The Best Ways to Plant Tulip Bulbs

Soil and Season

• If you are planting your tulip bulbs among other bedding plants, plant the bedding plants before the tulip bulbs. This will ensure that you don't damage the bulbs with a trowel when planting them in the soil later on. Tulip bulbs planted in sandy soil stand the best chance of growing quickly and flowering in later years. Plant at a depth equal to around three times the breadth of the bulb. Tulip bulbs planted during late Autumn or early winter (especially October and November) tend to yield the best results.

Moisture

• Plant tulip bulbs in moist soil and allow two to four weeks before you water them. Bulbs are prone to rot and other plant infections if they are given excess moisture before taking root. Good drainage is also essential. Improve drainage by adding sand or compost to the soil.

Disease

• Tulips are relatively resistant to disease, but they can become afflicted by tulip fire. This fungal disease causes brown patches and stunted leaf growth. Destroy affected tulip bulbs and start the planting process again if these symptoms occur during growth.

Overcrowding

• Tulip bulbs that are not given sufficient space to grow may stop blooming properly. Pull up the tulips just prior to the foliage dying down if this problem occurs. Decrease the size of the tulip plants by extracting smaller bulbs from the body of the old bulb. The overcrowding issue should not reoccur when you plant the smaller bulbs.