Planting tulip bulbs: when & how to plant tulips?

When to put tulip bulbs in the bed? Where and how to plant tulips correctly? And can you put tulip bulbs in a pot? We will answer all your questions about planting tulip bulbs.

Hardly any other flower arouses spring feelings in us as much as the tulip (Tulipa). It belongs to the lily family (Liliaceae) and provides wonderfully colourful accents in any garden. The flower originally came from the steppes of southeastern Europe and Asia, but nowadays it is also native to our temperate latitudes and it is hard to imagine our gardens without it. It does not make high demands on its location and still rewards its gardeners with a lush display of flowers. However, if you want to have a particularly long and vigorous flowering, you should consider some things when planting. In our article we will tell you when to plant tulips, in what location tulips feel most comfortable and how best to proceed when planting tulip bulbs.

The right time for planting tulip bulbs

When to plant tulips? This question is asked by many amateur gardeners. There are two ways to put tulip bulbs: either plant your tulips in the autumn or you can plant them in the spring.

For most tulip bulbs, it is better to plant in the autumn. Between the beginning of September and mid-November, you should put your favourite varieties of tulips in the bed. In order to give the bulbs an ideal start, it is important that the temperatures are already permanently below 10 °C – but no night frosts should be expected in the next week. Later on, winter frosts do not bother these colourful ornamental plants, in fact, the frost kills germs and pests in the soil, and the tulip bulbs are protected from rotting. In addition, soil moisture plays a significant role in the ideal planting time for tulip bulbs. Therefore, choose a day when the soil is neither too dry nor too wet.

Anyone who has neglected to plant their tulip bulbs in autumn need not despair. You can also plant your tulips in the spring from mid-May. The important thing here is that the bulbs are already pre-germinated. You can either buy already germinated tulip bulbs or pre-sprout them yourself.

The perfect planting time for tulip bulbs:

• Planting tulips in autumn: from September to mid-November
• Temperatures below 10 °C
• No night frosts
• Not too dry or too wet
• Plant tulip bulbs in the spring: From mid-May

The right location for tulips

Tulips do not make great demands on their location, but above all they like it as sunny and warm as possible. Plenty of sun promotes growth and flowering, and it also makes it easier for the bulbs to mature in the summer, allowing them to bloom profusely again the next year.

Tulips prefer to thrive in well-drained soils. If the soil in your garden is not up to scratch, you can simply mix in some sand when planting tulips. This loosens the soil and prevents waterlogging. This greatly reduces the risk of the tulip bulbs rotting. A pH between 6.5 and 7 is ideal for tulips.

The ideal location for tulips at a glance:

• Sunny and warm
• Permeable, airy soil
• Rich in nutrients
• Avoid waterlogging
• Ideal pH value: 6.5 to 7.0

Planting tulips in the bed: here is how to do it

Once the perfect location for your tulips in the garden is found, planting can begin. First, prepare the bed by loosening the soil well and removing weeds and stones. If the soil is too firm and not permeable enough, it is better to lay a drainage layer, for example, gravel. Now enrich the soil with a fertiliser with long-term action. Best suited for tulips is our Plantura Flower Food, which provides all the essential nutrients for the spring bloomers. If your soil is too acidic, you should also apply lime before planting to raise the pH.

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After that, dig planting holes and put the bulbs in them. It is important here that the shoot axis always points upwards. Finally, the planted tulip bulbs are covered with soil and watered.

Planting tulips: Step-by-step instructions

1. Loosen soil
2. If necessary, create a drainage layer
3. If the soil is too acidic, lime it
4. Work compost or fertiliser with organic long-term action into the soil
5. Dig a planting hole
6. Put tulip bulb into the planting hole so that the shoot axis of the tulip bulb points upwards
7. Cover with soil
8. Water

Planting and staking depth of tulip bulbs

An important question when planting tulips is how deep to plant tulip bulbs. Here you can follow a simple rule of thumb: Always place the tulip bulbs three times as deep as they are high measured along the shoot axis. But this applies only to planting in the autumn. With pre-pulled tulip bulbs, which are set in the spring, it is different. Here you should ensure that the top one to two centimetres of the tulip bulb protrude from the soil. The diameter of the planting hole should always be twice as wide as the tulip bulb. As for the planting distance, you should be guided by the size of the tulip variety. For small varieties, a planting distance of ten centimetres is enough, for larger varieties of tulips it can easily be up to 20 centimetres.

Rules of thumb for planting tulips:

• Width of the planting hole: twice as wide as the tulip bulb
• Planting depth: three times as deep as the bulb
• Planting distance: small tulip varieties ca. 10 cm, large tulips ca. 20 cm

Tip: Tulip bulbs planted in clusters will later produce a more lush picture in the garden than widely scattered tulips.

Planting tulips in a pot

Tulips can be planted in a pot without any problems. To do this, proceed in the same way as when planting tulips in the bed. Varieties with a relatively low growth height (maximum 30 centimetres) are particularly suitable for planting tulips in tubs. A well-known example is the multi-flowered wild tulip (Tulipa praestans) with a growth height of 15 to 20 centimetres. To plant tulip bulbs in pots, you should first create a drainage layer of clay shards or expanded clay in the pot. Then enrich the substrate with Plantura Flower Food with organic long-term action to create the best growing conditions for your tulips. Then the bulbs are planted in the pots, as described above.

Planting tulip bulbs in a pot at a glance:

• Choose small varieties of tulips
• Create a drainage layer in the pot
• Enrich substrate with Plantura Flower Food
• Fill pot two-thirds with substrate
• Place tulip bulbs in the pot with the shoot axis pointing upwards
• Cover with substrate
• Water

Flower Food, 1.5kg

• Perfect for flowering plants in the garden & on the balcony
• For healthier plants with beautiful & long-lasting blossoms
• Long-lasting fertiliser that is free from animal products - child & pet friendly

£9.99

Shop now!

Caring for tulips immediately after planting

Tulips are very frugal and require little care. It is important to regularly provide the flowers with fertiliser and water them regularly during prolonged periods of drought. For lush flowering, tulips need the right fertiliser. When, how and with what you fertilise your tulips, you can read in our special articles.

Most varieties of tulips are perennial. We will give you tips on what to consider when storing and overwintering tulip bulbs.