Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: Christian G. on October 07, 2020, 07:14:00 PM
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Has anyone successfully cultivated and propagated Tulipa cypria?
If not where are the issues with this species which seems extremely rare in cultivation?
I have acquired seeds from Oron as well as some small bulbs which did not really do well at their previous owner.
My main question is the minimum temperature. Considering it is a lowland species I suppose it does not do well outside and is not tolerant to frost. Anything else?
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Many endangered endemic species of plants are rare in cultivation!
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Maggi, many Tulip species which are rare, endemic or even extinct in the wild or grow in inaccessable locations due to political unrest are readily available in cultivation. Think of T. sprengeri which has not been seen in the wild for over 100 years. It usually is merely a matter of obtaining a few bulbs or seeds once.
So I strongly suspect there is something regarding T. cypria culture which makes it hard to propagate or keep alive, at least in our climate. Surely being a non-hardy mediterranean low-land tulip plays a role, though it still eludes me why this spectacular species is completely absent from culture save for Oron's seeds. To my knowledge there's no other source. A friend of mine grew them from seeds but the bulbs remained very weak. I suspect it was too cold and dark in Winter in a frost-free greenhouse. Oron said germination requires temperatures below 17°C but not too cold.
Well, I'll give it a try. My actual plan was to delay dormancy so they germinate / emerge later in spring when it's warm enough to put them outside in a simple cold frame and let them spend the cold winter almost dry indoors at around 15°C.
Any ideas?
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Perhaps this species may be more problematic as it matures but germination and early-year growth pose no real problems.
I have a pot of 3 year old seedlings (I will need to check the label but I think they are from Oron’s 2016 seed). The seed was autumn-sown and kept outside until the first significant frost then was brought into the greenhouse and kept frost-free (almost). Germination in the following Spring was about 70%. I pricked them out at the end of the first year which was the wrong thing to do. The stronger seedlings were sitting at the base of the seed pot but some smaller weaker bulblets were higher up and perished with the setback of re-potting and placing deeper. If sowing seed now I would use a much deeper seed pot and leave them in it for two years.
The young bulbs are currently in a deep clay pot in the greenhouse. To be honest I have not paid them too much attention but I am not aware of them having posed any real problems so far.
..........Of course now that I have said this they will probably all perish this Winter!
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Thank you Steve, that's encouraging!
So T. cypria can tolerate lower temperatures at least while in the soil. I guess the problem for adult plants may be frost after shoots emerge from the soil. We'll see.
I've made the same observation with pot depth and use big pots now, leaving bulbs undisturbed for 2-3 years.
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I decided to tip out my pot of seedlings. There are more than I thought and they don’t look too bad but could be bigger. If they continue to grow reasonably well then some should flower in two years.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50505406012_b281f1da49_c_d.jpg)