How to care for hyacinths after they bloom
For most women, understanding how to care for hyacinths after they bloom and the cultivation methods of hyacinths are important aspects of plant knowledge. Let's explore this together.
This year's Spring Festival was a bit quiet. How are your hyacinths doing? If your hyacinths started blooming before the New Year, they should be close to wilting now. Many flower enthusiasts treat hyacinths as disposable flowers, discarding the entire pot after the flowers fade and the leaves turn yellow, then buying new ones the following year. If hyacinths are hydroponically cultivated, they really can only be discarded after the flowers fade, as the leaves will quickly turn yellow. However, if your hyacinths are grown in soil, don't throw them away after they fade. By doing three things, you can grow the bulbs larger, like big onions, and enjoy flowers without buying them next year.
1. Trim the spent flowers
After the hyacinth flowers fade, you can trim the spent flowers on sunny days. When trimming, leave 3-5 centimeters of the flower stem and only cut off the top part, allowing the bottom part to dry naturally. If you cut the entire flower spike directly from the pseudobulb, any infection at the wound could lead to the bulb rotting. After trimming the spent flowers, avoid getting the hyacinth wet or watering the leaves. Once the wound heals naturally, you can resume normal care.
2. Apply fertilizer appropriately
Hyacinths consume a lot of nutrients during blooming. After trimming the spent flowers, you should apply fertilizer to keep the leaves green and promote pseudobulb recovery, mainly using compound and organic fertilizers. If you have well-rotted organic fertilizer, you can buried some around the edge of the pot to provide energy for the hyacinth bulbs. If you don't have organic fertilizer, you can apply a balanced compound fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium when the temperature is suitable, which can also ensure the growth of the pseudobulbs. Fertilizing hyacinths after the flowers fade must be done at an appropriate temperature, which is between 15-28 degrees Celsius. Don't fertilize if the temperature is too low; just let the pseudobulbs grow and fertilize later when the temperature is suitable.
3. Get plenty of sunlight
After the hyacinth flowers fade, ensure adequate sunlight, with at least 4 hours of sunlight per day. Sufficient sunlight keeps the hyacinth leaves green and glossy, allowing for full photosynthesis and more synthesized organic matter. This organic matter is fed back to the bulbs, helping them grow quickly. If there's not enough sunlight, the hyacinth will only grow leaves and not bulbs, leading to poor pseudobulb recovery, and although it may still grow the following year, the flower yield will be small or it may not bloom at all. More sunlight can also prevent yellow leaves. With insufficient light, hyacinth leaves tend to grow too long, and the tips can turn yellow.
When can hyacinth bulbs be harvested
After hyacinths finish flowering, they can continue to grow as long as the temperature is suitable. When the temperature is consistently above 28 degrees, the leaves will gradually turn yellow and enter dormancy. As long as the hyacinth leaves don't turn yellow, they need plenty of water, fertilizer, and sunlight to grow the bulbs. Once the leaves have completely turned yellow and dried, you can harvest the bulbs. Clean the yellow leaves, dry the outer skin in a cool, well-ventilated place, then pack the bulbs in a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator. When autumn and winter come, you can plant them again, and they will sprout and bloom.
How to care for hyacinths after they bloom
What to do if hyacinth leaves turn yellow
If your hyacinths are grown in soil, and after flowering, the temperature is below 28 degrees but the leaves start to turn yellow, it is likely due to improper watering and root rot. At this point, you should remove the plant from the pot, inspect the roots, remove the rotting parts, soak them in a fungicide solution to kill bacteria, and then replant with healthy soil. It's crucial to repot and allow the bulbs to recover. Otherwise, even if the bulbs look good, due to the high nutrient consumption during flowering and lack of recovery, they may only grow leaves and not bloom the following year.
The above comprehensive method explanation on how to care for hyacinths after they bloom and the cultivation methods provided by GreenEnthusiast.com hopes to solve your plant-related problems and serve as a starting point for further exploration.