This month has been perfect for this. Still a long way to go but I have a good start.

Have several boxes almost completed.

Most of the potting is complete.

Fred, now is the time to plan for spring blooms. You plants look great....I would like to know what is your fertilizing routine for the fall. In a couple of weeks I will be putting my plants to bed for the season, but I don't want to over fertilize while they are trying to go dormant or just slow down on the growing.

Thats just what Im doing, cleaning, pulling up the plants, toping them off, and feeding. It has been so hot and miserable, but Im halfway thru, and it looks like its going to be much cooler for the second half. Its either now or never for spring blooms. I do need some more sand, to mix with the fines, lord my back hurts. I just get so sick of the having to pull the darn things up every year, so sick.

Im going to try something new, Im going to take a tomato cage and whop it off pot heigth. Sit it in the pot, and plant. Well you have to get it full of dirt and stuff, but Im hoping the point will be, the darn plant wont be able to pull down past the top of the tomato cage.

Fred, your 'everything' looks excellent. I only dream.......

Pam, I guess I don't get what you are talking about. You dig your dl up every year and replant? They are planted in pots?

I have been really working everyday now too. Hope to get so much done in the next 2-3 wks. Will be ready for a winter break to work on other things.

No, they pull themselves down in the pot or dirt, and you have to pull them back up and shore them up, so the crown gets out. Maybe its just a problem in sandy soil like we have. It makes more work for me than just about anything. Its much easier tho, once you have cut the tops back, much easier.

gardenglory said: I just get so sick of the having to pull the darn things up every year, so sick.

Pam, why do you dig up your plants every year?


(newbie) Mayo

we cross posted

How come our plants pull themself down?
(Hmm... should I check my plants?? I have no idea if they do that too! )

Mine do that too sometimes really bad. I have had plants as much as 2 inches or more below the soil. I guess it is our freezing/thawing and rain and such. One thing I noticed last year is that some of my plants had a mole or vole run underneath them (couldn't tell from the top) and then later heavy rains caused it to cave in and the plant fell through and started to rot or heaves up and dries out (mostly iris do that) such a pain, I hate moles.

Its not exactlly digging them up, and its not every one every year, but ALOT. When they are in pots tho, I do gently dump them, try to leave them intact, and fill the bottom of the pot with more mix, then slide the plant back in...water, and hope its knows nothing every happened. In the ground, you do have do dig under the plant, I sometimes do one side then the other, sometimes I just lift it out, kinda like the pot method. Its a good chance to throw in some plantone, or whatever, in with the new mix.

Yea, the real problem with the pulling down, is they rot. Gotta keep that crown up. Some I find dont so much mind being pulled down, as long as they bloom, Ill leave them. If the leaves start dwindling, then I know Ive got problems.

I bet the snow, freezing and defrosting could be a real problem as well.

Pat during the winter everything gets a liquid fertilizer at least every two weeks, I can do this because we normally have very few freezing temps over the winter. Also those boxes and the beds have slow release and chicken litter tilled in before planting, and is also applied to the top after planting. Here the preparation before planting is more important than what's done after planting, I don't want them to slow down.

I have not noticed Pam's problem here.

Fred - That is quite a system you have there!

You use pine fines, correct? If so, what else do you mix in with the pine fines to prepare your raised beds?

I have not noticed mine pulling down either, but then again I do move the plants around in my beds every 2 or 3 years, so maybe that is why.

http://ladybugdaylilies.com/

If you have the time , scroll down, Dan has some great videos, especially for us in FL. There is one, or was one, about the daylilies pulling down, and when to mess with them and when not to.

Reading Dans Mom, RA Hansens notes are so fascinating to me. All the info on the Salter/Munson stuff. Love it.

Fred mentioned the liquid fertizlizer every two weeks treatment sometime in passing last year. I have been doing that faithfully, even in the cool, and have had very very good luck. We also, only get a freeze a couple times a year. Fred also led me to the pine fines, and that has been a blessing. Finding the darn fines took about 5 years, but I got them now!!!!!
I remember James drove, in horrible winter weather last year, I think it was a couple hours away, to get his fines. I hope he liked his as much as I did.

Pam - Do you mix anything else in with your pine fines when you prepare a pot or bed for your daylilies?

Sand, the playground kind, thats what fred said he uses. Fred has posted, and Im sure will now, what he mixes in with it. This will be only my second year with the sand/fines, so Im still working on that part. Last year, I used some black cow I had, not sure thats the best, but it didnt burn anything. I threw in plantone. That stuff is expensive, so Im looking to mix my own bit of something this year. When I dumped my floyd cove pots, there was sand and pine bark, so It seems to be a pretty good standard. I find the key with this sand/fine thing tho is, you must keep up with the feeding. While draining water, it drains nutrients as well. Ive found you cant really over fertilize, if you use, say MG on a hose end sprayer. Im more careful with the granular stuff. Milorganite twice a year.

James.....what did you mix in your fines???

I sure would like to try the pine finds but I have never seen those anywhere in my area.

do any of you perhaps have a photo of 'pine fines'?
'Cause I have absolutely NO idea what those are...

Also, our winters can go from quite cold to months with rain, rain, rain and no freeze at all..
Should I stop feeding my potted seedlings or can I feed sparingly throughout the winter?
They are on my porch for now, but if it gets very cold I can put the pots in the garage

On that note: I'm looking into growlights for the garage, in case the seedlings have to stay there for a longer period
Has anybody any experience eith grow lights?



Mayo

Mayo - I wrote an article about growing indoors:

http://garden.org/ideas/view/b...

You can also use a clip-on spotlight and they do sell growlights for those:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000053F9K/

Pine fines is pine tree bark chopped up into very fine pieces. It tends to be a bit acidic, so lime might have to be added to it when used for plants.
https://images.search.yahoo.co...

I think this is basically pine fines, as Becky indicated above, it is fine pieces rather than coarse pieces of pine bark mulch.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unb...