Fire in Tulips

'Call the fire department' is often my lame answer when someone asks me what they can do about it. But seriously, the fire in Tulips is a big problem this year. I will try to explain how you can prevent this nasty phenomenon as much as possible.

Fire attack in the flower

The fire in the Tulips is caused by the fungus Botrytis tulipae. This fungus can, if the conditions are right, strike anywhere. It is not the case that an outbreak of fire in your Tulips is due to the quality of the bulbs that you have planted.

The ideal conditions for the fungus are moisture or high humidity and temperature. A long-term moist environment is a paradise for the fungus, if the temperature is also nice and warm, it can really go crazy.

The black-gray oval-shaped droppings are the sclerotia of the Botrytis fungus that remain in the soil when the Tulip has died.

If the fungus pressure is higher, the chance of fire increases. A high fungus pressure occurs if you plant tulips in the same soil for several years. Any tulip remains left behind in and on the soil are attacked by botrytis during the dying process. This fungus remains in the soil by means of sclerotia (small black crumbs that are full of spores of the fire fungus) where it waits quietly until tulips come nearby again. So if you plant tulips in the same soil again next year, there is a good chance that your tulips will be attacked. But that does not mean that your tulips will actually get sick. If the weather is reasonably dry during the tulip 's growth period in the spring, the fungus has little chance of spreading and infecting surrounding leaves and flowers. With a bit of bad luck, a few tulips in the soil will be attacked, but that is not so bad as long as it stays that way.

Fire splashes on the leaf

However, if it is, like last spring, rainy and humid weather for a long time, the fungus will spread. If that happens, Leiden is in trouble, many of the Tulips in the vicinity of such an outbreak will be affected and covered in fire splatter. It starts with small watery dark green spots on the leaf. Not really alarming yet, because if the weather changes now and it becomes dry, the fungus will not grow. However, if the weather remains humid, the fungus will quickly grow into larger brown spots that you will also see on the flower. It can even become so bad that it can destroy the entire Tulip in barely a week.

A tulip that comes out of the ground heavily infected

Often you see the first symptoms appear in one place. If you see this, it is best to look for a heavily infected Tulip nearby and remove it. Sometimes this is a Tulip that comes out of the ground already moldy, which we call a 'plug'. This is infected under the ground and as sick as a crab. If you remove this 'plug', the mold pressure will be reduced considerably. It is also best to tear off leaves that are infected, every little bit helps. But let's be honest, if the conditions remain damp, this is like mopping with the tap open; the mold will continue to spread.

Flowers can be severely damaged in prolonged damp weather

If it really cannot be stopped and you want to protect your tulips to the utmost, which is understandable with large plantings, you can try to use a fungicide. I myself am not aware of which - chemical or organic - agents are available and what is permitted in the country where you live, but it can certainly be worthwhile to ask a garden centre or gardener what is possible in the field of fungicide. Flower bulb growers also use fungicide agents, both biological and mild chemical agents, to prevent the spread during prolonged damp weather.


Fire splashes in the flower

Please note, if you have suffered from fire, remove all tulip remains, including the bulbs, from the ground as best as possible after flowering. It is actually best to always do this if you want to continue planting tulips .
Do not plant Tulips in the same ground for at least two years. If you have seen symptoms of fire, wait three years before planting Tulips in the same place again.

Bicycle shed Anna Paulowna Tuesday April 18 at 9:00 am

Of course, this all sounds a bit scary, especially coming from someone who is doing his best to sell you Tulips . But I just want everyone to be able to enjoy their Tulips to the fullest. Now that you are familiar with the cause of this nasty fungus, you will hopefully have less or no trouble with it in the future. It varies greatly from year to year, one spring is much wetter than the other, but with plants you can already take it into account: Have Tulips been here recently? Are they not too moist, a sheltered spot where they only get a little sun in the afternoon? You can already take it into account with plants, which makes the chance of something going wrong a lot smaller.



When in doubt: Daffodils


With Jan Jaap Hoogland

Hey, I actually wanted to write a nice story about my brother's 60th birthday party. And about the contractor Jan Jaap Hoogland who I spoke to at the party. A good lout who is always there for Tom, Dick and Harry and can tell the best stories. He also always knows everything, because he goes everywhere. Jan Jaap is a bit like the news station and the teddy bear of the Belkmerweg. Too bad, they were nice stories, but I thought it was more important to talk about Fire in Tulips .


The Flower Bulb Boemel

Here you see Jan Jaap as a pilot on the Flower Bulb Boat. Normally my brother is behind the wheel, but to let him enjoy his party, Jan Jaap offered to drive for a day. "Hey, that's fun" you're probably thinking now? More information can be found on the Land van Fluwel website

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek

Ps. The Tulips must have asked for a little fire to warm them up a bit. Wrong fire.

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