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My Garden » Forums » Plants » Plants » Daffodils....greenery...no flowers
Last post 24-02-2005 4:58 PM by P Stick. 5 replies.
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Hi, This is our second spring in our new house. The previous owner had planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs. In our first spring we got perhaps 3 flowers. So I fed the green plants with chicken manure pellets and tomato food. This spring we might get 10 flowers. I have been feeding them more tomato food. Just next to the daffodils is a sea of bluebells that flowered very well last spring. How can I get lots of daffodil flowers next spring? Should I persist with fertilizers? Which one? Is it time to dig them all up and give them a summer rest in the potting shed? When should I dig them up? Then replant them in November? Are they too deep or too shallow? They get a good dose of sunshine till mid afternoon. They are at the bottom of a very gently sloping lawn. They are near (10feet) to some very large oak trees (70-80feet high) and some smaller hollies (20feet). But they are certianly under the canopy of the oaks. Is this the cause of the problem? regards Pete
Daffodils are designed to flower early to take advantage of available light before the tree canopy returns. The likeliest problem is congestion so you may have to think about lifting and dividing them now while they are still in leaf and replanting them at the same depth and with added compost and feed. Water them well and let them die down naturally so they have the chance to build up the bulbs again for next spring. Alternatively, leave them where they are but feed them liberally till they die back. Then lift and replant straightaway or store and replant next September.
Not quite sure about this one, but overfeeding them with high nitrogen fertiliser like dung pellets could be overdoing it. The nitrogen often stimulates the production of green foliage in other plants too. It could be your daff have become laizy... no need to produce seed (and flowers) if there is plenty of food around. Like I said not sure about this but lack offlowers is sometimes a result of overfeeding.
William's right. Peeleted chicken manure is high nitrogen which is used in leaf production so feed with a rose fertiliser to encourage flowers. Even so, daffs don't like congestion, bluebells do.
Probably too deep, Pete. 3 times the height of the bulb, is the usual.The flower is in the bulb by late autumn.
Hello P P - if you are getting masses of leaves and no flowers it could be that the variety of daff your predecessor planted is not suitable for naturalising. Others have commented on the fertiliser but I would apply a general fertiliser with some extra potash added now whilst they are in leaf rather than a tomato feed which is formulated to ripen fruit. Dig up a clump and have a look at their planting depth and density as Ken and Obelix have said. If the bulbs are small then they could easily be the wrong variety or mice, slugs and squirrels may have eaten the mother bulb.