I’ve been trying to straighten some files and I came across something in papers of Delia’s that I thought daffnet members might find interesting.
She had a typed recipe for Phil Phillip’s Planting Fertilizer and a hand written recipe for Foliar Feeding after bloom.
I can’t vouch for either one personally, but they sure sound like they’d make a daffodil sit up and behave.
Phil Phillip’s Planting Fertilizer
1 50 lb bag of green sand
1 50 lb bag of Dolomite lime
1 25 lb triple phosphate, or 1 50 lb bag double superphosphate
1 lb powdered sulfur
1 lb sulfate of iron
1 lb borax
1 lb zinc sulfate
1/2 lb manganese of sulfate
2 lb Epsom Salts
Tip first three items out on a strong plastic sheet or similar about 5 ft. square or larger. Spread well over the sheet and mix evenly. Then spread the other ingredients evenly over the mix except the manganese sulfate, which you dissolve in about 1/2 gal. hot water about 140 F or thereabouts and sprinkle it evenly over the mix, rake it in and then pull the sheet by the corners so the mix tumbles itself and mixes well. Do this several times. Leave overnight and then pull again until all lumps are broken. The mix can then be bagged and used when required. Use 2/3 cup mix for each row (4feet long) of bulbs working it in well below planting level.
Foliar Feeding Daffodils
To 1 gallon of water add:
2 tablespoons variegated violet (Peters)
1 tablespoon Epsom salts
1 tablespoon Diazanon or Dursban
1 teaspoon liquid seaweed
1 teaspoon dishwashing detergent
1 teaspoon liquid iron
1 teaspoon trace elements (Peters)
Spray to wet all sides of foliage. Do not spray within 4 hours of rain.
Spray every 7-10 days after flowering until senescence begins (in the foliage, not the person)
If a trace element mix is available this may be added every other time at rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon.
Fill to just above the line on green sprayer
* Virginia P’s recipe incl. 1 “measure” sulphate of potash.
Chriss Rainey
Good old Google.
m
At 06:01 PM 9/4/2009, you wrote:
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Thanks Keith, I keep telling this to my customers and it falls on deaf ears. I will forward this to them also. B Rash
Of interest, I recently saw a program on television about the Chesapeake Bay’s excess nutrient problems. Agricultural runoff is considered to be a majot factor. The Eastern Shore of Maryland has many chicken farms, many working as contractors for Purdue Chicken. Chicken waste runoff to the Chesapeake Bay is a major problem, according to the program that I saw.
Dave Liedlich
Connecticut