Tulips

Cultivation: Tulips need a dormant, quasi-hibernating stage in a cool climate and hence temperate climate of mountainous zones suit it rather well. At places where summers hit the town early and spring last longer than usual belting out zephyrs, tulips tend to grow better. Bulbs are planted during the fag end of summer and commencement of autumn. In porous soil, the bulbs are planted about 10 to 20 centimeters deep. Also, in those places where there are climactic variations, the plants settle for one bulb a year rather than myriad non-blooming ones. This way, the plants can be lively for a longer duration in warmer belts.

Propagation: Micro propagation, seeding and offsetting are the principal methods of propagating tulips. The first method uses plant tissue culture and ensures arithmetic multiplication of stocks thereby creating a large number of progenies. Through this method, propagation results in creation of adequate amount of plantlets from stock plant. Plants raised via seeds are unique in terms of their variation. Single early, double early, single late, triumph and Darwin are a few of the groups used for tulips. Those who run via the offsetting method need to pour in a little more time as a year is required before the plants are big enough to flower.

Varieties: Tulip has many variations and is resplendent in all its varieties. Single early tulips known for forcing and bedding have large blooms and are big. Double tulips are bi-petalled with long enduring blooms. Darwin tulips are longest and come in great many colors. There are many more varieties too. Lily flower tulips, vridiflora tulips, triumph, parrot and cottage tulips are a few more among the tulip diaspora. Greigii, fosteriana and kaufmanniana also present an illustrious fare. Double daffodils are also known to sparkle the tulip shows.

Disease and Cure: Botritis tulipae is a fungal disorder that is consequential in the rotting and decay of this beautiful flower. Tulip also suffers from black and blue molds, mushy decays, bacterial decay, blight and anthracnose. A Potyvirus in the Dutchland that was attributed to bestowing a wide array of colors to tulips also caused rotting in the flower. Variegation and multicoloring are also sometimes the result of some kind of disease in tulips.

Often the diseases are caused owing to high volumes of production and also negative tolerance towards environmental debilities. Charring the infected plants and sterilizing the adjoining areas can be among the best solutions for curing tulip disease. Outright prevention is hardly possible. Removal of foliage and abstaining form planting tulips in the same spot for a minimum of three years is also among the very best methods.