Tulip Blooms 2021: How to grow Tulips in pots?

In my seven years of gardening experience, I always thought that Tulips were difficult flowers to grow especially in the cold and high altitude of the Darjeeling hills. 

This year because of my poor health condition I was unable to take good care of my flowers during the winters. However, to my surprise my tulips bloomed in spite of proper care that is needed for these flowers.

The #covid19 lockdown has really shown us the importance of having hobbies like gardening, cooking etc. Plus, gardening is really good for your mental and physical health and the natural environment. It also adds beauty to your home and enlivens your spirit when you watch your flower bloom. 

How to grow Tulips in pots?

Tulips are winter bulbs that are sown in the months of December till late January. I sowed mine in late January. 

You can buy tulip bulbs in the local nurseries or online stores. The same goes for compost if you are starting your hand at gardening for the first time. If you have a milkman 'dooodhwala'  who delivers milk to your house then you can ask him/her to sell you a small bag of matured cowdung. Cowdung is the primary fertilizer used in agriculture by farmers in my area. It is the best method of doing organic farming. 

Well back to the tulips. 

Once you have the bulbs then you will have to ready the pot  by mixing compost and a bit of river sand. Using only compost will cause water clogging as compost absorbs a lot of water. It also blocks the holes in your pots and creates water clogging. River sand  in the flower pot balances the water content in your pots as it allows good drainage. Ensure that there are enough holes on the bottom of your pots for preventing water clogging. Most plants do not tolerate water clogging. 

Make sure that there your soil is well aerated. This basically means that your soil should be light and fluffy with plenty of air spaces. 

Sowing the Tulip bulbs:

Sow the bulb 1 to 2 inches deep in the pot and cover loosely with soil. Do not press the soil from the top as they make the germination of the bulbs difficult. After sowing the bulb, water the plant once a week or once in a fortnight depending on the humidity conditions in your area. Overwatering will cause your bulbs to rot and die. So observe the soil moisture carefully allowing the soil to be moist, meaning that the soil should neither be too wet or dry. Using a spraying bottle is also an excellent idea for moistening your soil. 

Tip: Use a well draining pot with holes in the bottom to prevent water from clogging. Mix the river sand well with the compost. You can also add cocopeat but I don't use cocopeats as I make vermicompost at home. You can read about preparing compost at home in my other post. 

In two months or so you will see the shoot of the tulip bulbs appear on the soil. And from then on the plant starts to grow.

Once the plant is mature your Tulips will bloom in Spring. Again my tulips bloomed late because of the cold weather conditions in my area but they bloomed nonetheless. I you live in a warm place, usually the plains, then spring is the time for these flowers to bloom. 

So as you all know gardening is a cycle. This means that you will have to save the bulbs for next year. 

How to save the Tulip bulbs? 

Gardening, like life, is a cycle as they say in the song "The circle of life". So once this cycle is over you will have to prepare for the next. 

After  your tulips have bloomed, the plant then begins to wilt and die. Once the plant starts drying out stop watering the plants. After the plant has completely died off remove dead parts. Then, remove the bulbs completely from the soil and shake of excess dirt. Do not wash the bulbs or dry the bulbs in the sun as the bulbs may die because of the moisture or dryness. 

Wrap the bulbs in newspapers or straw and store it in a pot/container in a cool dry place until you sow it in the next season. 

The other method I use for storage is that I store the pots with the bulbs in them in a dry place without watering them until the next sowing season. The only risk associated with this is that sometimes your bulbs may rot. So best not to take the chance. 

You can share your experience or suggestion for improvements in the comments below. 

So good luck and happy blooms to you!

This post is part of ‘Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter'