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EnglishThe first tulip bulbs are rolling behind the harvesting machines into the crates. Exciting for the tulip bulb grower because when it comes to the harvest expectation, the flower bulb growers are only moderately positive. 'They will not overflow the basket' is the answer I get when I ask what they think of the harvest.
“The basket over walking” is an old saying that dates back to the time when all flower bulbs were still processed in bulb baskets. If they walk over the basket, the bulbs are good. It was also said that 'they are bulging out of the basket'.
But back to today, I also think that it will not be a top harvest. The weather has been too extreme.
The autumn was already much, much wetter than normal, which caused some water damage on the various fields. Places on the land where the bulbs drowned. Often the rest of the bulbs on such a plot are also looking poor. In early March and mid-March we were surprised by severe frost. Now, especially the tulip can easily withstand some frost, but when it freezes so hard that you can even skate, colour starts to appear. Even a tulip that is just starting to emerge from the ground gets a push from that.
And in May, the growth month, the month in which it really has to happen as far as the bulb growth of the tulip is concerned, it was too hot for the tulips to grow for many days. They were panting in the field and needed all the energy to stay alive, which caused the bulb formation to lag behind. Due to the many hot days, the tulips also died a week earlier than normal. This also does not benefit the growth.
In summary, the conditions were far from optimal for a good harvest. The big question for the Tulip bulb growers at the moment is: will it be better or worse?
I am not going to urge you to buy bulbs for your garden right away. But this year it might be wise not to wait until the last minute, they could easily become scarce towards the end of autumn.
