Conventional Cultivation Techniques for Tulips and Pest and Disease Control Methods
Tulips are a flower variety loved by many flower enthusiasts, and the huge market prospects have led many flower farmers to plant tulips one after another. Below, the editor will tell you about the conventional cultivation techniques for tulips and pest and disease control.
Conventional cultivation: a cultivation method in which tulip bulbs are not subjected to cold treatment.
1. Soil preparation
Choose a sheltered, sunny, loose soil for planting; avoid heavy clay soil. Before planting, deeply plow the soil 35-40cm, disinfect the soil with 40% formaldehyde, and the soil pH should be between 6.5-7.5.
2. Planting
Planting is generally carried out in early to mid-November. Water before planting to ensure the soil is moist during planting. The planting depth is about 10-15cm, with the terminal bud facing upward and positioned straight.
Post-planting management: Water immediately after planting, which can lower soil temperature while increasing soil moisture, promoting root formation on the basal plate of the tulip bulb. Before winter arrives, be sure to water once with antifreeze water; generally no watering is needed in winter.
Bulbs that have overwintered will have all their seedlings emerge by mid to late March. During this stage, keep the soil moist and loosen the soil promptly after each watering to avoid soil compaction. When the seedlings have all emerged, apply 1 topdressing to ensure sufficient nutrients. At bud stage, spray 1 application of 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution to promote sturdy flower stems and vivid flower colors. Full bloom is reached around mid-April, and the flowering period generally lasts 6-7 days. After flowering, promptly cut off the flower stems and apply 1 more topdressing to promote bulb growth.
3. Disease control
1. Basal rot
Mainly harms the corm and roots. After infection, leaves turn yellow and wilt, and in severe cases wither and die. Infected bulbs have very few roots, and the base rots. During storage, infected bulbs appear turbid white, and the rotted base becomes hard and shriveled, sometimes appearing ringed.
Control method: Dig up bulbs as much as possible when the weather is dry and soil moisture is low. Within two days after digging, soak in 50% benomyl wettable powder 2000 times solution for 15-30 minutes to disinfect, then store in a cool, ventilated place.
2. Leaf spot
Mainly harms leaves, flowers and corms. Brown spots appear on affected parts of leaves and flowers, affected parts of flower stems rot easily, and when corms are affected, the outer scales rot and produce many black or dark brown sclerotia. The entire tulip plant becomes dwarfed and turns pale yellow. When affected at the seedling stage, plant growth becomes bent and eventually withers and dies.
Control method: Before cultivation, remove affected bulbs and soak the bulbs in 2% formaldehyde solution for 30 minutes. After removal, wash clean, air dry, and then plant. When disease occurs, spray a fungicidal solution for control.
3. Color-breaking petal virus disease
Mainly harms leaves and petals. After infection, the petals of the same flower vary in color depth, affected leaves develop lighter-colored spots or stripes, bulbs degenerate and become smaller, and the whole plant grows poorly and becomes deformed.
Control method: Select virus-free plants as propagation material, promptly remove diseased plants and control aphids, and when cutting flowers, heat-sterilize knives and scissors or wash them before use.
4. Stem rot
Mainly harms flower stems. It often occurs in double-flowered varieties. Affected by Phytophthora, the flower stem near or below the leaf axil shrinks, wilts, droops, and causes flower drop.
Control method: Plant bulbs in a sunny, well-ventilated location.
5. Sclerotium rot
Mainly harms seedlings and bulbs. After seedlings are infected, the young leaves die as soon as they emerge. After bulbs are affected, the outer scales undergo soft rot, and many white silky hyphae appear on the diseased parts and nearby soil surface, later forming many rapeseed-like sclerotia.
Control method: When diseased plants are found, promptly pull them out and burn them, and spray Bordeaux mixture at the same time.
6. Mosaic disease
Mainly harms flowers and leaves. After infection, leaves develop mosaic-like markings, petals develop dark spots, growth is inhibited, and corms do not grow large.
Control method: Use healthy bulbs and promptly control aphids.
7. Penicillium rot
Mainly harms bulbs. After bulbs are affected, green mold layers appear, and in severe cases the same symptoms also appear on the inner scales, forming brown sunken lesions that gradually rot, and finally appearing like rotten wood.
Control method: Ensure air circulation during storage, regularly sterilize with fungicidal smoke agents, and remove infected or injured bulbs as early as possible.
8. Blind buds
After damage, buds lose water, petals remain green, leaf tips turn white, and stamens and pistils curl up.
Control method: Carry out complete cold treatment, avoid extremely high temperatures during storage and transport and excessively high relative humidity in the greenhouse. Improper watering can also cause root asphyxiation. Promptly remove mold-infected bulbs from each batch of bulbs and improve ventilation conditions.
9. Damping-off
After onset, the upper part of the stem appears dark green and water-soaked, and finally the bud end of the stem droops. Black water-soaked spots appear between the 2nd leaf or the 3rd leaf, and these areas can secrete water droplets. In severe cases, watery substances can be seen on the epidermis.
Control method: Do not let the cold treatment temperature be too low, keep greenhouse relative humidity from being too high, ensure normal root growth, and do not let plants grow too quickly in high temperatures.
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Tulip pot cultivation methods and pest and disease control
How do you cultivate potted tulips? Many flower enthusiasts like to grow a pot of tulips at home; it not only decorates the home but is also pleasing to look at. Tulips are suitable for open-field planting, but the soil capacity in a flowerpot is limited and often cannot meet the needs of tulip growth. Therefore, when potting tulips, variety selection, substrate preparation, planting methods, and post-planting management are all very important. Below, let's learn together about potted tulip techniques and cultivation management, pest and disease control.
1 Tulip pot cultivation methods
1.1 Variety selection
There are many tulip varieties and rich types. For potting, it is advisable to choose short-statured varieties. Plants that are too tall have weak lodging resistance. Choose tulip bulbs that are brightly colored, with large and plump flowers, top-quality bulbs, full and plump, with no external wounds, corms that feel hard and heavy in the hand, free of pests and diseases, and with corms 10-12 cm in size.
1.2 Pots
There are many kinds of containers that can be chosen for tulips: plastic, porcelain, wooden, earthenware, from flower pots as large as 1-2 m to flowerpots as small as 10-15 cm, all can be used for planting. However, in terms of material, unglazed clay pots and plastic pots are best, and there must be drainage holes at the bottom. When some flowerpots are displayed and placed according to special needs, for aesthetics they can be slipped into plastic colorful pots of similar shape and various colors, depending on the specific need. Choosing the depth of the flowerpot is also very important. The quality of tulip root growth directly affects the flowering quality of tulips, because if the flowerpot is too shallow, it is not conducive to the root growth of tulip bulbs. Root growth is restricted, seriously affecting the roots' absorption of nutrients and water from the soil, and the plant becomes weak and slender with small flowers. Therefore, the depth of the flowerpot chosen is best 15-20 cm.
1.3 Potting soil
Choose well-drained, organic-rich peat soil or humus soil as the cultivation substrate. Mix garden soil, peat, and river sand in a ratio of 3:2:1, with a suitable pH value of 6.6-7. Soak the bulbs in 500 times carbendazim for 20-30 min to disinfect, then rinse clean with clear water, and plant the rinsed and dried bulbs in the flowerpot.
1.4 Planting method and density
First spread a small amount of gravel at the bottom of the pot to facilitate drainage, then put the prepared soil into the flowerpot. Before planting, in order to speed up tulip rooting, remove the brown skin around the root plate at the bottom of the bulb, then place the bulbs. The number of bulbs placed depends on the size of the flowerpot, and the distance between bulbs should preferably be 2-3 cm. Place the bulbs upright in the flowerpot with the bud tip facing upward, and cover the top of the bulbs with 5 cm of potting soil.
2 Cultivation management
It is best to finish planting tulips in early October, so that it basically coincides with the open-field planting time. Then place the flowerpots planted with tulips outdoors in the open field. According to the number and size of the flowerpots, dig trenches in the open field, place the flowerpots side by side into the trenches, keep the height of the trenches level with the top of the flowerpots, and backfill soil around them and in the gaps between pots. On the same day after planting, water the tulips evenly and thoroughly once. The principle is "water at the right time, water in the right amount." Water should not be applied too much or too frequently, otherwise the potting soil will be too wet and cause bulb rot. This period is the rooting stage of tulips, and the quality of watering directly affects tulip root growth. The substrate must not be too dry and can remain moist for a long time. The amount of watering should also depend on the specific situation, the weather, and the growth and development conditions at different stages. By early November, cover the pots with straw pieces for overwintering and cold protection. In the spring of the 2nd year, as temperatures rise, the surface begins to thaw. Remove the cold-protection straw curtains so that the backfilled soil can be removed and the flowerpots taken out, at about early April. Move the flowerpots to a ventilated and bright place. During high temperatures and strong sun or at noon, shade appropriately. Water in appropriate amounts depending on cloudy or sunny weather and temperature, and do not allow drought or waterlogging. Always keep the potting soil moist, and appropriately control water after flowering. During the tulip growth period, apply a dilute foliar fertilizer about once a week.
3 Pest and disease control of tulips
3.1 Penicillium rot
After injured bulbs are stored for a period of time, discoloration appears on the scales of the bulb, and green fungi cover the inside of the scales. Control method: Prevent bulbs from being damaged, maintain air circulation and ventilation when storing bulbs, and prohibit planting bulbs that have already been infected or injured.
3.2 Root rot
Some roots rot, and infected roots become waxy and cause the local soil around the roots to turn brown. Severe root rot will lead to flower wilting, producing broken flower pieces attached to shorter plants.
Control method: Before planting in continuous cropping land, disinfect the soil with chloropicrin. Disinfect bulbs with Robilon, ensure soil permeability, and avoid water accumulation. For the first 2 weeks after planting, ensure the soil temperature is below 10 °C and must not exceed 12°C.
3.3 Young bud brown spot
Orange-brown patches and streaks appear on the outside of young buds, with water droplets on these spots, as if there are gnawed marks. Symptoms do not develop further, and plants can usually flower normally, but the top leaves are damaged. Control method: Disinfect infected soil and spray mancozeb and anilazine, with a disinfection depth of 15 cm. Disinfect bulbs with Robilon and captan, and do not plant in continuous cropping with tomato, chrysanthemum, or cereal grain crops.
3.4 Gray mold
Bulbs become completely or partially soft, and a large number of black conidia are produced in the affected area. After the aboveground part is infected, the plant is fragile, and severely infected plants are very short or do not develop at all. Control method: Enhance substrate permeability, strengthen soil disinfection, treat bulbs with fungicide before planting, and promptly inspect and remove bulbs with growth disorders after planting.
3.5 Fusarium
During storage, gray-brown spots appear on infected bulbs, sometimes with concentric rings and obvious yellow edges. In humid environments, diseased bulbs are covered with white to pink fungi, have a peculiar smell, and release ethylene. Bulbs shrink, and when squeezed by hand, the inside makes a crackling sound. Control method: Store lightly infected bulbs properly and ensure normal storage temperature and humidity conditions. Field-infected bulbs should be removed as early as possible, otherwise they will release ethylene, thereby causing gummosis-like bud splitting, bud necrosis, and flower blight. Bulbs must be disinfected before planting. When planting, the soil temperature should be below 10 °C and must never exceed 13 °C.
3.6 Soft rot
Bulbs rot and become muddy, forming white slimy matter. First the leaf tips turn pale red, and afterward the entire leaf discolors and withers. Control method: Disinfect bulbs with chloramphenicol; other methods are the same as for root rot.
The above are all the key points of potted tulip techniques. Friends who are flower farmers and want to grow potted tulips at home should study them well!
How to control tulip pests and diseases
During tulip cultivation, it is susceptible to sclerotium rot, gray mold, color-breaking petal virus disease, rot disease, thrips, bulb mites, and other damage.
(1) Tulip sclerotium rot. This disease harms tulip seedlings and bulbs. After seedlings become diseased, the young leaflets die as soon as they emerge. When bulbs are affected, the outer scales undergo soft rot, and sclerotia are produced at the diseased parts and nearby soil surface. The sclerotia are initially white, then turn brown, but the inside of the bulb remains good.
Control method: ① When storing bulbs, remove injured or diseased bulbs, pay attention to indoor ventilation, and control the temperature at around 17-20 degrees. ② Disinfect the soil before planting. ③ If diseased plants are found, immediately pull out the diseased plants. And spray the remaining plants with 80% zineb wettable powder 500 times solution.
(2) Tulip color-breaking virus. After tulips are affected, bulb sprouting decreases and quality declines. Flowers degenerate year by year, and the flowering period is delayed. When flowers are affected, light yellow or white stripes or irregular spots appear on the petals, and color-breaking flowers are produced on red or purple varieties. Double-flowered flowers are more susceptible to disease than single-flowered flowers. Leaves can also be affected. When affected, leaves develop lighter-colored spots or stripes, and some local chlorophyll turns brown and transparent.
Control method: ① If diseased, weak, degenerated, or severely diseased plants are found, promptly remove them. ② In affected areas, spray 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate 1000 times solution for control. To reduce opportunities for aphid virus transmission, you can also spray 2.5% derris extract 800-900 times solution for control.
(3) Bulb mite. It harms bulbs in the soil or during storage and causes bulb rot, resulting in poor plant growth and yellowing and withering leaves.
Control method: Spray 50% dicofol 1000 times solution onto the corm part, which can effectively control it. Or soak the affected bulbs in dilute limewater for 10-15 minutes, then take them out and rinse clean, which can also effectively control this pest. For the control of the other above-mentioned pests and diseases, please refer to the corresponding pest and disease control methods for flowers in this book.