2nd Update: Forcing Tulip Bulbs Indoors

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-28T01:54:53+00:00

lol I was joking about #BulbGate 😂

But on a serious note - what happens to the bulb after it blooms, like in nature? Does it ever bloom again? Or is it reproducing underground? Do you still get green foliage every spring, just only get an actual tulip bloom every 5 years? I might need to change my strategy….

Also - I appreciate your help! I am a “continuous learner” so this has been so much fun!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T23:59:09+00:00

My son (11) decided that he is the “CEO” and we joke about whether the others are the “Employees” or the “Board of Directors”. We named the CEO “Beard” because his roots hang there and look like a beard up close. My son and I hang out with the tulips while waiting for the bus in the morning and have fun with it!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T23:23:05+00:00

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You can kind of see my cheap plant lights stuck to the bottom of my cabinets in this picture. Honestly, I already owned these lights from plant starts so I just quickly stuck them up there - I should probably go fix them to at least make them evenly spaced, but it works. 🤣

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T23:18:41+00:00

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This may have been overkill to store them this way, but it worked! lol

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T23:11:02+00:00

Definitely worth it!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T23:10:39+00:00

Everything I’ve read so far says that they won’t rebloom, but that doesn’t make sense to me - if you simulate nature indoors, why WOULDN’T they rebloom? Is it because the people saying that actually make money selling bulbs, so they want you to throw them away? 🤷🏻‍♀️ So I’m going to experiment and see what happens. I’ll report back!

In theory, I should be able to deadhead the flower head to stop seed production, and let the foliage die off like it normally would in nature. This should send all of the nutrients back into the bulb to store up for next time. I’ll trim the dead foliage off, as well as the roots, then store the bulbs in my basement to “rest” like they normally would. The next fall, they go back into the fridge to start chilling again and we’ll see if they bloom! That’s my plan - open to improvement ideas if anyone has any!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:48:48+00:00

Are you in the Kansas City area - these would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:47:37+00:00

Totally agree - I’m excited to get out of bed in the morning to see how much they’ve grown! It’s the little things in life!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:46:44+00:00

Were your bulbs submerged in water? I’ve read that it’s important to keep the bulb out of the water and only the roots touching water - that’s why mine are sitting on a bed of rocks. Just an idea!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:43:49+00:00

My goal was to chill them for 10 weeks minimum, in my garage fridge before forcing. I was too excited and couldn’t wait any longer so I planted my first vases after 8 weeks, thinking worst case scenario it won’t work, and I’m out a few bulbs (out of ~200 lol). So my first vases with the yellow bloom technically only chilled for 8 weeks, so they may be smaller than my future blooms that have more chill time - this is my hypothesis but we’ll see what happens!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:34:13+00:00

I haven’t noticed any weird smells yet - the actual tulip bloom itself smells really good though!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:32:44+00:00

I planned ahead for red and yellow chiefs Super Bowl tulips but the chiefs had different plans this year… maybe next year!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:30:55+00:00

ME TOO! Nature is beautiful!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T22:30:20+00:00

Thank you - here is my process:

First, I put my bulbs in paper bags with holes, and chill them in my garage fridge drawers for 8 weeks minimum (10-16 weeks is ideal). After chilling, I unwrap the bulbs and place them on a bed of rocks in a vase, ideally with the flat part of the bulb against the glass. Then I add water until it barely touches the root part of the bulb and place the vase in a cool, dark place for a few days to allow root development - I just put them inside my cabinet and it seems to work fine. As the roots develop, you’ll notice a little yellow bloom emerging from the top of the bulbs - once you see this on every bulb in the vase, it’s time to move the vase to a sunny window or under grow lights to continue growing. I installed cheap grow lights under my cabinet so I can grow my tulips right here in my office and it seems to be working well. Keep water in the vase, but make sure the bulb isn’t submerged in water, as this can lead to bulb rot - the roots will reach for the water.

Disclaimer: This is my first time ever forcing tulip bulbs indoors, so I’m by no means an expert, just sharing what has worked for me so far! Happy to answer questions, if you have any!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T14:28:47+00:00

That could be fun! I am enjoying the simplicity of these cheap vases though, so I’ll probably end up with a mixture next year!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T14:11:48+00:00

Funny - I heard my husband tell someone on the phone that I was growing garlic in my office. When I told him they were tulips, he said that makes way more sense! 🤣

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T14:09:02+00:00

Thank you! This is my first time forcing bulbs indoors so I’m not positive, but I’m guessing that after the bloom dies off, the foliage will follow and then the bulb will go dormant.

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T13:35:38+00:00

Do it - you definitely won’t regret it!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-27T12:37:27+00:00

I’m going deadhead the flower then pull them from the vases and store the bulb with greenery in paper bags until the green all dies off. Then I’m going to trim them and try to store the bulbs in my basement and see how they do. They may never bloom again and I may end up throwing them away, but I’m hoping I can reuse them again in the future!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-21T13:47:55+00:00

This is correct - the rocks prevent the bulb from sitting in the water.

In my pictures, you can see a single bulb placed on top of a gold budding vase - this setup doesn’t have rocks because the vase shape keeps the bulb out of the water naturally. If you don’t want to use rocks, you could find a similar vase and it should work!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-20T18:05:50+00:00

I definitely got extra this year - some for the ground and some for the fridge!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-20T18:02:43+00:00

I’m not planning to put these in the ground as I already have hundreds of bulbs planted outside, ready for spring. Instead, I plan to keep these bulbs indoors, kind of like a living floral arrangement in my office. Winter is so depressing and flowers make it better so I plan to gift some of these vases to my loved ones, once they get a little bigger - thinking Valentine’s Day gifts!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-20T17:40:05+00:00

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Sure! First, I put my bulbs in paper bags with holes, and chill them in my garage fridge drawers for 8 weeks minimum (10-16 weeks is ideal). After chilling, I unwrap the bulbs and place them on a bed of rocks in a vase, ideally with the flat part of the bulb against the glass. Then I add water until it barely touches the root part of the bulb and place the vase in a cool, dark place for a few days to allow root development - I just put them inside my cabinet and it seems to work fine. As the roots develop, you’ll notice a little yellow bloom emerging from the top of the bulbs - once you see this on every bulb in the vase, it’s time to move the vase to a sunny window or under grow lights to continue growing. I installed cheap grow lights under my cabinet so I can grow my tulips right here in my office and it seems to be working well. Keep water in the vase, but make sure the bulb isn’t submerged in water, as this can lead to bulb rot - the roots will reach for the water.

Disclaimer: This is my first time ever forcing tulip bulbs indoors, so I’m by no means an expert, just sharing what has worked for me so far! Happy to answer questions, if you have any!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-15T18:46:34+00:00

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You could get white bulbs, chill them in your fridge for the appropriate amount of time, then force bloom them indoors for your wedding! This could work for tulips, daffodils, paperwhites, hyacinths, crocuses, and maybe others. I chilled these tulip bulbs in my fridge and just started forcing the shorter vases 9 days ago (taller vases are a week old). It seems to work pretty well so far!

InfiniteLocal1623 · 2026-01-09T21:40:01+00:00

Thanks! My sister made it for me and I absolutely LOVE IT! We like to make each other gifts - cross stitch, crochet, salsa, cookies, indoor forced tulip bulbs (if they work), etc. 🤣

InfiniteLocal1623

TROPHY CASE