How do you grow hydroponic tulips? Keep these precautions in mind

1. During the soaking stage, be careful to place the bulbs upright, preferably with the bulbs perpendicular to the bottom of the hydroponic basin.

2. When changing the tulip bulbs from one tray to another, be especially careful and handle them gently.

What are the growing methods and precautions for hydroponic tulips?

The hydroponic tulip is an ornamental plant that serves as one of the Netherlands' main exports and is also one of the lifelines of the Dutch economy, known together with windmills as one of the symbols of the Netherlands. So what are the growing methods and precautions for hydroponic tulips? Let's take a look together.

*Basic introduction
The tulip basically means a kind of flower, and in plant taxonomy it is a type of bulbous herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Tulipa in the family Liliaceae, and it is also the national flower of the Netherlands. The earliest hydroponic cultivation of tulips was carried out by larger growers in Denmark and southern Sweden in the 1970s.

*Growing methods for hydroponic tulips
For hydroponic tulips, the cold treatment time for the bulbs is longer than that used for substrate cultivation. Because of this long storage, they are very easily infected with Penicillium and Mucor, so it is enough to use only tightly wrapped scales; bulbs that are undamaged and harvested relatively late should be used, otherwise the root system may turn yellow, the plants may become shorter, weight may decrease, and they may fail to bloom, while the bulbs may also split, etc.

When planting, press the bulbs down so that they can be fixed onto the pins of the hydroponic growing tray. In order to protect the central flower bud from damage, bulbs showing symptoms of infection should be removed during planting. After planting, add water to the growing tray.
After planting and adding water, place the growing tray in a rooting room at a temperature of 5°C with a small amount of air circulation. Replenish water in good time; when watering, tap water with a conductivity value of 1.5 ms/cm may be used, and rainwater may also be used. For varieties prone to leaf splitting, water with a conductivity value of 2 ms/cm should be used during the rooting stage.

*What are the precautions for hydroponic tulips?
When the roots have grown to 4 cm, the rooting stage can be ended. Then place the growing tray on a relatively flat floor in the greenhouse, check for diseased bulbs or bulbs that have not sprouted, and remove them to prevent the spread of pathogens. At this stage, make sure the water level reaches the overflow outlet to ensure water supply. At this time, maintain the temperature at 16-18°C and the relative humidity at 60-80%. At the end of planting, the number of waterings can be reduced to half of the previous amount. Before harvest, sufficient water should be provided to the plants, which can extend the flowering period.

Precautions for hydroponic production of cut tulips

Tulips are a very popular flower variety, and now flower lovers often grow tulips hydroponically. Tulips can not only be grown in pots, but are also often used as cut flower material, so professional growers carry out hydroponic production of cut tulips. So what issues should be noted in the hydroponic production of cut tulips?

Tulip (detailed introduction)

1. Choosing suitable and disease-free bulbs is the key to the hydroponic production of cut tulips.

2. After the bulbs are transported back, they must be stored in a properly adjusted cold storage, with a temperature of 5°C and humidity within 80%. Check promptly and select out bulbs with severe Penicillium infection.

3. According to the required flowering time, choose and determine the cultivation time and planting method. For hydroponic cut flower cultivation, the bulbs should be planted in disinfected and watertight pin trays, so that the rooting temperature is kept stable at 8°C and the humidity between 60% and 70%.

4. After about two weeks of rooting, make sure the roots are more than 3 cm long, then move the pin trays to the greenhouse. Control the temperature at 15°C to 20°C and the humidity at 60% to 70%. Add nutrient solution so that the Ec value in the water is 1.5 ms to 2.0 ms, to promote the rapid growth of tulips.

5. In the early growth stage, to prevent diseases caused by filamentous fungi, spray pesticide 2 to 3 times. Choose low-toxicity, high-efficiency agents such as chlorothalonil, thiophanate-methyl, and thiram, at a concentration between 750 and 1000 times.

6. According to the growth conditions, spray foliar fertilizer at the appropriate time to coordinate vegetative growth and reproductive growth.

7. During the growth process, due to root exudates and other environmental conditions, an oily film will form on the water surface of the pin tray, which will cause the root system to lack nutrient supply and turn brown. Therefore, change the water 2 to 3 times as appropriate.

8. When harvested finished cut flowers cannot be sent off in time, they must be placed in a cool, ventilated place, avoiding strong light, high temperature, and low temperature, which would affect the quality of the cut flowers.