How to Grow Tulip Seeds

Seed Production

• 1

  Plant the tulips in fall six weeks before the average date of the first frost. They prefer full sun while they're growing and rich, well-drained soil. Plant the bulbs two times their height deep. In other words, if the bulb is 3 inches high, plant it 6 inches deep, counting from the top of the bulb.

• 2

  Place chicken wire over the bulbs after you've planted them if squirrels and other rodents are a problem in your area. The leaves and flowers will grow up through the wire, but it discourages rodents from digging up the bulbs.

• 3

  Chill the bulbs for 16 weeks. Nature will take care of this for you if you live in a cold-winter area. If you don't, plant the bulbs in pots instead of in the garden and place the pots in the lowest section of the refrigerator.

• 4

  Let the flowers go to seed instead of cutting the flowers. Don't remove spent flowers either. Let the leaves grow until they start to wither and die. Remove the seed pods from the tulip plant when the pods are brown. Put them in a clearly marked paper bag in a cool, dry place. The seeds are flat and brown with a papery covering.

Planting the Seeds

• 5

  Plant the seeds in a cold frame filled with sandy loam in February. Make sure the spot is protected from winter cold. The cold frame should be in a sunny spot. They should sprout in March or April.

• 6

  Leave the seedlings in the cold frame until the following fall -- not the fall directly after the seeds sprout, but the fall after that, almost 18 months after sowing. Continue to keep protected from the cold.

• 7

  Move the seedlings in the fall to their permanent place in the flower bed. They will grow every year but won't bloom until they're 4 to 6 years old.