Can tulips grow well in shallow containers?
I keep seeing photos here and there with tulips in shallow containers even if most videos show rather normal or deep containers being used for tulip bulbs and never shallow ones.
So I am a bit unsure, considering some photos with plants are known to be staged.

Does anyone have experience with tulips in shallow containers?

The main issue with shallow containers is water.

You see, any container - when watered - retains a certain amount of water at the bottom (where there is a difference in texture), even if there are drainage holes present. This is called a perched water table.
The height of this perched water table is dependent on the texture of the growing medium. A shallow pot has a "relatively" high water table, causing roots or bulbs to (possibly) actually SIT IN water and propably rot off.

See these links: https://www.houzz.com/discussi...

https://www.gardenmyths.com/gr...

So for bulbs or plants that need good drainage and don't like wet soil, it's best to plant in a higher pot with coarser growing mediums.

Or you can just keep the rain off them and control the watering yourself.

Garden Myths is a good site and that is a good link worth reading even if for a refresher.

I see, definitely interesting info.
Mostly I have not put rocks or large parts at the bottom of containers, but sometimes I mixed the bottom part with more non-organic parts sort of influenced by that idea.

These would be in a place where probably would have to be watered by hand and concrete beneath so not much wetness would gather if I am careful with the way I water.
The medium is indeed more "heavy" than coarse, so probably rare watering.

I will get some taller containers too, it's just that I only have shallow ones currently unused.

I know tulips don't like lots of water and heavy dampness, I guess my main personal concern outside watering and wetness levels was if the containers are shallow is there enough room for roots to develop.

I've planted tulips in shallow pots and they've bloomed just fine. I lose more over winter from rot than being crowded, regardless of pot size (I should probably try to keep the pots drier during the snowy months). They are only in the pots (at least mine) for a single season, and they are pulling most of their nutrition from the bulb itself. I think the key here is well draining soil. Also, you can plant them shallow...tops right at soil line.

PaleoTemp said: I see, definitely interesting info.
Mostly I have not put rocks or large parts at the bottom of containers, but sometimes I mixed the bottom part with more non-organic parts sort of influenced by that idea.

These would be in a place where probably would have to be watered by hand and concrete beneath so not much wetness would gather if I am careful with the way I water.
The medium is indeed more "heavy" than coarse, so probably rare watering.

I will get some taller containers too, it's just that I only have shallow ones currently unused.

I know tulips don't like lots of water and heavy dampness, I guess my main personal concern outside watering and wetness levels was if the containers are shallow is there enough room for roots to develop.

Flowering shouldn't be an issue if you have a well developed bulb. The flower for the coming season has already been formed the previous one. It only now needs (adequate) water to sprout. So in essence flowering is a given if you provide enough (but not too much for reason above) water. Root mass/volume isn't that important if you treat them as annuals really.

If you're using a water-retentive medium, the shallower the pot, the more difficult it is to offer your plants a maximized opportunity to realize as much of their genetic potential as possible. The simple reason is, media that hold an excessive amount of water hold too little air, and roots need oxygen as much as they need water in order to function efficiently.
Not all grow media will support a perched water table (PWT), but most commercially prepared media do. Once the particle size is uniformly above 1/10", the PWT disappears. One thing that's good to know is, for any medium that supports a PWT, the maximum ht of that PWT is a constant, and it doesn't matter what the size or shape the container is.
The image below illustrates a PWT of a fixed ht in containers of 3 different hts. See why the shallow pot is more difficult to grow in. If you're using a grow medium that supports 4" of perched water (that's about average) and the pot is 6" deep, the bottom 67% of the soil column will be 100% saturated after a thorough watering. Using the same medium in a 4" deep pot means the entire soil column will be saturated, 100%, but using a 12" deep pot, only the bottom 33% of the soil will be saturated, making the taller pot far more forgiving.

By the images below, you can see that tipping a pot after watering (compare B to A) can significantly reduce the volume of water the pot can hold, and choosing a larger pot in order to make judicious use of ballast (the overturned pot in D is one way to passively use ballast to reduce water retention) can be a game changer, too.

Al

tapla said: If you're using a water-retentive medium, the shallower the pot, the more difficult it is to offer your plants a maximized opportunity to realize as much of their genetic potential as possible. The simple reason is, media that hold an excessive amount of water hold too little air, and roots need oxygen as much as they need water in order to function efficiently.
Not all grow media will support a perched water table (PWT), but most commercially prepared media do. Once the particle size is uniformly above 1/10", the PWT disappears. One thing that's good to know is, for any medium that supports a PWT, the maximum ht of that PWT is a constant, and it doesn't matter what the size or shape the container is.
The image below illustrates a PWT of a fixed ht in containers of 3 different hts. See why the shallow pot is more difficult to grow in. If you're using a grow medium that supports 4" of perched water (that's about average) and the pot is 6" deep, the bottom 67% of the soil column will be 100% saturated after a thorough watering. Using the same medium in a 4" deep pot means the entire soil column will be saturated, 100%, but using a 12" deep pot, only the bottom 33% of the soil will be saturated, making the taller pot far more forgiving.

By the images below, you can see that tipping a pot after watering (compare B to A) can significantly reduce the volume of water the pot can hold, and choosing a larger pot in order to make judicious use of ballast (the overturned pot in D is one way to passively use ballast to reduce water retention) can be a game changer, too.

Al

Very informative, perfectly explained and exemplary use of illustrations That ballast thing I didn't know yet. Although it also reduces the volume for roots to venture into...Choosing is losing I guess

I have to mention the containers I have used now have lots of holes, not sure how exactly that influences the bottom water levels but it is not the typical 1 hole in the middle container which is what traditionally pots and pottery have always been, but 33% of the bottom is open with holes and there are 2 canals crossing each other that let air flow around.
The typical ceramic pot would be flat entirely and with 1 hole in the middle, at least in my experience.

I assume that having 2 canals like a cross cross that are higher up than the true bottom and lots of large holes must have some sort of influence of how the water sags at the bottom compared to 100% flat bottom and single hole in the middle. Now how much difference that it makes I do not know but since we got technical I wanted to mention that.

PaleoTemp said: I have to mention the containers I have used now have lots of holes, not sure how exactly that influences the bottom water levels but it is not the typical 1 hole in the middle container which is what traditionally pots and pottery have always been, but 33% of the bottom is open with holes and there are 2 canals crossing each other that let air flow around.
The typical ceramic pot would be flat entirely and with 1 hole in the middle, at least in my experience.

I assume that having 2 canals like a cross cross that are higher up than the true bottom and lots of large holes must have some sort of influence of how the water sags at the bottom compared to 100% flat bottom and single hole in the middle. Now how much difference that it makes I do not know but since we got technical I wanted to mention that.

It doesn't. Even if it were a bottomless pot (the medium 'floats' if the pot is picked up) won't change the results.

Tapla's ballast idea has left me with lots of questions. I would love to hear more and see some references I can read. The only other reference I can find using ballast to improve PWT was written by Tapla. Can you reference yourself?

To the best of my knowledge, the best/only way to move a PWT is improve your potting medium. Pointy pots won't fix bad soil.

Paleo - One hole or several holes through the bottom of the pot doesn't impact the maximum ht of the perched water table, and it doesn't impact how well the soil drains. It will just cause the soil to drain a little faster, but plants don't care if it takes one minute or 10 minutes for the pot to drain. If the holes are in the side walls, it will probably increase evaporative water loss - a good thing if your medium allows you to water properly (so you flush the soil as you water), but not a plus if you're forced to water in small sips,because that practice ensures all dissolved solids (salts) from tapwater and fertilizer solutions remain in the soil where eventually they limit water/ nutrient uptake and skew the ratio of nutrients in the soil.
Lucy - I'm not sure about the rules here, but I can link you to a thread on another site, or post a thread here on the container forum that addresses ways to limit water retention in container media, even for media inherently too water-retentive to offer plants the best opportunity to realize their genetic potential. You'd love reading about how you can use Newton's First Law of Motion to rid your manageable size pots of ALL excess water.
Al

tapla said:
Lucy - I'm not sure about the rules here, but I can link you to a thread on another site, or post a thread here on the container forum that addresses ways to limit water retention in container media, even for media inherently too water-retentive to offer plants the best opportunity to realize their genetic potential. You'd love reading about how you can use Newton's First Law of Motion to rid your manageable size pots of ALL excess water.
Al

That would be awesome! Thank you.

Round and round and round we gooooooooooooo

I see many of the bulbs put out growth around 1" and some 2", not watered by the way, but the soil had a bit of moisture when I planted them. It's rather dry at this point and the bulbs seem to be "anchored".
I assume that has happened because the temperatures have been above freezing so far for the most part (even more so that specific place where the containers are), actually some days have been so warm that it felt like early spring.

Your bulbs are rooting. Keep them watered.

I am not quite sure how to manage watering as now the weather changed to freezing over night and morning, right now I will put an air bubble foil over the pots as they are all in the same place bunched up.

Interesting to see the bulbs in the 6" tall pots while they sit on polished concrete they seem to want to develop much longer roots. The bulbs are placed at around 2.5-3" depth in the pots 6" tall pots.
For what is worth, the concrete was not wet as it didn't rain or snow in that part at all, nor it is a particularly damp area.
I have watered the soil a day ago and around a month ago, just light to medium amounts of water both times.