How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

For Russian flower growers, this is a fairly new way. But in Europe, the cultivation technology “without land” has long established itself on the positive side. Moreover, it is most popular in the northern countries.

For example, in Holland, almost everything is planted in a nutrient aqueous solution: from greens to legumes and berries. And in the Netherlands, the vast majority of export flowers are grown in this way.

At home, such volumes, of course, cannot be achieved. But using the experience of professionals, you can quickly and without hassle grow beautiful flowers.

Technology for distilling tulips in hydroponics

Hydroponics is a special type of cultivation for garden and horticultural crops, in which the plants are not planted in the ground, but are fed with a special solution. The rest of the technology is very similar to conventional distillation. To plant the bulbs in the solution, containers will be needed, and the preparatory stage includes a preliminary stratification of the planting material.

The main difference from classical methods is the long cooling period of the bulbs and strict adherence to the rules of care. In addition, the grower will need perseverance, knowledge in the field of agricultural technology, strict compliance with the recommended amounts of nutrients and strict adherence to certain intervals. For a beginner, this may seem like a tricky business. But having mastered the basic technological tricks, it will become much easier to get tulips distilled in this way.      

Advantages and disadvantages

As in any agrotechnical direction, there are pluses and minuses here. Indisputable advantages:

  • Convenience. Less effort is required for maintenance, since there is no need to transfer the soil;
  • Saving. The boxes, taking into account the annual disinfection, are reusable;
  • Saving space. The nutrient solution containers take up less space;
  • Purity. Not covered with soil, the planting material remains clean;
  • Quality. This technique allows you to get longer peduncles, which makes it possible to obtain a high “yield” using undersized flowers;
  • Speed. Provides earlier results, thus shortening the life of the greenhouse.

Forcing on hydroponics has a marketable appearance within a week after placing the bulbs in the greenhouse. In addition, this method can be easily converted to semi-automatic or automatic mode.

How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

However, along with numerous advantages, this type of agricultural technology also has serious disadvantages:

  • You will need special containers;
  • Dry and ventilated room for long-term storage of planting material;
  • Constant control of the temperature regime in the room for rooting bulbs;
  • Plants become more vulnerable to diseases: roots darken, leaves droop;
  • Thorough disinfection of the equipment is required.

Also, using this technique, you will have to be more careful about the type of tulip and its varietal qualities. Tall flowers can give an even longer stem, which will deteriorate the presentation of the flower.

Distillation procedure

Agrotechnical work goes through several stages, each of which has a clearly defined sequence. In this case, the lion’s share of the work is occupied by the preparatory stage. If during this period everything was done correctly, planting with tulips pleases with friendly flowering.

Cooling period

This is the most important stage, on which the quality of the future cut directly depends. For plants grown in water, the cooling period has several features:

  • The bulbs are dry cooled;
  • Due to the tendency to stretch the peduncles, the cooling time is shortened by a week from the same period when forcing in the ground;
  • Low-growing varieties are kept in the cold longer.

The room temperature for cooling will depend on your goals.

On average, the tulip stratification period lasts from late summer to early spring.

An approximate temperature plan is as follows:

  • August to late October 9 ° C;
  • Late October to mid-November 7 ° C;
  • Until early December 5 ° C;
  • Further cooling period takes place at a temperature of 1-2 ° C.

If planting is delayed, at the end of March, the storage room temperature is raised to 7 ° C or 9 ° C and the behavior of the planting material is monitored. With rapid root growth, it will again have to be dropped to 3 ° C.

If the distillation is scheduled for an earlier date, the temperature in the storage facility may not drop below 5 ° C throughout the entire period. At this temperature, the entire rooting period should also take place. It starts from the moment the plants are planted in water.

For storage at home, you can use a dry basement or a cool pantry. To change the temperature conditions, the planting material will have to be moved to warmer (colder) rooms. Or install a climate control system. The latter option is only profitable for mass cultivation.

Planting bulbs in containers

To get a high-quality cut, the tulip must always be in an upright position.

Special fixing systems help support the plant. Today there are two types of them. Depending on the planting container, the planting of the bulbs also has its own nuances.

For example, the Dutch hydrocontainer is equipped with a special gentle lock. It does not injure the bulbs and holds them securely in one position. Bulbs can be planted in such containers immediately before cooling, and at the right time, simply fill the container with water.

However, the Dutch design also has its drawbacks: the holder in the container is designed for one bulb size. It is most often used for cultivation in automated systems with circulation of an aqueous solution.  

How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

At home, standard containers with bayonet latches and drain holes are more popular. The bayonets allow you to securely fix the bulbs of any size, and the drain holes prevent the planting material from locking. After all the bulbs are secured, the container is placed on an external water collection box. The size of one prefabricated structure is only 40 * 60 cm.

The main disadvantage of such containers is damage to the planting material.

A bulb whose integrity has been compromised is more susceptible to fungal diseases.

Therefore, the premises and equipment when disembarking in such structures require careful processing. The landing itself must be done as quickly as possible so that the damaged edge does not have time to weather before it enters the water.

If desired, specialized containers can be replaced with plastic mesh crates and an appropriately sized outer box. But this is not advisable for two reasons, especially for beginners:

  1. Firstly, the root shoots will grow through the holes in the box and it will be difficult to get the bulb painlessly.
  2. Secondly, it is difficult to control the required water level.

Solution supply

Water is poured into containers to a certain level, so that only the bottom of the onion is in the water. This system stimulates root growth and keeps the bulb body dry and firm.

The water level should be checked regularly and water topped up if necessary.

it is recommended to completely change the solution 1-2 TIMES DURING DISCONTINUATION.

When choosing a circulation system, it is much easier to maintain the general requirements for all bulbs at once. But, it is worth considering that with the flow-through method, fungal diseases will also be transmitted to all plants in the watering chain.

Rooting period

The duration of the period of emergence of the root system may vary depending on the variety, but always takes place at low temperatures – no higher than 5 ° C. On average, with early distillation, the duration is no more than 4 weeks. For late planting, the plants take about 2 weeks to take root.

How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

The selection of planting material will help speed up the process. Bulbs with swollen roots take root faster. If within 14 days the plant has not given roots, it should be removed, as there is a high probability of “flooding”.

Forcing in the greenhouse

Rooting is considered successful when the roots are approximately 4 cm long and the stems grow 6 cm. After that, the forcing seedlings are transferred to the greenhouse along with the hydroponic boxes.

How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

Further growth takes place at high humidity (up to 85%) and an air temperature of 17 ° C. With the correct development of seedlings, the root system should constantly increase. The roots remain white throughout the forcing period. If the root system and the water in the crate have turned brown, the solution must be completely renewed.

Cleaning and storage

You can admire beautiful tulips already after a month. A plant ready for harvesting should have a fresh look, dense and strong stems, closed buds. Collecting flowers is easy. To do this, you need to pull the plant up with a little effort.

How to grow tulips hydroponically at home

The collected material is packed in tight paper bags. The storage should not be exposed to sunlight and the air temperature should not exceed 2 ° C. If these rules are observed, the grown tulip will lie for 1,5 months. Otherwise, the concrete will open and the bulbs will be infected with gray mold.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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