Journey North Tulip Garden and Climate Change Study

Tulip Trouble:
What's Happening?

Examples from Spring 2009 1. "We examined our tulips today and they have not bloomed. We are very disappointed. on closer observation of the plants we found that the buds can be seen inside the leaves; but the have turned yellow and are falling off. The students want to know what could have caused this. We have had a lot of rain the past two weeks." Monroe, LA 03/10/09
2. "We are so disappointed with our tulips. We made sure to keep them in the fridge WITHOUT FRUIT or any other food items, but not one as had a successful bloom. They all emerged nicely, but the buds have all been "sickly" and the leaves are now turning brown. Sad and flowerless in La Jolla-Ms. Isom and Kids" La Jolla, CA 03/03/09	Example: these tulip bulbs rotted before they emerged (dug out of the garden in the spring)
What our tulip expert thinks: The problem could be temperature-related: Were they in AT LEAST 12 weeks of temperatures below 48 degrees F followed by 2 to 3 weeks at 60 to 65 degrees F? Was there too much moisture in medium they were packed in? It's possible they were infected (when you received them) with bulb rot; not enough to destroy the bulb, but enough to affect plant/flower. Dig up the bulb and examine it. Is it mushy, or discolored? If it is rot, there may be sure to disinfect the refrigerator before storing any more bulbs.
Other Examples of Tulip Trouble
These tulips grew and bloomed beautifully except for one thing: the bulb stem never elongated. As a result, they were shorter than normal. This could be temperature related.
These tulips emerged normally, but the blooms were deformed. The petals were twisted and discolored. Ethlyene gas, released by ripening fruits and plant materials was most likely the cause. Although this could have happened before the bulbs were received by the gardeners, be sure you do not store tulip bulbs in a refrigerator with any fruit (even for a few days).
Learn More: Frequently Asked Questions, and Ask The Expert Questions and Answers are linked from the Tulip Garden Index page.