Question
I have some tulips that I bought from Wal-Mart last spring and when they died back I cut the stems off, peeled the bulbs, and stuck them in the mini fridge. Imagine my surprise, when upon checking on them after the summer,to find roots on them. I planted them and with in four days I had 2 quarter inch shoots in the pot. It has been two more days since then and no more growth. Is this normal and when can I expect them to start growing again? How long till they bloom? They are inside in the only window in my room. The window faces east so that may be why they are already starting to grow. Did I need to peel them or did that hurt the bulb?

Answer
Hi Thomas,
Thanx for your question.  If I understand you correctly, you allowed the tulips to die back which I take to mean that you allowed the foliage to wither and turn yellow?  If you did that, then you allowed the bulb to store energy from the sun the leaves captured.  The bulbs will convert this energy into sugars to be used by the plant in the subsequent season for growth and blooms.  You should not peel the bulbs.  This could harm them.  When you  placed the bulbs in the fridge you tricked them into thinking they were entering a cold period, like winter, however, at sustained refrigerator temperatures of around 40 degrees and the refrigerator being opened and closed even for brief periods of time caused a fluctuation in temperatures in which after a span of a few months, the bulbs were triggered to start growing again.  It will take them a little time to really get going in their growth but keep them in the sunny window, watered and make sure the soil drains well and probably in about a month, you'll have blooms.  Now bear in mind, that in general, when a bulb is forced, it is usually useless after that because forcing requires the bulb to expend almost all of its stored resources.  I hope this helps.
Tom