Cultivation techniques of Tulip

Tulip (Tulipagesneriana), also known as dry lotus, Liliaceae, Tulip. It is a world-famous bulb flower. The vigorous and straight flower stem stretches out from the beautiful and elegant leaves and holds a wine glass-like flower at the top. It is rich in color, beautiful and dignified, and can be used as potted flowers, cut flowers and garden flowers. The main producing country, the Netherlands, is regarded as the national flower.

(1) morphological characteristics and varieties

The bulb is conical and the skin membrane is brown. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, pink-green. The flower stem is 30 cm ~ 50 cm high, with one terminal flower and two rare flowers. Flowers erect, cup-shaped, bowl-shaped, egg-shaped, lily-shaped, mostly single, but also double. There are red, orange, yellow, purple, black, white and complex colors. The fruit is cylindrical and trigonous. The seeds are flat.

There are many varieties cultivated in horticulture, according to incomplete statistics, there are about 8000 at present, and they are often divided into the following types according to their characters and flower color.

1. Early flowering species have short stems and leaves, small flowers, rich colors, single or double, flowering from March to April, mostly used for potted plants.

2. Darwin tulip plant is taller, late flowering species. Strong in nature, the best species cultivated in the open field, the flower wheel is huge, the flower color is rich, most of them are monochromatic, only the base is slightly colored, and the petals are broad oval and round at the top.

3. The late flowering species of Mayflower tulips blooming in early May, similar in shape to Darwinian tulips, but with more sharp petals and slender stems.

4. when spotted, the leaves have yellow silver edges or stripes, bloom at the same time as the early flower species, and the flowers are white, yellow, red and so on.

(2) Ecological habits

Originated in the Mediterranean coast and Central Asia and other places, currently the most popular cultivation in the Netherlands. Due to the climate of the Mediterranean, tulips adapt to the climate characteristics of humid winter and dry and hot summer. Dormant in summer, rooting in autumn and winter, and sprouting new buds, but not unearthed, stems and leaves should be formed by elongation and growth around the first ten days of February of the following year after low temperature in winter, and bloom from March to May. A single flower blooms for 10-15 days and is a premature stamen. The suitable temperature in the growing period was 11C~15C. After harvest in the middle and last ten days of June, the bulbs completed flower bud differentiation during digging and storage. The temperature range of flower bud differentiation is 9C~28C. Sandy loam with good drainage and rich in humus is required.

(3) methods of reproduction

The main method is to divide balls and reproduce. In the first and middle of June, the dormant bulbs were dug up, stored according to size, and planted from October to November. The larger bulbs blossom in the next spring, and most of the smaller bulbs need to be cultured for 2 years before they can blossom. The seedlings that do not reach flowering have only one leaf, which can blossom when the second leaf occurs.

Seeds can be used in cross breeding. Seeds do not dormant, but low temperature is needed for germination. the suitable low temperature is about 5C, germination is delayed above 10C, and no germination is above 25C. Under suitable conditions, the germination rate can reach more than 90%. It can germinate 40-45 days after sowing. After germination, the seedlings were transferred to 23C after about 70 days at 13C, which could accelerate the ripening of bulbs. In Nanjing area, the cold frame was sown in autumn in November, and the natural low temperature in winter was used to sprout in mid-February of the next spring. It takes about 135 days from germination to harvest. During dormancy in summer, bulbs were dug up and stored under 20C~25C, then planted in autumn, and flowered after 4 or 5 years of cultivation.

(4) cultivation techniques

1. Choose sandy loam or clay loam with sunny direction and good drainage, groundwater level 55 cm ~ 70 cm, PH6.5~PH7. The soil should be fully ploughed and applied with organic fertilizer before planting.

2. The depth and distance of planting depends on the size of the bulb, which is generally 2 times or slightly shallower than the height of the bulb. The spacing between rows of plants is generally 10X10 cm. It is necessary to adjust the soil moisture before planting, not dry or wet, no watering after planting and covering a thin layer of hay, so as to prevent soil consolidation and maintain soil moisture.

The planting time varies with the cultivation purpose, in order to make it bloom in the natural state of the flower bed layout and garden planting, generally planted in autumn; if it is used to promote the cultivation of fresh cut flower production, it should be determined according to the time on the market of fresh flowers. Those who are on the market from the middle of November to the first ten days of December need to be planted in the middle and last ten days of September. Generally, the facilitative cultivation is planted from late September to early October, and can be listed from early December to early January of the following year. Semi-facilitative cultivation is colonized from mid-October to mid-November and listed from mid-January to late March.

3. The requirement of water and fertilizer management is not high, but fertilizer should be applied in the soil with low soil fertility, and the fertilizer can be applied as base fertilizer at one time, such as mature compost and delayed granular fertilizer, but it is necessary to prevent direct contact with the bulb. If the base fertilizer is insufficient, some nitrogen fertilizer can be applied in spring. It is generally not necessary to water during the growth period, just keep the soil moist, and irrigate appropriately when the weather is dry.

4. when picking buds and cut flowers for the purpose of producing bulbs, the buds should be removed when they are colored, so as to reduce nutrient consumption and ensure bulb growth. It is not advisable to make buds before the dew is dry in the morning to prevent the spread of germs. For the purpose of producing cut flowers, they can be cut after the buds are fully colored, sorted according to height and size of flowers, and packaged. Cut flowers transported over long distances should be slightly withered before packaging, while those listed close to the market should fully absorb water before packing.