Bringing tulips into bloom inside your home in January, when outdoor gardens are still locked in frost, is one of the most rewarding small projects in horticulture. Growing tulips indoors means tricking the bulb into thinking it lived through winter, then warming it up in your kitchen to force a 14 to 20 day bloom show. Done right, you get $40 worth of grocery store tulips for the cost of one $9 bag of bulbs, and the experience teaches you more about plant physiology than any houseplant ever will.
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Pick the Right Tulip Varieties for Forcing
Not every tulip forces well indoors. Look for short-stemmed early varieties bred for container culture.
- Apricot Beauty, classic peach single early, 12 inch stem
- Christmas Marvel, hot pink single early, 10 inch stem
- Couleur Cardinal, deep crimson, 10 inch stem
- Princess Irene, orange-purple flame, 14 inch stem
- Cassini, deep burgundy Triumph, 16 inch stem
Mail-order from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs or John Scheepers in early October when prices land around $0.75 per bulb in 25-bulb bags. Avoid late-blooming Darwin hybrids for forcing. They need a longer chill and often fail to bloom inside.
Pre-Chill Bulbs the Right Way
Tulips require 12 to 16 weeks of cold storage between 35 and 45 degrees F to trigger blooming. Most home refrigerators run in this range, but never store bulbs near apples, pears, or bananas. Those fruits release ethylene gas, which kills tulip flower embryos and you end up with all leaves and no blooms.
Store bulbs in a paper bag in the crisper drawer, not in plastic. Plastic traps moisture and rots the bulbs. If you have a spare basement fridge or unheated garage that stays above freezing, even better. Mark your calendar with a planting target so you can pull bulbs at the right time.
Forcing in Soil: The Reliable Method
Once the chill period is done, plant bulbs in a wide shallow pot at least 6 inches deep, with drainage holes. A 10 inch diameter pot fits 6 to 8 bulbs shoulder-to-shoulder, which produces a fuller display than spaced-out planting. Fill with a soilless mix like Pro-Mix BX at $20 per 2 cubic foot bag.
- Fill the pot half-full with moistened mix.
- Set bulbs flat-side toward the pot edge so the first leaf cascades outward, pointed end up, just touching each other.
- Cover with more mix until only the bulb tips peek out.
- Water until it drains from the bottom, then keep the pot at 50 to 55 degrees F for 2 to 3 weeks while shoots emerge.
- Move to a bright 65 degree F room and watch blooms develop over 14 to 21 days.
Rotate the pot 90 degrees every other day so the stems grow straight instead of leaning toward the window.
Forcing in Water: The Florist Method
Tulips can also be forced hydroponically, like paperwhites and amaryllis, with no soil at all. Use a clear glass forcing vase like the Roost Hyacinth Forcing Vase at $14 or any hourglass-shaped vase that suspends the bulb just above the water.
Set the bulb in the upper chamber with the root plate touching the water but never the bulb itself, which rots if submerged. Change water weekly to prevent algae. Forcing in water shows off the root development as a bonus visual, but blooms last about 5 days less than soil-grown.
Light, Temperature, and Humidity
Once your bulbs sprout, give them strong indirect light from a south or east window. Direct hot afternoon sun shortens bloom life from 18 days to 7. A grow light like the Soltech Aspect LED at $90 also works perfectly for bookshelf displays away from windows.
Keep room temperatures between 60 and 68 degrees F while blooming. Higher temps shorten the show dramatically, which is why florists keep their cooler at 38 degrees and bring tulips out only when displayed. Drop a tray of water near the pot if your home runs dry below 30 percent humidity in winter.
Pro Tips for Bigger Blooms
A few small upgrades make the difference between a sad display and one that looks like it came from a Manhattan florist.
- Plant bulbs in two staggered layers in a deeper pot for a fuller look. Lower bulbs bloom about 3 days after the upper layer.
- Use a drop of liquid fertilizer like Espoma Bloom at half strength once shoots reach 3 inches.
- Add a 1 inch layer of moss or river pebbles on top of the soil for a finished look.
- Mix 2 to 3 varieties in one pot for varied color and bloom timing.
Always pinch off spent blooms before they go to seed. The plant puts more energy into the remaining flowers.
What to Do After Blooming
Forced tulip bulbs rarely rebloom indoors. After flowering, you have two options. Toss them on the compost pile, which is what most florists do. Or transplant them outside in spring once the ground thaws. They will not bloom this year, but in year 2 or 3 some recovered bulbs do return to the garden.
If you transplant, cut the spent flower stalk but leave the leaves intact until they fully yellow, about 6 weeks. This lets the bulb store energy. Plant 6 inches deep in well-drained soil and mulch lightly. Expect about 30 percent of forced bulbs to rebloom in subsequent years.
Calendar for Year-Round Tulips
To have tulips blooming on your kitchen table every February, work backwards.
- October 1: Order bulbs and chill in refrigerator
- December 15 to January 1: Pot up the bulbs and place in cool 50 degree spot
- January 20 to February 5: Move pots to warm bright room
- February 5 to 25: Enjoy 14 to 21 days of blooms
Stagger plantings 2 weeks apart in November and December and you can extend the indoor tulip season from late January through early April. The total project cost runs about $60 for bulbs, pots, and soil to fill three pots, easily $200 worth of cut tulips at peak floral prices.
