tulip blossoms, but continue the care program unabated. The dry, brown seed pods are harvested just before they begin to rip open laterally.

This is how you put tulip seeds in the mood for germination

Stratification is one of the fundamental requirements for successful tulip breeding. The seeds will only be motivated to germinate when a cold stimulus signals that winter is almost over. This is very easy to do in the garden, where the seed is exposed to the effects of the weather from mid-October. How to do it right:

  • Fill clay pots with a mix of sand and potting or garden soil
  • Then sow the seeds, sieve thinly with substrate, water and cover with a layer of grit (€46.95) or gravel
  • Place in a semi-shady spot on the balcony or in the garden

If the seed boxes snow, this is of particular advantage for overcoming the germination inhibition. If there is no snow or rain, please water regularly, because the seeds die off in dry conditions.

Spring brings us little tulip bulbs

If, over the course of 2 months, the seeds have been convinced by the effects of cold that the winter is over, the green, long sprouts will sprout. Until the end of spring there are small tulip bulbs at the ends in the substrate. Please wait until the shoots wither and fall off. Then dig out the flower bulbs and place them in small pots with potting soil.

It will be another 5 years before your protégés flower for the first time and the result of your breeding becomes apparent.

tips

Diligent tulip growers are often plagued by skin irritations. The toxins contained in the plant sap trigger tulip dermatitis on skin contact. Therefore, please carry out all work related to growing Tulipa with gloves.

Category:

Vegetable garden