Content
Early feeding of tulips in spring will ensure abundant and long-lasting flowering. Before the start of the budding process and upon its completion, mineral and organic fertilizers are used. It is important to follow the schedule and norms for their application in order to provide the plant with all the necessary microelements.
Large bright buds cannot be obtained on depleted soil without fertilization.
Features of feeding tulips
These fragile flowers have a short growing season, but they require a lot of nutrients during this time. Tulips absorb microelements well during the formation of buds. But for their long and bright flowering, the first fertilizing is carried out immediately after the snow melts from the ground. During this period, fertilizers are important for forcing tulips.
The most important microelements for spring flowers are phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. They are found in almost any complex fertilizer for flowering crops.But for the proper development of a flower and the formation of buds, organic matter is also necessary.
If the flower garden has good, fertile soil, fertilizing is still necessary. Tulips respond well to additional nutrients.
How often to feed tulips
Each stage of plant growth and development requires certain types of fertilizers. The first time fertilizing is carried out during the germination of tulips.
Flowers that have broken through the thickness of the earth need growth stimulation
Tulips are fertilized again during the formation of buds, and the flower is fed a third time during the flowering period and after its completion. In total, bulbous plants are fertilized at least 3 times per season.
Types of fertilizers for tulips
Flowering crops require nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In addition to them, the plant needs iron, iodine, magnesium, zinc, iodine, and copper.
Mineral fertilizers
After the snow melts, apply the first fertilizer for the bulbous plants. It must contain nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus. Early feeding of tulips in spring is necessary for their abundant flowering.
Suitable fertilizers:
- phosphorus in the form of superphosphatea – stimulate the formation of buds, strengthen the root of the plant, but this element must be dosed, since it is deposited in the soil;
Superphosphate in granular form is easy to use as a fertilizer
- potassium: potassium sulfate, wood ash, potassium salt - increase the plant’s resistance to diseases, stimulate the formation of healthy bulbs, increase their number;
- fertilizing with nitrogen: ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and urea stimulate the appearance of large, colorful buds, the green part of the plant becomes strong.
Iron is important for the growth of tulips; without it, the leaves and stem turn yellow and the plant weakens. With a lack of magnesium, rusty spots appear on the leaves of the crop, and the plant begins to wither and die.
Lack of iron and magnesium immediately affects the appearance of the plant
Molybdenum is important for metabolic processes; without it, tulips are susceptible to chlorosis.
When suffering from chlorosis, the color of a part of the plant changes
The lack of each of these substances leads to a deterioration in the condition of the green and flowering parts of the plant. It is important to prevent an excess of minerals - the crop will begin to hurt and the bulbs will stop forming.
It is better to use complex mineral fertilizers, such as Kemira Universal, as fertilizers. The irrigation solution is prepared according to the instructions.
Folk remedies
Immediately after the snow melts, the beds with tulips are shed with a solution of mullein and water in a ratio of 1:10. The nutrient liquid stimulates the awakening of the bulbs.
Baker's yeast (1 small packet per bucket of water) can accelerate the growth of early varieties of tulips. The solution is made on the basis of warm liquid, and it is poured over the emerging sprouts in the spring.
Sugar (1 tbsp.), diluted in warm water (0.5 l.), accelerates the growth of the green part of the plant. The solution can also awaken bulbs that have not hatched for a long time. Sugar water is poured over the sprouted tubers at the root.
What fertilizers to apply for tulips
For fertilizing, complex purchased fertilizers are used or the necessary microelements are added separately. In spring, nitrogen and potassium are especially important to prepare the plant for flowering.
How to fertilize tulips in spring
The first time fertilizing is applied immediately after the snow melts. Dry fertilizers can be scattered in a thin layer over the flower bed and incorporated into the ground by shallow loosening. Humus is suitable for these purposes. It is taken at the rate of 5 kg per 1 sq. m and dig up the soil, then moisten the soil with a watering can.
Dry rotted organic matter is mixed with soil until smooth.
Feeding tulips in the spring with urea is carried out as follows: 30 g of the substance is dissolved in a bucket of water, and the liquid is spilled over the beds with hatching bulbs.
It is good to fertilize tulips with ash in the spring while the ground is damp from snow. To do this, 20 g of ammonium nitrate is mixed with a glass of wood ash. This amount of fertilizer is enough for 1 square. m. Dry fertilizer is sprayed onto moist soil and dug shallowly.
A mixture of boric acid and zinc stimulates the formation of buds well. Apply it at the root or spray the green part of the plant. To prepare a nutrient solution, take 10 g of boric acid and zinc and dissolve them in 10 liters of water.
As soon as the tulips begin to grow in the spring, the process of laying buds will begin, and fertilizing with azophoska will be needed. This drug is also called nitroammophoska.
Complex fertilizer, granulated, contains nitrogen and phosphorus
The granules are scattered over a flower bed with tulips, the soil is loosened, then watered abundantly. After planting the buds, irrigation should be reduced, otherwise waterlogging can lead to rotting of the root system.
In the process of feeding tulips in the spring during budding, you can spray them with a complex preparation - Plantafol.It is taken at the rate of 20 ml per 1.5 liters of water.
The fertilizer contains all the necessary microelements for lush and long-lasting flowering.
During the flowering period, it is better to use purchased complex preparations: Kemira, Planta, Gera. Their composition is balanced; only the microelements it needs in the right quantity will reach the rhizome of the plant.
You can replace ready-made additives with the following composition: 15 g of potassium nitrate, 30 g of superphosphate, 10 g of urea.
All substances are granular, they are easy to mix and sprinkle on the soil in a tulip flower bed. This amount of fertilizer is taken per 1 square. m.
The dry mixture is sprayed only onto moist soil; it should not be allowed to come into contact with the green part of the plant.
2 weeks after flowering it is necessary to carry out another feeding. It stimulates the formation of high-quality planting material. To prepare it, take 1 tsp. potassium sulfate and 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate, dissolved in a bucket of water. To water one plant you will need 0.5 liters of liquid.
How to fertilize tulips in autumn
During the autumn fertilizing process, the main necessary microelements are also added to the soil: phosphorus and potassium. The substances are added to dug up, well-loosened soil 3 weeks before planting the bulbs.
For 1 sq. m will need rotted manure (at least 10 kg), you can replace it with humus. The bed is dug up along with the nutrient substance.
In autumn, you can add a glass of wood ash or dolomite flour to the soil.
A ready-made mineral fertilizer intended for bulbous crops is suitable for enriching autumn soil.It is taken at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. per 1 sq. m.
Phosphorus and potassium are also added to the planting furrows. These microelements contribute to the establishment of a strong root system and increase the resistance of planting material to diseases and adverse weather conditions.
In fertilized soil, tulip bulbs take root better and easily tolerate frosts, temperature changes, and prolonged winter periods.
How to fertilize tulips
Caring for bulbous crops begins in early spring, as soon as the snow melts.
There is no point in scattering dry fertilizers over the ice crust, since it melts unevenly
Dry areas of land will be overly saturated with microelements, while those covered with snow simply will not receive them, because of this, germination and flowering may be uneven.
For feeding, only well-rotted manure is used; ideally, it should remain in the manure heap for at least 3 years. The same recommendation applies to humus: its “ripening” period should be at least a year.
Fertilizers are watered at the roots using a watering can without a sprayer; many fertilizers are harmful to the above-ground part of the plant and can simply burn it.
Water tulips with complex fertilizers only on damp soil. This will protect the rhizome of the crop from burns and increase the absorption of nutrients.
In autumn, do not use fertilizers with nitrogen, as they stimulate growth and abundant flowering. Their time is spring.
Useful tips
Experienced gardeners advise always following the recommendations of the fertilizer manufacturer and not exceeding the dosage.
Other recommendations:
- Complex fertilizers are purchased only for flowering bulbous crops.
- It is important to separate autumn and autumn feedings; their composition and dosage differ.
- Before applying fertilizer, tulips and the soil around them are watered abundantly.
- Do not allow water and liquid fertilizers to get on the leaves - this leads to burns.
- It is important to maintain an interval of at least 5 days between applying different types of fertilizing.
- If after flowering you feed the tulip with zinc or boron, this will stimulate the growth of daughter bulbs.
Timely feeding of tulips in the spring will stimulate their abundant and regular flowering.
Conclusion
Feeding tulips in spring is the most important agricultural procedure for flowering crops. Correctly applied fertilizers will strengthen the plant and will not give diseases a single chance. The main goal of fertilizing is to achieve abundant and long flowering, to keep the stems and leaves of plants juicy and green.
