If you want to please yourself or your loved ones by March 8, then the best option is to plant tulips. What could be better than bright and deliciously smelling freshness flowers for your favorite Russian holiday? Distillation for the holiday is a set of activities that aims to achieve the flowering of plants in an unusual period for them. We will talk further about how to make tulips forcing out by March 8.
The advantage of these flowers is that they grow well even under artificial lighting. Tulips are relatively simple to such a process at home, but in order to please the result, you must correctly select the varieties of tulips for distillation, properly prepare them.
Tulip bulbs for distillation - how to prepare
Before choosing varieties of tulips for distillation, you need to carefully study their classes, color options, stem height, flowering time, resistance of this variety to disease. Bulbs weighing 20 g or more are suitable for forcing flowers by March 8. One of the most popular varieties of tulips that are suitable for distillation are London, Diplomat, Vivex, Hamilton, Parac and Eric Hofsier, as well as varieties of Darwin hybrids.
It is necessary to prepare the bulbs for forcing before they are dug up, that is, when they are still growing. The quality of tulip bulbs depends on the soil where they were grown. It is very important that it contains all the necessary minerals, nutrients - nitrogen, magnesium, calcium. If there is a nitrogen deficiency in the soil, then the buds will be small, and the peduncles weak. The lack of the other two substances will cause the flower to wilt.
In addition, the flower should be broken off on the second or third day of flowering of the tulip without touching the leaves. This action will improve the quality of the bulbs, significantly reduce the percentage of blind buds obtained during distillation. Mark with a colored ribbon or label those tulips that you decide to leave for distillation
If you want to get flowers for the New Year, then the bulbs can be dug up as soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, and if by March 8, then you need to wait about 2/3 until the aerial part of the flower turns yellow.
After digging the bulbs of tulips, organ formation takes place in them, that is, the laying of flower buds, the accumulation of active substances. They are stored in a dry, dark room and kept for a month at a temperature of + 20 ° C. Starting from the second half of August, as a rule, stamens, pestles, perianths are already formed inside this stage - this stage is called “stage C”.
Then the temperature needs to be slightly reduced (up to + 17 ° C), and the bulbs should be stored for another 1-2 weeks. This increases the length of the peduncle, the tulip flower itself.
In September, you need to place the bulbs in a room with a low temperature. Since flowers under natural conditions begin to bloom after winter colds, it is necessary to carry out cooling on their own, thereby ensuring the opening of tulip buds when necessary.
There are two main technologies:
- storage at a temperature of + 5 ° C or + 9 ° C. This option involves cooling the bulbs at a temperature of + 5 ° C for 12 weeks. This option is optimal for use in urban environments. After cooling, they need to be put in boxes, transferred to where it is warm, there is access to light. Buds will approximately appear in 5-7 weeks;
- storage of bulbs at a temperature of + 9ºС. You can keep them in the refrigerator for the first 6 weeks on the lower shelves, if it is too warm for now. It should be borne in mind that tulip bulbs cannot be stored together with fresh fruits that produce ethylene that is harmful to plants. After that, they are planted in boxes, put in the cellar, where the desired temperature was established - + 9ºС. The advantage of this cooling option is that the tulips will be brighter, higher, larger, in addition, the risk of getting low-quality flowers is lower.
Tulip planting by March 8
The moment when they bloom directly depends on when to plant tulips for distillation. In order for the buds to begin to blossom on March 8, the bulbs must be planted in early October. The substrate may be sand, peat, garden soil, sawdust, perlite, etc. You can not take greenhouse land, since there is a high probability of infection of tulips. The substrate must be selected so that it allows air to pass through and is moisture-resistant. Too many tulip-cutting pros use rotted sawdust for these purposes. Capacities can also be different: boxes, containers, ceramic pots - it depends on the number of flowers that you want to grow by March 8.
The boxes need to be filled 2/3 with the substrate, then it is easy to press the tulip bulbs into the soil, which should be at a distance of about 1-1.5 cm relative to each other. It is better to sprinkle them on top with a substrate so that the tops are either slightly covered or above the surface. Bulbs cannot be planted too close to each other or to the edges of the box, because this will lead to a distortion of peduncles and the appearance of a large number of blind buds. Legs about 15 cm high should be nailed to the corners of the boxes so that tulips can grow unhindered.
Bulbs need a lot of moisture, so they need to be watered well, try to maintain a humidity of about 80%. If it is smaller, then the tulip buds will turn out small and with twisted petals, if more - there is a likelihood of mold.
Bulb containers can be placed in the refrigerator, cellar or cellar; storage temperature should be at + 9 ° С. Gradually, it will decrease in the room, the technology for forcing tulips by March 8 admits a temperature of 0 - + 2 ° С. The rooting period (depending on the variety) is 14 to 20 weeks.
As soon as February arrives, and the height of the sprouts becomes about 5 cm, boxes with them need to be moved to a room with a temperature regime of about + 18 ° C with good lighting.
By changing the temperature, you can adjust the timing of the forcing of tulips by March 8. If the buds began to appear earlier, then you need to lower the temperature by 2 degrees, but if on the contrary, do not open for a long time, increase by the same amount.
Illumination should be at least 1000 lux, otherwise the percentage of blind buds obtained will be very large. For comparison, on the street in sunny weather, illumination reaches 10,000 - 100,000 lux. For artificial lighting, it is optimal to use incandescent lamps (100 W / m²) or, for example, fluorescent lamps (40 W / m²).
Planting tulips for distillation by March 8 was completed, but did the flowers appear ahead of schedule? There is a simple solution: you need to cut the flowers when they are painted, but have not yet blossomed, put them in water with snow, put them in a storage with a temperature of + 2 ° С. You can also cut the plants again before the buds have blossomed, wrapped in paper, put in the refrigerator. So the flowers can maintain their freshness for several weeks.
Tulips after distillation - what to do
Can tulip bulbs be used after distillation? Sure! They do not need to be thrown away!
If, after all the tulips intended for distillation have faded, at least one bulb is taken apart, you will see that several small onions have formed inside. While they are not yet fully formed, that is, they need time to ripen.
Therefore, you need to wait until the leaves remaining after cutting begin to change their color, for example, turn yellow or brown. Then it is best to take them out of the boxes, clean them from the ground and leave to dry, ripen. These tulip bulbs are planted in autumn along with others intended for planting in the open ground. Formed large bulbs (substitute bulbs) will bloom in spring, and medium, small ones will gain strength for flowering in the next seasons.
Some flower growers-practitioners advise immediately after distillation to transplant these tulips into very fertile land, for example, on a compost heap. There they will form. Then they are dug up together with others that grew, bloomed in the open ground. They ripen like any other - by autumn the top peel will dry out, and the tulip bulbs will ripen. Plant them in the open ground in the fall, along with everyone.