How often to water tulips? Do I need to change the water in a vase for cut tulips daily? Is there a time when I shouldn't water tulips? An essential aspect of growing fresh tulips is water. Too little or too much can be detrimental to the plants. Read on to learn more, and we will cover a large amount of info about how to successfully water your tulips.
You should water your tulips on a weekly basis. Tulips need 17mm or 2/3 of an inch of water per week, particularly in later winter and early spring, to help the plant prepare to flower. Unless drought conditions are in place, tulips need minimal supplemental watering. If you live in a snow state, it is likely you will not need to water but will need to ensure drainage to prevent rotting.
Many things can affect how much water tulips need. Location, soil drainage, sunlight, rainfall, or snowfall measurements can all affect tulip's ability to thrive. In this article, we will help you discover the best ways to measure amounts of water to achieve fresh tulips blooms. So, keep reading.
Planting Tulips
The area in which you plant can affect the amount of water needed. According to The Old Farmers Almanac, tulips need a planting area that has full sun or afternoon sun. But just as important to light requirements is soil that drains efficiently. Excessive water or standing water will cause your tulips to rot.
To discover tips on planting tulips read our article on when and where to plant tulips.
Full Sun, Well-Drained Soil
Soil preparation can go a long way in helping the soil to drain, ensuring fresh tulips in spring. If the planting site is struggling to remove water, creating loose porous soil is pretty simple. If you have a heavy clay soil adding compost, sawdust, or other humus-rich substances will help the earth around the bulbs roots stay loose and drain excess water, which in turn protects your bulbs.
Do You Water Tulips After Planting?
Similarly, to a lot of flowering plants, tulips need watering after planting. All bulbs need water to trigger growth, and with tulips, it is a delicate balance. They need some water to trigger growth, and tulips, like most of us, dislike wet feet.
According to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, excessive water over the summer will rot and or kill tulips. If you do plant your tulips in a place that needs watering, a good rule of thumb is to water your tulips once a week; if you get rain on that spot, you can skip watering that week.
Measuring Water Amounts
By using a rain gauge and keeping a detailed log, you can accurately measure and log the rain and supplemental water in specific areas of your garden.
The Acurite Magnifying rain gauge is perfect for easily tracking rainfall to give your gardens just the right amount of liquid.
Click this link to visit the product page on Amazon to purchase the Acurite Magnifying Rain Gauge.
There are even a few whimsical rain gauges like gnomes, butterflies, and other fun garden decors.
Click this link to go to the Amazon product page for this adorable gnome rainfall gauge.
Low Maintenance Flower Bulbs
Tulips, once planted, are straightforward to maintain. After the first planting and watering, the most challenging part might be to sit and wait over the winter for that first bud of green foliage in spring.
Planting & Watering, Over Tulips
In our post, "Where Can I Plant Tulips In My Garden." you will learn more about how planting or sowing over top of tulips and watering affects tulips growing and blooming patterns.
Do Tulips Need A Lot Of Water (compared to other flowers)?
On average flowering plants need 1 inch or 25.4mm of water. Tulips need two- thirds of an inch of rain or 17mm. In general, tulips require less water than most flowering plants. Over-watering any plant can lead to decay and rot.
Comparatively, daffodils which also bloom in early spring take around one inch per week. Petunias, which are an early spring annual, require 1 inch of water per week. So, the difference is noticeable, and tulips need less water than most other flowering plants.
When To Stop Watering Tulips?
After the flower blooms and dies, stop watering the tulips. Cut the flower head off, then leave the foliage and stem to dry. The Old Farmers Almanac recommends leaving green foliage for six weeks, cutting it only after it has yellowed and died off. Leaving the greens of the plant to dry allows the nutrients from the stem to drain down and energize the bulb, allowing it to prepare and store energy for the next years flowering.
How Much Water Do Tulips Need In A Vase?
Amazon sells beautiful bouquets of cut tulips. Click here to visit the Amazon product page for cut tulips.
When watering cut tulips in a vase, The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm suggests trimming stems, filling a vessel with fresh cold water, repeating the process every few days to ensure beautiful fresh blooms. Avoiding adding things to the water, or applying something to the stems that might plug them from receiving water.
Forcing Tulips - Growing indoors
There is a unique way to force tulips to grow indoors. Comparably to growing tulips outside, tulips that are grown indoors do not like too much water. We found this unique acrylic vase on Amazon.
Click here to see the Royal Imports Vase on its Amazon product page.
To prevent overwatering, use glass beads or pebbles to keep the bottom of the bulb out of the water. Then use more stones or beads around the bulbs for stability. As needed, you can add water keeping the level just below the bottom of the tulips bulb.
Potting pebbles are available on the Amazon product page by clicking this link.
If you want to keep the focus on the bulbs, roots, and tulips, the CYS glass beads on Amazon are a great way to prevent water from rotting forced tulip bulbs.
To view the CYS Excel product page on Amazon, click this link.
Remember Don't Drown You Tulips
After a thorough discussion, we have covered various ways and methods to create soil drainage, measure water, how to prevent rot, and decay, and all-around help your tulips to survive weeks of freezing weather and snow. Thus tulips can make us all smile in spring.
Leave a comment and tell us if you have ever forced tulips to grow indoors? What makes you love tulips? Did you plant tulips this fall, if so what variety? Don't forget to tell us your tulip growing tips, so we can all enjoy more natural planting, watering, and enjoy the blooms.
