If tulips spend the summer in a cool, dark cellar, they repeat their blossom festival next year. However, the gardening plan only works if the flower bulbs in the summer quarters do not get moldy. You can find out here how to banish moisture and dry tulip bulbs properly.
Tulip bulbs must be properly dried before storage
Cleaning with water is frowned upon
When tulips have completely drawn in their leaves at the end of the flowering period, the leaves are cut off close to the ground. Now carefully dig up the bulbs with as much soil as possible so that the delicate root strands are not damaged. Since dirty tubers have no place in the summer quarters, careful cleaning is now on the agenda. Water has no place in this interaction.
You clean tulip bulbs properly with a coarse brush. Alternatively, rub the tubers with a dry cloth until all soil crumbs are removed.
That's how easy it is to dry tulip bulbs
A water reservoir still slumbers in every freshly dug up tulip bulb. Since this moisture can no longer be used to nourish the leaves and flowers, rot and mold can develop inside the bulb. You can put a stop to this dilemma by drying the tulip bulbs before storing them as follows:
- Place the cleaned tulip bulbs on a wire rack
- The onion skins do not touch each other
- Leave to dry in a sunny, airy place
The process is only complete when the tubers are completely dry. As long as small remnants of moisture are still noticeable, a healthy summer is doomed to failure. The dry, dormant tulip bulbs remain undisturbed in a dark, cool room at temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius until the start of the planting season in autumn.
tips
Store tulip bulbs away from fruit and vegetables. Apples, pears and other fruits give off ethylene. This ripening gas encourages flower bulbs to sprout prematurely. As a result, the refrigerator and pantry are extremely unsuitable as summer quarters for tulips.
The garden journal freshness ABC
How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?
The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:
- as a free PDF file to print out yourself