Springtime brings longer days, garden color, and abundance. The garden shakes off the winter blues, and we welcome the new growing season after being cooped up through months of cold.
With the spring comes the long-awaited tulip blossoms, some of the first flowers that bring spring color.
While tulips are pretty tough, they aren’t immune to disease. If the leaves and flowers start to look extremely sad, with wilting, brown splotches, and distorted growth, it’s possible they’ve been infected with tulip fire, an awful fungal disease.
What You’ll Learn
What is Tulip Fire?
As the name suggests, tulip fire is a fungal disease that affects tulip plants. It’s the most destructive and serious disease tulips can suffer from, destroying commercial crops across the globe.
Tulips are part of the lily family (Liliaceae). Tulipa is the only genus in the family that suffers from this disease. However, closely related grey mold pathogens in the Botrytis genus can attack the other species in the family.
Tulip fire is caused by the pathogen Bortrytis tulipae and primarily effects the leaves and flowers of the plant. In extreme cases, the roots can be infected, as well.
It spreads through fungal spores, which can live on other infected plants, the soil, or plant debris.
The fungus B. tulipae can lay dormant in the soil for up to three years, so even if there isn’t a host plant there, it could still be hiding out, waiting to pounce.
In fact, it can get more and more severe each year, especially if you reuse the soil or new tulips are planted in the same spot as previous plantings. You can also spread it if you move soil around the garden.
All types of tulips are susceptible to tulip fire, from Didier’s or garden tulip (T. gesneriana) to botanical or wild tulip (T. orphanidea). All tulip species and hybrids are at risk of this disease, even those hybridized and grown for commercial use.
So, what do you need to look out for?
Symptoms
There are a few indications that tulip fire is a problem in your garden for your tulips. Being vigilant of your tulips is vital in early detection and action to stop the fungus in its tracks.
Check your plants frequently for any of the following:
- Brown, orange, or red spots on the leaves
- Blotches of leaves
- Wilting
- Distorted growth
- Rotting flower buds
- Blackened flower buds
- Furry grey mold on leaves that are dying
- Small black seed-like structures (sclerotia) appear on dead tissue
Tulip fire can deform emerging blooms and significantly impact both flower and bulb yield.
The vase life of infected blooms is also reduced. The presence of this fungus leads to the flower head rotting in record time.
Why Does Tulip Fire Develop?
Tulip fire develops when conditions are favorable. The fungus needs moisture to thrive, so when it is damp with a big dose of humidity, the conditions are just right for spread.
It can spread easily through spores, infecting the nearest plant and its neighbor until the entire tulip patch has it.
Factors such as overcrowding, poor airflow, and excessive moisture can make the development and spread of this disease easy to epidemic levels. Watering on the foliage rather than the soil also increases spread.
In the case of tulips, be mindful of your spring climate. If your climate is humid in the spring and the temperatures fluctuate, you need to be extra diligent to watch for disease.
Management and Solutions
Check the foliage and flowers regularly for early symptoms. The earlier you catch it, the better your chances of curing it.
If you’re growing tulips in a garden border, a small patch, or in pots for personal pleasure, outbreaks of tulip fire can be contained and dealt with. The solution is effective, but it isn’t great.
It may not be as simple to control for those growing commercially in large quantities. If you’re a commercial grower, action must be taken immediately if you suspect tulip fire.
If you’re growing tulips in containers, quarantine any symptomatic plants until you’re sure of the diagnosis.
When tulip fire is confirmed, it’s best to remove and destroy any infected plant material, including leaves, flowers, and bulbs. This will help prevent further spread.
If you’d like to try to save your plants, you can treat them, instead. But be aware that the disease can be a challenge to eliminate.
If you insist on keeping the plants, you’ll need to use a fungicidal spray. But keep in mind that the disease will take multiple treatments, and you still might not eliminate it. If you can’t get rid of it, the disease will continue to spread.
Treat all of the surrounding tulips as a precautionary measure, even if they aren’t symptomatic.
Mancozeb can be used to treat the disease. Follow the manufacturer’s directions close. You can purchase an eight-ounce concentrate bottle of Bonide’s mancozeb at Amazon.
You can also use a product that contains the beneficial bacteria Bacillus subtilis. CEASE biological fungicide, available at Amazon in one-gallon containers, is a good option.
Prevention
There are ways to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place or at least reduce the risk of it taking hold. Since elimination is so difficult, prevention is the way to go.
Early detection and prompt action are crucial in managing tulip fire effectively. Regular monitoring and maintenance of your tulip plants can help prevent and mitigate the impact of this disease.
It’s so important to practice good gardening hygiene. Make sure whatever you are doing in your garden, you clean tools between each plant or patch of plants. Pick up any debris and dispose of it.
Crop rotation also helps. Avoid planting tulips in the same soil or location for at least three years.
With many diseases, airflow is key. When planning any garden, you should always space appropriately no matter what plant is involved.
Consider planting further apart than the recommended five inches between each bulb when planting. Depth-wise, place them about two to four inches under the soil.
Ideally, plant them in an area with frequent soft breezes to circulate the air and isn’t blocked by other plants.
Should you choose to leave the bulbs in the ground for the first few years, consider thinning them out as they emerge so that airflow can be maintained between plants.
When you buy bulbs, make sure you purchase from a reputable seller that certifies disease-free bulbs.
Don’t plant potted tulips in the soil in the garden. The soil and bulb could be infected with spores.
Consider lifting the bulbs after the greenery and flowers have died back in the summer. Store them in a fridge for preservation. This protects them from most issues that can impact them in their dormancy and the fridge provides cold stratification.
Drainage
Soggy ground causes no end of problems for bulbs, roots, and their ability to grow effectively. With tulips, soggy soil can rot the protective outer layers of the bulb and leave them prone to disease.
Before you plant, it’s always wise to work in lots of well-rotted compost to improve the composition of the soil.
If the soggy soil isn’t dealt with, then those pathogens can multiply and leach into the soil, infecting neighboring bulbs and plants. It also stresses the plant, so it’s more susceptible to problems.
Free draining soil at the time of planting is vital, but also to maintain the soil’s draining effectiveness throughout the year. You shouldn’t walk or cultivate soggy, wet soil because it compacts it.
Moisture
As with poor drainage, excessive moisture can contribute to tulip fire and other diseases. Avoid overwatering tulip plants to reduce the chances of any fungal spores spreading.
As we already mentioned, be sure to provide adequate drainage to prevent excessive moisture from building up.
Be aware that moisture pooling in the neck of the tulip leaves and flowers can assist with disease creeping in.
Any stressful environment incorporating moisture with heat and humidity is a recipe for the development of tulip fire.
Cover Crops and Companion Planting
Much research is taking place in the US regarding how to grow tulips effectively without harsh chemicals to prevent such diseases from taking hold, and companion planting might be a part of the ultimate strategy.
But until they figure it out, we’ll have to be diligent about watching for problems and maybe pull our plants when the disease arrives.
Consider growing cover crops during the periods when tulips are dormant to loosen and add nutrients to the soil.
Cover crops such as mustard grown can be grown in between tulip season. You can till the plants into the soil prior to bulb planting, which assists in replenishing the soil’s ability to ward off pathogens. Or, grow the crop and cut it down in the fall so as not to disturb the bulbs.
No-till practices and following the basic principles of permaculture may also balance the soil better. Such principals work with the environment, soil, location, creatures, and plants to create harmony. It also enhances the good microbes in the soil to prevent disease.
Companion planting for tulips should be considered, no matter how many are being grown or for whatever purpose. Companion plants support each other and can act as a deterrent to pests and disease.
- Zinnias
- Snapdragon
- Pansy
- Violets
- Calendula
- Mint
- Sage
- Grape Hyacinth
- Allium
- Daylillies
- Hostas
- Nasturtiums
- Marigolds