How to Germinate Tulips

Select your tulip bulbs carefully. According to The Plant Expert web site, there are twelve official divisions of tulips and over 3,000 separate species of tulips, providing a huge selection of colors, shapes and sizes. For a beautiful display of flowers, select a variety of tulips from different colors and species to plant together. Healthy tulip bulbs should be firm and free from shriveling or rot. Check bulbs carefully before purchasing. Larger bulbs will produce larger quantities of healthy flowers, while smaller bulbs result in smaller flowers.

Plant tulip bulbs during the correct time of year. One of the important keys to germinating tulips is good timing. They require cool temperatures in the soil for the process of germination to occur and for their root systems to develop and strengthen. Most tulip varieties can be planted during the end of autumn or the beginning of December, and no foliage will begin to appear above ground til early spring. Bulbs purchased in the spring or summer should be kept chilled till the following winter. The best time for planting your tulip bulbs depends specifically on the species you have selected, as some tulips can be planted earlier or later than others. Follow the growing instructions on the packet carefully, or for more advice, contact your local garden center.

Prepare the ground for your tulip bulbs. Tulip bulbs require moist and free-draining soil in order to develop their root systems through the colder months. Loosen the soil for your bulbs and remove any weeds or stones that you find. Choose a spot with full sunlight and with lots of space for your tulips to grow. Add compost, moss peat and manure to ensure the ground is rich and full of nutrients, and water the soil well, as tulips do not tolerate dehydration well.

Plant your bulbs into the ground. According to Floridata, you should plant your tulip bulbs between four and six inches down -- or up to 12 inches if you live in a colder climate and plan to leave your bulbs in the ground each year. The tips of the bulbs should be pointing upward, and you can either plant them separately or in close clumps of two or three depending on how you want your garden to look. Tulip bulbs will sometimes produce smaller offshoots, but these will not flower for several years.

Remove the bulbs after flowering if you live in a hot climate. Tulips are native plants to high altitudes and cold climates, and require these conditions to continue to grow each year. In the U.S. and Canada tulip bulbs do not have to be removed, except by commercial growers who want to store the bulbs in cold temperatures in order to force an early flowering season in Spring. According to Lyn Bagnall, a certified-organic farmer and author of "Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting," tulip bulbs in hot or sub-tropical countries must be lifted from the ground after flowering, or else the tulips will not flower for more then one or two years maximum. Bulbs can be re-planted at the end of autumn to begin the growing process all over again.