hose off tulips?

by Barbara
(Indianapolis)

Is it necessary to hose off the dirt from dug up tulips I am storing in a wood box in the basement over the summer??

Doug says that after the bulbs have been "cured" by leaving out for a week or so. Then they should be gently cleaned off to remove soil. The objective is to leave the outer layers of the protective coating on - but remove most of the soil that might contain bacterial or fungi to bother the bulbs.

So "hosing" them off is probably not a great idea if you're going to be using high pressure. And you don't want the bulbs damp going into storage. But cleaning them well is good.

So yes you can use low-pressure water to clean off dirt - but then you have to make sure bulbs are dry before going into storage.