How to care for hyacinths after blooming
Today, I will provide a detailed explanation of how to care for hyacinths after blooming and share some knowledge about the cultivation of this flower. Let's delve into it 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 wilting by now. Many flower enthusiasts treat hyacinths as disposable flowers, discarding the whole pot after the flowers fade and the leaves turn yellow, then buying new ones the following year. If hyacinths are hydroponically cultivated, they can only be thrown away after blooming, as the leaves will quickly turn yellow. However, if your hyacinths are soil-grown, don't throw them away after blooming. Do three things, and the bulbs will grow bigger, like large onions, and you can enjoy flowers without buying new ones next year.
1. Trim the spent flowers
After the hyacinth flowers fade, you can trim the spent flowers on sunny days. Leave 3 to 5 centimeters of the flower stem and cut off only the top part, allowing the bottom part to dry naturally. If you cut the whole flower spike from the pseudobulb, the wound may become infected, leading to the bulb rotting. After trimming the spent flowers, avoid getting the hyacinth wet or watering the leaves. Wait for the wound to heal naturally, and then 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 some fertilizer to keep the leaves green and promote pseudobulb recovery. The main types of fertilizer are compound and organic fertilizers. If you have well-rotted organic fertilizer, you can bury some around the edge of the pot to provide the bulbs with growth power. 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 pseudobulb growth. Fertilizing hyacinths after flowering should be done at the right temperature, which is between 15 and 28 degrees Celsius. Don't fertilize if the temperature is too low; let the flower spike grow by itself and fertilize when the temperature is suitable.
3. Ensure plenty of sunlight
After the hyacinth flowers fade, ensure adequate sunlight, with a daily exposure time of at least 4 hours. Sufficient sunlight keeps the leaves green and glossy, and photosynthesis is thorough, producing more organic matter. This organic matter is transported back to the bulb, making it grow bigger and stronger. If there is not enough sunlight, the hyacinth will only grow leaves and not bulbs, which may not recover well, resulting in a small number of flowers or even no flowers the following year. More sunlight can also prevent yellowing leaves. With insufficient light, hyacinth leaves tend to grow too long, and the tips will turn yellow.
When can hyacinth bulbs be harvested
After the hyacinth flowers, they can continue to grow as long as the temperature is suitable. When the temperature is consistently above 28 degrees Celsius, the leaves will gradually turn yellow and enter dormancy. If the leaves do not turn yellow, ensure adequate water, fertilizer, and sunlight to make the bulbs grow. When the leaves have completely turned yellow and dried up due to rising temperatures, you can harvest the bulbs. Clean the yellow leaves, dry the outer skin in a cool, well-ventilated place, then pack them in a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator. Plant them in the late autumn or winter, and they will sprout and bloom again.
How to care for hyacinths after blooming
What to do if hyacinth leaves turn yellow
If your hyacinth is soil-grown and the temperature is below 28 degrees Celsius after blooming, but the leaves start to turn yellow, it might be due to overwatering and root rot. In this case, remove the plant from the pot, clean the rotting part, soak it in a fungicide solution to kill bacteria, and then replant it in healthy soil. It's crucial to repot and allow the bulb to recover. Otherwise, even if the bulb looks good, due to excessive nutrient consumption during flowering and no recovery, it may only grow leaves and not flowers the following year.
The above information on how to care for hyacinths after blooming and detailed knowledge of hyacinth cultivation can bring you some helpful tips for growing green plants and flowers in your daily life!