Storing Tulip Bulbs
Storing tulip bulbs is pretty simple stuff and there are two ways to accomplish this.The first is the lazy gardener's method.
Store them in the ground.
Simply let them alone to grow and go dormant as Mother Nature intended. I like this method.
Traditional Method
The second method is to allow them to continue growing until the leaves all turn yellow. This yellowing leaf tells you that they have stored all the flowering energy they require for next year and are safe to dig up.
Dig them up.
Keep them cool and dry until 8 weeks before freezeup in your area – and then replant. The trick is cool and dry (not hot) to keep them from desiccating (drying out totally) and dying.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The advantage of storing in the ground is the plant does its thing naturally.
The advantage of storing above ground is that you get to see your bulbs and divide them if possible. But it's a lot of work. The other advantage is that the bulb stays dry.
Many tulips fade away in modern gardens because they are watered too much during the summer (while you're watering the flower beds). Tulips want to be dry for the summer so digging and storing assures this will happen.
Storing tulip bulbs isn't tricky gardening at all. Even if you don't intend to do it every year, it can be instructional to dig up a few and compare their growth with those you leave in the ground.
The only thing of course is that you have to remember to replant them in the fall. :-)
As a final note, storing tulip bulbs does not include the storing them over the winter months when they should be in the ground forming roots and getting ready to bloom.
If you want to ask about storing tulip bulbs , click here
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