A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Need help with jonquils (daffodils)

When I moved into this house about 18 years ago, I moved a bunch of jonquils from the front of the house to the back. Well, every year they come up but they have never had a bloom. Don't know what I did to them.

Nancy

Nancy,
Sometimes bulbs when planted toooo deep,
spend all of thier energy stored/saved just to get
to the surface and don't have much more for flowers..
That could be it, also, some bulbs are known to even go down into the ground deeper, don't ask me why.. but that could be another cause..

Could be a sun thing??
How much do they get?

What kind of soil are they in?
Clay, can it drain, or sandy, drains too much?

And have you ever fed it any time of blood or bone meal??? Compost??

Feel like pulling some up and experimenting??
Re~plant them a little closer to the surface,
like about 2" or 4"????
Might be something to try..

Nancy, I always fertilize my bulbs in the fall. Before I started doing this, I had only light bloom. Now I get over a thousand blossoms.

I make my own fertilizer from a recipe I got from the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.

2 lb. dried blood
2 lb. bonemeal
3 lb. greensand

I mix it in a wheelbarrow with a hoe.
This is enough for 100 square feet, but I've broken it down since some of my smaller clumps are only a few square feet. It takes roughly 2 tablespoons per square foot or 1/2 c. for 4 square feet.

Thanks for your replies. They are already poking their heads out. Should I just dig up a few and plant not so deep? They are on the East side of the house, prett close to the house. I put some manure (bagged, that's the only kind I have access to) around them. The soil is not really sandy or clay. I'm not a real experienced gardner. Should I wait until fall now to use that fertilizer? One more question
What is green sand?
Thanks, Nancy

Charoopy
Manure promotes green growth...

Try some Bone Meal (1-13-0) The middle number
promotes a flower in the plant...
and it's nice and organic..

*I like Terry's mix to!! *

I might scratch it into the soil,
as it tends to attrack some animals that like
bone's..*cats/dogs, etc.*
But it you scratch it in, it'll mask its' scent..

I'm an experimenter, so I'd try it..
pull some up, and replant a little less deep..
and put bone meal on both areas, the old area and new one where you planted the other ones..

I would guess they are planted to deep.

Got to thinkin' on this one..

Are they planted in a bed,
or are they mowed down at any certain time?????

At first we didn't mow them down, but after a few years of them not having blooms I thought it didn't matter. I'm about ready to dig them all up and trash them. Just hated to do that to something that is so faithful to come up every year.
Nancy

It might be a culmination of the two things..
When they're planted too deep, again,
they spend their energy to get to the top of the soil line.

Then when you mow down the top green growth,
that's the part they get their next years energy from....
*stored up as the green turn brown, it essentially gets sucked up into the bulb and stored for next year..*

So, when you mow, each year it's energy store gets depleted more and more...

Give it a try and move some this year,
maybe not all if you're not up to it..

Or maybe do two groups.. one in a South facing area, and one where you know it gets sun all day and try different spots, you maybe suprised..

And if it works, then do the rest...
Can't hurt!!

How many are there???

Greensand is a natural mineral fertilizer that is a good source of potassium. The blood meal supplies the nitrogen, and the bone meal the phosphorus.

Here is the description of greensand from the catalog of Seven Springs Farm where I get mine:

Loosens clay soils, binds and catalyzes release of additional nutrients from the soil. Ocean-deposit iron-potassium silicate. It contains 30+ trace minerals. OMRI listed.

Thank you all for your information. I think I will just let them be for now. Then let them do their thing and not mow. Then when it's time I'll move them and not plant so deep and try some of the fertilizer. Thanks again.

Nancy

P.S. How did ya'll get so smart about all this stuff. I've picked up so information on this forum. I don't post much, but I read a whole lot.

JUST WONDERING.........

IF YOU PLANTED THE BULBS UPSIDE DOWN? THEY SAY THAT WILL HINDER THEM????//


ANY ONE KNOW ?

:rolleyes:
\kEEP TRYING....
DODGE

Thanx for all that info, Terry & weezie! <i>(And, good questions, Nancy & Dodge!

charoopy, how tall do your daffs get? Are they little, short things? Or do they get the size of regular daffodils and just not bloom?

Patty, if you're ground is frozen, I'd wait a while.

Sheri, the ground is not frozen here, & seldom does (so I hear... I've also heard that it doesn't freeze here.. but it has, a couple times, this year!) We're expecting Arctic air this week, which will take the snow level down to "less than 1,000 feet" (we sit at 465 feet), & we WILL have freezing temps for a few days (in the 20's). Of course, we have no idea how long it's going to last, but without sustained freezing temps I wouldn't expect that the ground is going to "deep freeze" at all... as in, not more than an inch, IF even that deep.