Tulips reproduce in two ways. You can use this strategy for uncomplicated vegetative propagation with bulbs or for challenging generative breeding by sowing seeds. These instructions clearly explain how to replicate a whole bunch from just a few tulip bulbs.
How can you successfully propagate tulips?
Tulips can be propagated by bulbs or seeds. When propagating with breeding bulbs, you cut them off after the flowering period and plant them. To propagate seeds, you harvest ripe seed capsules, sow them in clay pots and wait several years for the first flowering.
This is how you can propagate with onions
Tulip bulbs provide you with plenty of material for propagation by allowing small daughter bulbs to sprout from the axils of the onion scales. These grow quickly, detach themselves from the mother bulb and lead an independent tulip life. You can give this process free rein or harvest the onions to plant them in the desired location. This is how it works:
- After flowering, only cut off the leaves when they are completely absorbed
- Then carefully dig up the tulip bulbs
- Cut the onions with a sharp knife
More or less large cuts occur on the mother and daughter onions. To prevent pathogens or pests from using these as a gateway, please dust the injuries with charcoal powder (€35.00 on Amazon). After this treatment, plant the tulips in the nutrient-rich, loose soil.
Growing bulbs bloom from the second year
Growing bulbs planted in autumn initially produce a tuft of leaves the next spring. Please only cut this off when the leaves have completely yellowed. Until then, the onion absorbs valuable nutrients in order to bloom for the first time the following year based on the energy reserve.
Harvesting and sowing tulip seeds – How to do it right
At the end of the flowering period, do not cut off all the flower cups so that the tulips produce their seed-filled ovaries. After a two-month ripening period, harvest the dried seed capsules just before they tear. Then fill a clay pot three quarters with garden soil and one quarter with seed soil. Then scatter the seeds, sift them thinly with sand and water them with a fine spray. Proceed as follows:
- Cover the sand layer with a layer of small pebbles or aquarium gravel
- Place in the ground in a partially shaded spot in the garden where the weather can affect the seeds
- When it is dry, water so much that the soil does not dry out
Next spring, long, green seedlings that resemble grass or chives will sprout. After some time, these stems wilt and fall off. You can then look for the tiny tulip bulbs in the substrate. Place these in small pots with potting soil and be patient. It takes 5 years or longer for the first flowering.
Tip
Does your mouth water at the sight of a crunchy, juicy tulip bulb? Then there's nothing wrong with tasting it. Peel off the bitter skins with a knife and boil the tuber in water for 15 minutes. Even if the taste doesn't catapult you to culinary heights, it's still worth a try. More than 2 to 3 copies should not be eaten as the glycoside they contain can cause nausea.
