Do you care about successfully propagating tulips? Then familiarize yourself with the correct harvesting technique for onions and seeds here. Benefit from our advice at the right time and the professional procedure.
How to harvest tulip bulbs and seeds?
Harvesting tulips: Lift the bulbs out of the ground after the leaves have completely wilted and remove the seed bulbs. Harvest the seeds just before the brown, crackling-dry fruit capsules burst and sieve the remaining shells.
Don’t harvest tulip bulbs too early – that’s what matters
The end of the flowering period leads to the active phase of reproduction. Deep in the earth, a tulip bulb is now busy trying to sprout numerous breeding bulbs. This process takes a lot of energy. The remaining nutrients in the leaves are invaluable. This way they don't get lost during the harvest:
- Only cut off the leaves when they have completely withered and withered
- Use the digging fork to loosen the soil around it
- Lift the tulip bulbs out of the ground on a dry day
If you have them, you'll immediately notice the onions. Cut these off with a freshly sharpened and meticulously disinfected knife.
Harvest seeds before the capsules burst with enthusiasm
If you aim to breed a new, furious tulip variety, the plan will only succeed on the basis of generative propagation. There are hidden attributes in the seeds of your most beautiful tulips that can be activated during sowing. To ensure that you have vital, germinating seeds, please follow these instructions:
- Don't cut off the withered tulip flowers
- At the end of the flowering period, continue the normal care program for 8 to 10 weeks
- Harvest the bulging fruit capsules just before they burst
It takes a trained eye to determine the perfect time. If you harvest the seeds too early, you will look in vain for seedlings during the sowing process. If you wait too long, the capsule will tear and the seeds will be scattered throughout the bed, never to be seen again. A seed capsule that is ready to harvest is brown in color and crackling dry.
Cleaning seeds after harvest
To get to the flat, dark seeds, the ripe capsule is rubbed between your fingers over a bowl. You can then separate the seeds from the shell residues by repeated sieving.
Tip
The balanced supply of nutrients guarantees a rich harvest of strong tulip bulbs and germinating seeds. Therefore, continue to apply fertilizer at the end of the flowering period. A generous portion of compost with horn shavings is lightly worked into the soil and watered.