Hey everybody, Ken has hit the nail on the head with "ones size fits all" does not apply to all cases or regions. That is where the beauty of "Observe, Deduce, Apply" comes in. If you are paying attention to the volumes of information that our plants are telling us, and taking that information along with all that we have picked up with years of growing, you will easily see what will work in your particular instance. That is why I take cultural information as a guideline and adapt it to the local growing conditions (soil type, pH, exposure, water quality...) to give the 'kids' the best chance to grow and give us pleasure. Sometimes it is impossible to meet the cultural conditions due to environmental constraints (like trying to grow Meconopsis in the Desert SW), so we move on to a plant pallet that will be more conducive to where we hang our hat. For ODA to truly work (and it does in numerous endeavors) one must have a sense of place that comes with time. If you are short on time, track down the locals that have had time to observe and quiz them relentlessly to find what you are looking for. We garden for a reason, and vast volumes have been published with 'how to' information. But if you are not getting your fingers dirty, all that knowledge for naught... Merrill Palo Alto, CA zone 9/10, where the learning curve is going straight up... -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Kenneth Hixson Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 1:11 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: RE: [pbs] fertilizing bulbs Hi, members Fertilizing any plant is a complicated matter--your soil, its pH, what minerals are present, the mineral needs of the particular plant you are growing, moisture levels in the soil, temperature, the stage of growth of the plant, etc. all interacting. > No foliage, no fertilizer. I have applied any good organic >fertilizer just when the new leaves start to nose out of the ground. If what you are doing works, continue. But remember when fertilizing bulbs, you are feeding the bulb, and the effect will be shown in next year's plant, with only minor effects on this year's plant. All the minerals for this year's plant are already in the bulb. There are numerous studies of which minerals are taken up by bulbs, and at what times. It is very easy to be mislead, because the mineral levels in the upper leaves of an easter lily for instance, will be different than the mineral levels in the lower, older leaves on the same stems. And, as the season draws to a close, minerals are translocated out of the leaves down to the bulb. An excess of one mineral may cause another needed mineral to become unavailable, and this can change with the pH. Different species or hybrids, even in the genus Lilium for instance, use minerals at different times, and "one size fits all" does not apply. Species which grow their roots at a different season than their foliage, have nutrient needs at a time you may not expect. When using organic fertilizers, it should be remembered that their nutrient content is released more slowly, as the fertilizer is decomposed by soil microorganisms, so applying the fertilizer needs to be done far enough in advance that the decomposition can be accomplished before the minerals are needed by the plant.....then you need to be sure it won't be taken up by some other plant or otherwise tied up, before the targeted plant can use it. What I'm really saying is, I can tell you what works for me, but it may not work for you, growing the same plant under other conditions, and you may be just polluting the ground to apply a fertilizer when the plant can't use it. Comments from elsewhere need to be regarded as a guide, not a "cookbook" that can be blindly followed. Ken _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php