fertilizing bulbs
Robert Werra (Thu, 07 Apr 2005 21:54:41 PDT)
Regarding bulb fertilizing, I have a naive question.
Does regular fertilization shorten bulb or corm life?
I worry that this artificial forcing may wear out the
bulb. I have grown moraeas in pots for 15+ years and
have been dilatory in this regard and although my
plants aren't show stoppers, they keep performing with
regularity. I have several that have bloomed most
every year for 15 years and they are the original
bulb/corm. What does PBS think? Thanks Bob Werra
--- Rand Nicholson <writserv@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
Hi All;
From experience, I wholeheartedly agree with what
Ken has said, although I must confess to only a
vague notion as to what a plant is doing with
nutrients and when. Like many of us, much of my
experience comes through, sometimes painstaking,
trial and error, or the kindnesses of others. Having
said that: what do experienced Lachenalia growers do
with their plants regarding culture?
By the way, this one spends spring, summer and fall
out doors and is well acquainted with frost. I am
certain it could not take a true hard Canadian
frost, but it has survived unexpected hoar frosts
without major damage, retaining a significant
portion of its leaves. It still has two from last
year, splitting up the middle as the bulb expands.
Although any notes were lost in my rather hurried
move last March, for some reason I keep thinking
that this bulb was on a South African schedule and
one of the reasons that I lost the other bulbs was
through my efforts to "switch" them to a North
American season - something which it looks like I
have achieved (if, indeed, that is what I was
attempting to do).
Rand
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
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