How to Get Potted Tulips to Bloom

Potted tulips will bloom every year if treated right.

Getting a potted tulip to bloom is a simple process, but it does take patience. Tulips bloom just once a year and only during the spring. Getting a tulip to bloom in a pot is less about the process and more about making sure it has been properly prepared to bloom.

Things You'll Need

• Pot at least 6 inches wide and 8 inches deep
• Potting soil
• Pruners

Instructions

1. Fill your pot with potting soil. The soil does not need to be of an especially high quality as tulips need little fertilization. That said, a pre-fertilized soil with good water-holding capacity will encourage larger and healthier blooms.

2. Plant your tulip bulb 6 inches deep in the flower pot.

3. Water the soil thoroughly then keep it wet beginning at the onset of spring. Do not water the pot at all until spring as the tulip bulb must dry out and become dormant during the cold months to facilitate blooms the following year.

4. Place your potted tulip by a window where it receives at least five hours of direct sunlight per day.

5. Monitor your tulip for growth. It should begin to emerge early in spring after an initial watering and will continue blooming throughout the spring and possibly into early summer. Make sure the soil remains moist during the blooming period.

6. Cut the stem of the tulip down to the soil once the petals begin to fall off and the leaves start to wilt. Your tulip has finished blooming for the year at this point and will not bloom again until next spring.

7. Separate your bulbs. This needs to be done every five years or so. If the tulip blooms appear weaker than they have in past years, the bulbs in the soil have become too numerous and must be separated and placed in new pots. Wait until after you have cut the tulip stems to do this.

Tips & Warnings

• Planting depth is significant. If the bulb is placed too deep in the soil, it may not emerge at all; and if it is too shallow, it may emerge prematurely.

• Make sure there is adequate drainage in your pot. Tulips like constant moisture when not dormant but are still susceptible to rot if the soil is soaked through.

References

• North Dakota State University Extension; Questions on Tulips; Ron Smith
• Arkansas Home and Garden: Bulbs -- Tulips