Rescued tulip bulbs: how viable?
 

Hello!

I just discovered some tulip bulbs I had left abandoned in the garage
all winter in a bucket. I thought I had tossed them out. Some of them
are sprouting! Stalks are up to 7 inches long; roots are wispy but
moist, and up to 1.5 inches long.

What should I do?
(a) Plant them quick. There's still time. (If so, what special care
is needed?)
(b) Put them in forcing trays. There are not enough roots for
anything else.
(c) Let the kids dissect them for a biology project. They won't
really grow, whether in the ground or a forcing tray.
(d) Tell my wife they're onions, and see what her cooking is like
next week.

Thank you for all replies!

Ted Shoemaker

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43

Plant them now but don't expect flowers this year.


"Ted Shoemaker" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I just discovered some tulip bulbs I had left abandoned in the garage all
winter in a bucket. I thought I had tossed them out. Some of them are
sprouting! Stalks are up to 7 inches long; roots are wispy but moist, and
up to 1.5 inches long.

What should I do?
(a) Plant them quick. There's still time. (If so, what special care is
needed?)
(b) Put them in forcing trays. There are not enough roots for anything
else.
(c) Let the kids dissect them for a biology project. They won't really
grow, whether in the ground or a forcing tray.
(d) Tell my wife they're onions, and see what her cooking is like next
week.

Thank you for all replies!

Ted Shoemaker

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43

Ted Shoemaker in news:4249fd10$1_1
@newspeer2.tds.net:

Hello!

I just discovered some tulip bulbs I had left abandoned in the garage
all winter in a bucket. I thought I had tossed them out. Some of them
are sprouting! Stalks are up to 7 inches long; roots are wispy but
moist, and up to 1.5 inches long.

What should I do?
(a) Plant them quick. There's still time. (If so, what special care
is needed?)

maybe fro awhile: allow only indirect light on the 'blanched' parts that you'd keep above
soil level when planted.

(b) Put them in forcing trays. There are not enough roots for
anything else.
(c) Let the kids dissect them for a biology project. They won't
really grow, whether in the ground or a forcing tray.
(d) Tell my wife they're onions, and see what her cooking is like
next week.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...on/Tulipsp.htm

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

hasn't the snow and slush just barely done melting up there?

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43

wrote:

(d) Tell my wife they're onions, and see what her cooking is like
next week.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...on/Tulipsp.htm

The "onions" comment was a joke.

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

hasn't the snow and slush just barely done melting up there?

Not yet. There's still residual snow around. But as I write, the radio
says the temp is 57 degrees F, and the forecast is for 70 this
afternoon. Not many more days, and the snow will be gone.

Ted Shoemaker