Tulip Harvest Timing & Dry Storage Tips

Tulips coming in all at once and need to hold them for a holiday or an event?
In this video, I dive into:
1) Dry storage and experimenting with whether quick dip can help prolong vase life
2) Explaining dry storing with bulb on vs bulb off
Links: Postharvest Handling Techniques for Long-term Storage of Cut Tulip and Dutch Irisjournals.ashs.org/horttech/vi...
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[@ijustneedausername6742]

Your videos are the reason I’m starting a very small cut flower side hustle this spring- I didn’t think it was something one person could do on a small scale and I was totally wrong! Your videos are so informative and exactly what I needed to understand how to set myself up properly

[@bareflowerfarm]

That's the best compliment ever! I wish you the best of luck! You can totally do it and learn so much and get so much joy from it :)

[@ijustneedausername6742]

@@bareflowerfarm I’ve always wanted to be a farmer but the circumstances have t really lined up yet- but I’m starting super small in a patch of back yard that’s not mine 😂 snapdragons, sunflowers, bachelors buttons, one thing of queen lime as my fancy ‘it would be great if I got this to bloom’ moonshot- and dill for filler! I’m going to use whatever profits I make this summer to set up a small tulip forcing system in one of our closets for the winter lol. ❤️❤️All because you showed how possible it could be!❤️❤️

[@Ethancreeper397]

Great Video! You answered all my questions with where the benifits are to dry storing with and with out the bulbs! Thanks!!!

[@bareflowerfarm]

So glad to hear this! I actually released an updated video. Similar takeaways but more info based on research and more stems tested 😁- in case it’s helpful, here’s the link! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYaYnI2Vlsqnfdksi=aSnQ37C2M6pzug9T

[@katebrencher1094]

You’re one of the only people I have found info on drying storing without the bulb! I am so happy I found this video.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Hope it's helpful for you!

[@madonnaschmid7707]

I loved the time lapse of the tulip hydration!! Great, informative video:)

[@maddimeier]

LOVED that hydration time lapse! Such good info.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thank you! More coming as I have an updated video on this topic coming in the next week 😊

[@kkconti]

Excellent video! Very helpful! Thank you for sharing your information!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Glad it was helpful!

[@coloradotulips]

Love the real world vase life test. Thank you!

[@bareflowerfarm]

I'm glad you enjoyed the real-world vase life test!

[@lindatweedie5700]

Thanks so much for covering this. Now I have the confidence to dry store!

[@clairegill7891]

This is a fantastic video! I’ve watched this several times now to try and take it all in! This has saved me so much time!! 😍👏🏻so thank you Jessie 🌸

[@bareflowerfarm]

Thanks Claire! An updated one is coming out today 🙂

[@clairegill7891]

@@bareflowerfarm looking forward to watching it 😍👏🏻🌸

[@blakesblooms]

You're a life saver!!! I got a huge mother's day order and i was so cunfused on how to store the tulips! Thank you!!!!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Glad this was helpful!

[@deborahclatworthy3885]

Amazing time lapse! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@VirginiaFlowerFarm]

Omg THANK YOU for this video! It’s my first time doing tulips too and I’ve been searching everywhere on this info can’t find it. My tulips look very floppy in the fridge and had me so worried! I am due this week to get mine out to subscribers. Thank you for your encouraging video that they will rehydrate!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Glad to hear this is helpful! Tulips are champsssss!

[@freshwaterfarm4783]

This experiment has been so helpful for me to see as I have been trying to decide if I should invest in Quick Dip. I think the answer is “yes!”

[@bareflowerfarm]

Indeed! 😁

[@NatalyaBerezneva]

Very good video! I am a science geek, love experimenting with flowers and more. Treatment groups perform better for farmer-florists, for events work. Control groups- sadly is what your customers will experience( they are not going to mess with flower preserves and “weak deep” 😮 . There are two major differences: how to store tulips to look good at the time of sale, and how it will perform at average customer homes. Love all of your vids, you are working so hard and so smart !!!!

[@bareflowerfarm]

Great point on the customers piece. And yes! Vase life can be impacted to significantly by how we store that we can fall under an illusion that things will be great bc they look great coming out of the cooler!

[@user-ul3oo7bg9h]

Love the time lapse!

[@cbak1819]

I love to see the insides of the tulip

[@blakesblooms]

Another wonderful video! Very informational and I absolutely love the experiment. I'm babysitting my doubles...my doubles make me nervous

[@bareflowerfarm]

Doubles take awhile to get a hang of but once you pull a few, you’ll be so much more confident!

[@cbak1819]

Very cool.. laps

[@gr8gardn]

A-MAZING!!! My first of sure to be many views of this superb reference video 🌷. Do you notice any differences in bloom form from night to day? I remember cut tulips years ago (no QD) opening and closing daily. I think they were single Darwins though, not these beautiful doubles. Lady, You are on your way to being Tulip Queen 👸💐🌹🌷🌟

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yes! In the first few days, alot of the doubles (and parrots / darwins in my experience) will actually close when it's darker and cooler. It's pretty cool to see!.

[@ragnhildwadahl6171]

In scandinavia we always are told to keep tulips dark and Cool at night, and take the bouqet out of cold storage every morning/afternoon to Get a good vase life. But we heat our houses with firewood and electricity so tempratures fluctuate. We dont do air condition and set tempratures inside.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Yup! That is definitely a recipe to helping prolong vase life. I just don't think most customers would do that though :(

[@sallyazzato3481]

Congratulations, Jessie! You did it! 🌷 I'm wondering if I gave tulips to customers how they look on day 2 or 3...by hydrating them and keeping in a tall vase or wrapped, would the stems stiffen straight? To the point that if a customer used a lower vase they wouldn't flop? Just curious. I like the look of them going all over, and think they will be fun to design with, but this as my first year to provide them to customers, I'm wondering if that extra day at home will help them be perceived by the customer as a "better" end product?

[@bareflowerfarm]

So if you're hydrating tulips that are limp, paper is absolutely necessary to help keep the stems straight as they stiffen. Over time, alot of the specialty tulips will grow and bend. If the heads are too big/heavy, they will end up flopping. I think that customers want to see big / somewhat open heads and straight stems since that's what they're used to at the grocery stores if that makes sense!

[@katipohl2431]

Penicillium is a fungus not a bacteria and it is classified in the group Trichomonaceae. Here in Germany I heard that all darwin type tulips are good for forcing early in the year.

[@shawnsg]

I think the Darwin tulips are the "typical" tulips you start to see everywhere around this time in the US. I think maybe her goal is to offer things less common.

[@bareflowerfarm]

Ironically the goal was indeed to offer more specialty types but I do get quite a few people looking for the typical darwins they see at the grocery shop lol!

[@adrianmarsden2790]

Hi great video, do you keep the tulips in water while in storage?

[@bareflowerfarm]

Nowadays, it will depend based on how much cooler space I have. Dry storage is more space efficient. I'll have a video on this in the coming days. It's basically and updated (shorter) video backed by the latest research and of course more real life experience now that i've grown over 10k tulip stems :)

[@xraiders]

Hi! As aways great video. How about searing the tulips stems?

[@bareflowerfarm]

I actually haven't thought about that or read others doing it. If I have extras, I sure will try it though!

[@ragnhildwadahl6171]

How about using a teaspoon of vinegar in the water, instead of quick dip, or comparing vinegar and quick dip

[@bareflowerfarm]

Could work, haven't tried it though!

[@sislertx]

A.test is needed but vinegar usually is a great.way to kill

[@lindatweedie5700]

I heard a few drops of lemon juice!

[@CoastalBay]

If im growing in my walk in cooler that is currently staying around 50 degrees (due to us needing to reinstall more insulation) in crates with topsoil, should I turn off the grow lights and leave them in the soil to keep them longer? My goal is to have them for Easter! Which is in 32 days… or pull them with the bulb on and place them in an empty fridge with wrapped paper and placed in buckets?

[@CoastalBay]

Btw, your content is incredible! I am so glad I have found you!!

[@bareflowerfarm]

I always think it’s better to have stems too early than too late, assuming you get the stems

[@MsSixty2019]

What temperature is the room where you grow them hydroponically?

[@bareflowerfarm]

My basement stays at a happy 62F ish

[@leahbauer8987]

What about adding flower food to the water? Unnecessary?

[@bareflowerfarm]

I've read that flower food doesn't help with longevity of the tulips but rather helps with the opening of the blooms and keeping the color saturated. For that reason, I do not offer flower food in tulip bouquets

[@rbrown2746]

Were they that colored up hen you harvested them?

[@bareflowerfarm]

They were slightly less colored when I harvested them but knowing what I know now, I would def harvest them earlier for this experiment (per the latest updated video). The blooms do mature in the fridge esp if the fridge temp is above 40F!

[@cathykelly6002]

Are you able to reuse the bulbs?

[@bareflowerfarm]

No, we treat these as annuals

[@nancyk8153]

Did you change the water?

[@bareflowerfarm]

Only between rooting and grow room.

[@shawnsg]

I wonder if the dip they used in the study is available to regular consumers? The one wholesale website I have access to doesn't have it. Lol is it just me or did it look like everything was fine and then they just gave up the ghost from day 10 to day 11?

[@bareflowerfarm]

It's a good question about the dip and I'm honestly not sure. At the end of the day, there's a ton of dips but they're all pretty similar from what I've researched. And yes- it feels like the tulips are doing GREAT until a switch turns off overnight and it's like they've decided they're done hahaha

[@shawnsg]

@@bareflowerfarm I think the bulb ones are different. Floralife has the _Floralife Bulb 100._ It has the gibberellic acid and benzyladenine. There was a study that showed those in conjunction with ethephon, reduced stem elongation, bending, leaf yellowing and tepal senescence. If you go in heavy on the tulips next year it could be worth investigating.

[@bareflowerfarm]

@@shawnsg very interesting!!! Thank you for sharing, I will def check that out. At this point, I’m already heavy in bulbs 🤪

[@donnabauerofbrilliancebyde1178]

Not true, the quick dip floral company told me there is nothing poisonous in the quick dip formula.

[@cbak1819]

Another flower farmer.. puts two tablspoons of quick dip right after harvesting flowers.. Lisa doesn't grow flowers tho.