If you want to please yourself or your loved ones by March 8, the best option is to distill the tulips. What could be better than bright and tasty flowers smelling of freshness for the beloved Russian holiday? Distillation for the holiday is a set of activities that aims to achieve flowering plants in an unusual period. On how to make a distillation of tulips by March 8, we will talk further.
- Bulbs of tulips for distillation - how to prepare
- Planting tulips for March 8
- Tulips after forcing - what to do
The advantage of these flowers is that they grow well even with artificial lighting. Tulips are relatively easy to give in to such a process at home, but in order for the result to be pleasing, it is necessary to correctly select the tulip varieties for distillation, and to prepare them correctly.
содерж to the content ↑Tulip bulbs for distillation - how to prepare
Before you choose varieties of tulips for distillation, you need to carefully examine their classes, color options, stem height, flowering time, resistance to disease of this variety. For the forcing of flowers, bulbs weighing 20 g and more will be suitable for March 8.One of the most popular varieties of tulips that are suitable for forcing are London, Diplomat, Vivex, Hamilton, Parak and Eric Hofsieh, as well as varieties of Darwin hybrids.
It is necessary to prepare the bulbs for forcing before they are dug, that is, when they are still growing. The quality of tulip bulbs depends on the soil where they were grown. It is very important that it contains all the necessary minerals, nutrients - nitrogen, magnesium, calcium. If there is a nitrogen deficiency in the soil, the buds will be small, and the flower stalks are weak. A lack of the other two substances will cause the flower to wilt.
In addition, on the second or third day of the flowering of a tulip, a flower should be broken off without touching the leaves. Such an action will improve the quality of the bulbs, significantly reduce the percentage of blind buds obtained during distillation. Mark with a color ribbon or tag those tulips that you decide to leave for distillation.
If you want to get the flowers by the New Year, you can dig out the bulbs as soon as the leaves start to turn yellow, and if by March 8, you need to wait until the yellowing part of the flower is approximatelyby 2/3.
After digging the tulip bulbs, organization occurs in them, that is, the budding of flower buds, the accumulation of active substances. They are put in storage in a dry dark room and kept for a month at a temperature of + 20 ° C.Beginning in the second half of August, as a rule, stamen, pistil, and perianth are already formed inside - this stage is called “stage C”.
Then the temperature needs to be slightly reduced( to + 17 ° C), and the bulbs should be stored for another 1-2 weeks. This helps to increase the length of the peduncle, the tulip flower itself.
In September, bulbs should be placed in a room with a low temperature. Since, under natural conditions, flowers begin to bloom after the winter cold, it is necessary to self-cool, thereby ensuring the blooming of tulip buds when needed. 
There are two main technologies:
- storage at + 5 ° С or + 9 ° С.This option provides for the cooling of the bulbs at a temperature of + 5 ° C for 12 weeks. This option is optimal for use in urban environments. After cooling, they need to land in boxes, move to where it is warm, there is access to the light. Buds approximately appear in 5-7 weeks;
- storage of bulbs at a temperature of + 9ºС.You can keep them in the fridge on the lower shelves for the first 6 weeks if it is too warm for now. It should be borne in mind that tulip bulbs cannot be stored together with fresh fruit that produce ethylene harmful to plants. After that, they are planted in boxes, put in the cellar, where the desired temperature was established - + 9 ºС.The advantage of this cooling option is that the tulips will be brighter, higher, larger, in addition, lower the risk of obtaining low-quality flowers.
Planting tulips by March 8
Landing for distillation The moment when they bloom directly depends on when to plant tulips for distillation. To buds began to bloom on March 8, the bulbs need to be planted in early October. The substrate can be sand, peat, garden soil, sawdust, perlite, etc. You can not take the greenhouse earth, because the likelihood of infection of tulips. The substrate must be selected so that it allows air to pass through and is moisture-intensive. Very many pros involved in forcing tulips, use for these rotten sawdust. Capacities can also be different: boxes, containers, ceramic pots - it depends on the number of flowers you want to grow by March 8.
Distillation of tulips in the greenhouseOn top of them it is better to sprinkle with the substrate so that the tops either cover a little or are above the surface. Too close to each other or to the edges of the box can not be planted bulbs, becauseThis will lead to curvature of flower stalks and the appearance of a large number of blind buds. To the corners of the boxes should be nailed legs with a height of about 15 cm, so that tulips can grow freely. The bulbs need a lot of moisture, so they need to be watered well, try to keep the humidity around 80%.If it is smaller, the buds of tulips will be small and with twisted petals, if more - there is a chance of mold.
Containers with bulbs can be placed in a refrigerator, basement or cellar, the storage temperature should be at + 9 ° C.It will gradually decrease indoors, the technology of forcing out tulips by March 8 will allow for temperatures of 0 - + 2 ° С.The rooting period( depending on the variety) is 14–20 weeks.
As soon as February comes, and the height of the shoots becomes about 5 cm, the boxes with them must be moved to a room with a temperature regime of about + 18 ° С with good lighting.
By changing the temperature, you can adjust the timing of forcing tulips by March 8.If the buds began to appear earlier, then you need to lower the temperature by 2 degrees, and if, on the contrary, they do not bloom for a long time, increase by the same amount.
The illumination must be at least 1000 lux, otherwise the percentage of blind buds obtained will be very large. For comparison, in sunny weather outside the light reaches 10,000 - 100,000 lux. With artificial lighting, it is optimal to use incandescent lamps( 100 W / m²) or, for example, fluorescent lamps( 40 W / m²).
The planting of tulips for distillation by March 8 was completed, but did the flowers appear ahead of schedule? There is a simple solution: you need to cut the flowers when they are colored, but have not yet blossomed, put them in the water with snow, put them in storage with a temperature of + 2 ° C.You can also cut the plants again before the buds bloom, wrap in paper, put in the refrigerator. So flowers can retain their freshness for several weeks.
содерж to content ↑Tulips after forcing - what to do
Can I use tulip bulbs after forcing? Of course! They do not need to throw away!
If after all the tulips, designed for forcing, have faded, disassemble at least one onion, you will see that there are several small onions inside. While they are not yet fully formed, that is, they need time to mature.
Therefore, you need to wait until the leaves remaining after cutting begin to change their color, for example, turn yellow or turn brown. Then it is best to remove them from the boxes, clean them from the ground and leave them to dry, to ripen. These tulip bulbs are planted in the fall, along with others intended for planting in open ground. Large bulbs that have formed( replacement bulbs) will bloom in spring, and medium and small bulbs will gain strength for flowering in the following seasons.
Tulips after distillationThere they will be formed. Then they are dug together with others that grew, bloomed in open ground. They ripen like any other - by the fall the upper skin will dry, and the onion tulips will ripen. Plant them in the open ground in the fall along with everyone. 
