If you follow the proper steps, it is possible to grow certain types of plants from cut flowers. Two examples are roses and lilacs.
As a gardener, you’re clearly wondering whether you can do this with tulips. If you have cut tulips, can you plant them and make them grow in the garden?
As a tulip enthusiast, I once wondered the same thing.
So, can you grow tulips from cut flowers? You cannot grow tulips from cut flowers because tulip roots only come from the bulb. Without the tulip bulb, there cannot be roots. While tulips can grow from seed, it takes at least 3 years. Planting bulbs in the fall for spring flowers is a much better option.
Now you know planting bulbs is a must if you want tulips, you should know the proper way to go about it. Below we’ll discuss what you need to know about tulip propagation in your garden.
Do you want to keep tulips in a pot? You’ll also learn about potted tulips and how to care for them as well as other helpful tulip information.
A Better Method for Tulip Propagation
You won’t be able to make cut tulips take root and grow in the soil. Any seeds from cut tulips are highly unlikely to be viable. Additionally, growing tulips from seed takes an extended period of time.
When bulbs are planted in the ground and tulips grow, they reproduce. In other words, each bulb will grow new small bulbs. This is how tulips try to propagate themselves.
While this is natural, if you don’t intervene in this process, your tulips will get overcrowded, and overcrowding will cause poor growth and poor plant health.
Dividing bulbs is the process of temporarily removing bulbs, separating the new bulbs from the original ones, and getting all the bulbs ready for replanting.
Let’s take a step-by-step look at how to divide tulip bulbs and replant them.
1. Dig Up the Bulbs
You must be extremely careful with this process, especially if you’ve never done it before. That is because you could end up damaging the bulbs.
Don’t use a shovel when doing this. You should use a garden fork instead. This will cut down on the chance you’ll cut the bulbs.
Remember to avoid damaging the tiny bulbs on the perimeter of the bulb. Over the course of a year, the original bulb will have grown these new small bulbs.
2. Take the New Bulbs Off the Original One
Use a gentle hand when removing the new tiny bulbs from the original one you planted.
3. Dig Holes 5 Inches Apart
Leave between 4 and 6 inches between each hole you dig in the ground. Each hole should be between 6 and 8 inches deep.
4. Plant the Tulip Bulbs
Put one tulip bulb in each of the holes. Keep the bulbs in a side-up orientation when you plant them. After you’ve added the soil covering, thoroughly pat down the soil until it’s firm. After that, do a thorough watering.
5. Add Mulch
Add about 2 inches of mulch on top of the planting areas. Use an organic mulch material, such as wood chips, evergreen boughs, chopped leaves, or shredded bark.
Using mulch will help regulate soil moisture and cut down on weed growth. Mulch will also stop heavy rainfall from bringing unwanted material to your tulips.
How To Care for Potted Tulips
It’s not just outdoors where you can enjoy colorful tulips. Did you know you can keep potted tulips indoors? You can keep tulips indoors healthy and vibrant, but you’ve got to do it the right way.
1. Use a Pot With Good Drainage
Any pot you use for tulips must have excellent drainage. This plant is prone to developing mold problems. If there is too much moisture in the soil, your tulips will probably end up with mold.
2. Choose a Sunny Spot
You’ll need a window with lots of sun for your potted tulips. Without enough sun, this plant isn’t likely to do well.
3. Never Overwater
While tulips kept in a pot indoors need a bit more watering than ones outdoors, never go overboard. Just give your indoor potted tulips enough water to make the soil moist, never wet.
In most cases, you should water one or two times a week.
Don’t miss out on my full guide How To Successfully Grow Tulips Indoors. You’ll learn about the best varieties to grow, forcing bulbs, and more!
How Long Do Potted Tulips Last?
After your potted tulips bloom, you can expect them to last between 15 days and a month. Before that, of course, you’ll have to wait eight to 16 weeks for the flowers to bloom.
If you’re like many gardeners, you’ll probably only expect your tulips to last for one year. If you want potted tulips blooming the following year, the most reliable method is to plant new bulbs.
Do Potted Tulips Rebloom?
Your potted tulips probably won’t rebloom. Growing tulips in a pot, especially indoors, means the plants aren’t in ideal conditions.
This stressful environment prevents them from collecting the energy they need to rebloom.
How To Care for Potted Tulips After They Bloom
After you see your potted tulips have bloomed, increase the amount of sun your tulips get. If you can give them full sun, go ahead and do so.
Once the blooms are spent, remove them by cutting them off. This will stop energy being wasted as the plants try to sustain the stalks. You should also add new soil to the pot as well as fertilizer.
Related Questions:
What Do Tulip Seeds Look Like?
Tulips seeds are quite small and have an oblong, flat shape. They are usually a shade of brown, though both size and color will vary between different varieties.
It’s usually advised to plant bulbs to successfully grow tulips as tulip seeds take a very long time to grow.
How Many Types of Tulips Are There?
While there are 14 primary tulip groups, the varieties within them come to 3,000.
The numerous types vary in terms of appearance, size, color, bloom time, etc., but they are all striking in their own way.
Some, however, are more unusual than others, like the ice cream tulip and the ice cream banana tulip.
Conclusion
As we’ve learned here, you cannot grow tulips from cut flowers. However, you can grow tulips from bulbs in your garden or in a pot. You’ll have success if you do this the right way.
Spending just a few minutes dividing and replanting bulbs each year ensures that you’ll have cheerful blooms to look forward to come springtime.
Sources:
https://www.thespruce.com/is-it-necessary-to-divide-spring-bulbs-1402236
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/garden-tips-thinning-tulip-bulbs-28148.html
https://www.almanac.com/plant/tulips
https://gardening.yardener.com/Caring-For-Tulips
https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/gardening/tulip-care
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/tulips/watering-tulip-bulbs.htm
https://plantophiles.com/plant-care/how-long-do-potted-tulips-last/
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/bgen/forced-bulbs-in-pots-yearly.htm