Tulip fire: how to spot, prevent and treat it disease
How do you spot tulip fire?
The leaves are distorted or twisted and do not open out fully, with brown dead spots on them that keep spreading. In damp weather a grey mouldy coating forms over them. The petals get spots and rot fast in the wet. On the dead tissue and on the scales of the bulb small black bodies form, with which the disease overwinters in the soil.
How do you prevent tulip fire?
Before planting check the bulbs and throw out every one with small black bodies or with rot on it. Plant far enough apart for the foliage to dry. Dig up affected plants at once and take them out of the garden. Where the disease has been, do not plant tulips for at least three years.
What works against tulip fire?
For the home garden there is no chemical measure. What is left is removing the affected plants and a break in that spot.
Which plant gets tulip fire? 1
Ornamentals 1
Sources: Royal Horticultural Society
Checked on 17 August 2026.