On 8/24/2014 9:36 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
It's Sping flowering bulb time here in the southern hemisphere and I'm
wondering if I can use a chemical fertilser that says it's for flowers
and fruit on the daffodil/jonquil bulbs that are flowering now so that
they build up their reserves for flowering next Spring???

If that's not recommended, what can I do now (Spring) to make sure I
get lots of flowers next year please?


I generally wait until the early spring flowers start to fade. Then I
feed my entire garden.

For bulbs and bulb-like plants (e.g., corms, tubers, rhizomes), I give
them something when I plant them. At the bottom of the planting hole
(which for some is not very deep), I stir in some bone meal. This is
phosphorus, which promotes flowering. The problem is that phosphorus
does not readily dissolve and thus must be placed ahead of time where
roots will find it. On the other hand, bone meal in direct contact with
a bulb might cause rot even though this fertilizer is considered very
mild; so I put a small amount of plain soil above the soil that has the
bone meal to separate the bulb from the bone meal. One dose of
pre-planting bone meal should last for several years.

I also use bone meal when planting perennials. For flowering shrubs and
trees and for fruit trees, I use the more concentrated superphosphate.

Remember to leave the bulb foliage alone after the flowers have faded.
Yes, deadhead the flowers; but leave the leaves until the yellow and
die. While green, the leaves are still providing nutrients to the bulb
for next year.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary