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Abnormal tulip flowers

RedSquirrel19RedSquirrel19 Posts: 21
in Problem solving
What causes some tulip flowers to be brown, shrivelled and unopened, as in my picture? I've had a few like this in some of my pots this year, while the rest have developed normally. I'm curious to know why. Thank you

Posts

  • JacquimcmahonJacquimcmahon Posts: 1,039
    No idea but I had the same problem with some of the later flowering daffodils this year, all the early varieties were fine but the later ones are brown tinged and not fully opening.
    Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited April 2023
    Usually lack of water at the right time. Although they like sun and good drainage, they can fail if they're too dry at the wrong moment. In pots, they have less access to moisture too, so the weakest plant/flower doesn't make it. 

    With daffs @Jacquimcmahon, they can be waterlogged, or, and more likely where you are, they can get frozen then thaw out which has been common this year.
    They can also be too congested and need splitting up, so they come up blind. That might be even more likely than the freezing/thawing cycle.
    Some of mine are in the first category, then the 2nd so I lost quite a few. Then there's the slug damage.... :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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