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Forcing a flower to bloom
I have some tulips growing out the back and somehow one of them was completely cut off at the base. I don't know if a cat jumped on it or the wind snapped it, but it was a clean break.
Anyway, I sliced the end off at 45 degrees, stuck it in a pot of soil and watered it, and it seemed to recover. But even though the stem has remained stiff, the bud looks like it's starting to wilt without opening. It's a bit small, but the tip had gone red so it can't be far from flowering.
I fed the end of the stem with tomato feed, but is there anything else I can do to keep it alive and get it to bloom? I see plenty of cut flowers in supermarkets that are completely closed and only open a few days after you get them home, so maybe there's hope?
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Put it in a vase of water - not soil!
Soil is for roots - your tulip doesn't have any!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree with dove put it pronto in water !!!!!!
if you bought cut flowers you would put them in water not soil, your tulip is the same as a cut flower.
Ok, I thought sticking it in soil may draw up some nutrients as well as water. I've just moved it to a small glass vase with water and a drop of tomato feed, in case that helps feed it.
Is keeping cut flowers in direct sunlight a good idea, or is that only of any use to the bulb rather tan the flower?
Direct sunlight is not a good idea it makes the bloom finish earlier than if they where in a shadier site.
Thanks a lot. I'm new to gardening really, and I've never been one for cut flowers, so I don't know how best to keep them (especially as this one was by accident).
By the way, I'm sure I started this thread in the 'Plants' forum. Was it moved, or did I goof?