Ericaceous compost and daffodils

Hello,

I have a few bags of ericaceous compost left from 2023 and 2024 and wondered if using them as part of a medium for container grown daffodils would be ok or good.

Does anyone know if all daffodil bulbs 'like' fairly acid soil conditions?

I know I am rather late in planting, but it often happens like this and they usually flower for me (just a bit later sometimes).

I haven't bought in my usual bulb compost this year, so any ideas re whether 100% ericaceous compost would work please, bearing in mind I will mulch to prevent too much water ingress and took much drying-out of the medium as well.

 

I think it would only matter if you intend growing the bulbs on after flowering, but not sure.

 

Thanks - I think I only usually get between 2 and 4 years out of most of the daffodils I grow in containers, so could be worth a go.

Do you feed daffodils, @pete - maybe I could feed them after flowering to mitigate that?

 

Narcissus like a soil of between pH 6.0–7.0. ie slightly above neutral. Probably best if you feed them after flowering, that is if you want them to flower in the future.

 

6.0 to 7 is slightly acid, but I don't think daffodils are particularly fussy - they seem to grow fine in most places. I think it would be OK to use the ericaceous compost, particularly if mixed with regular compost.
I googled "bulb compost" and it doesn't seem to be anything special, other than being described as open and free-draining, and a lot of the peat-free stuff is like that anyway, and daffodils are OK with moisture as long as they're not sitting in water. Bulb fibre is a different thing - it's for planting bulbs in bowls etc without drainage holes for indoors, and has charcoal in it that's supposed to stop the compost from going smelly. I say better to choose a container with drainage holes!

 

I'm surprised you get a decent show from Daffs after the first year if you are not feeding after flowering.
Feeding doesn't alter the PH of the compost, you would need to add lime to do that.

I would think if you intend growing them for more than one year in the same container you use a compost containing some soil, so I would mix at 50:50 your ericaceous with some JI compost.
A high potash feed after flowering until the foliage starts to die around late June.

 

I grow quite a lot of daffs/narcissus, and other bulbs, in pots, but I always feed them as they die back, because they aren't getting any nutrition from the medium they're in, while ones in the ground are able to do that.
That's what enables flowering in the following year - in a container they can't do that, especially if it's just compost, as the food available in that is used up in the same year. A top up of fresh material now and again is also helpful, as the soil level will drop over time.

The other thing you need to do every so often is tip them out and divide the clumps, as they can become congested which also affects flowering potential. If any are rotten, discard them, and then split the clumps and replant some elsewhere, so that the pot isn't overcrowded.

 

Feeding is essential if you want to keep bulbs in containers for more than one year, irrespective of what compost you use. Even in the ground they'll benefit (along with everything else in the same border) if you feed after flowering but before the foliage has died back, but it's less essential, particularly if your soil is rich in nutrients (mine isn't).

I usually buy new bulbs for containers and then plant them in the ground when they've finished flowering (and when I can see where the gaps in the borders are). That way the pot display is usually good.

 

Thankyou, @JennyJB , yes the stuff I used to buy is the Westland Bulb Planting & Potting Mix (added zinc and grit is highlighted and you are right, it seemed quite fibrous, similar go the new peat-free general composts.

 

Oops glitch. Tbc...

 

Hello @JennyJB again ....

....I will be using porous terracotta pots this year, as I found plastic ones became a bit too wet. once I had moved them out of their shelter. (As soon as the crowns emerge, I move the pots from the sheltered and shady positions). I am wondering now if perhaps I gave them liquid feed when I fed my potted tulips. Maybe I did, but I didn't have a regular routine for the daffodils. The only thing I definitely did, was to mix in new compost in early autumn and then mulch in late autumn. Flowering was much diminished in spring 2024.

Do you think a regular liquid feed would be enough?
Yes, my soil is free draining and not rich , similar to yours.

That is a good idea, about planting out some of the ( finished flowering) bulbs, when the gaps in the borders are more visible. I would like to try that, if I have space.

 

Thankyou, @pete, hopefully I have some JI compost left to mix with the
ericaceous compost. Re the high potash feed after flowering until the foliage starts to die, would you recommend a liquid tomato feed, or were you meaning granular type feed please?

 

Thankyou, @fairygirl, I do check the bulbs in autumn and divide them/sift out rotten ones etc. It sounds as though my partial compost top-up in autumn may not have been enough. Would you use granular and liquid feed? (I have lots of liquid feed but not the other stuff). I am guessing that soil conditioner, e.g. Natural Grower, would not count in this case?

 

I just use a liquid tomato feed a few times as they die back. I tend to use a mix of soil and old compost for bulbs [and grit or gravel mixed through as well] as that has more substance. It means less need for watering if it's dry long term, but ensures the drainage is decent if it's wetter. Tulips need very sharp drainage, but many daffs will also struggle if the mix isn't free draining.

I wouldn't use a soil conditioner for the growing medium, and I'm not familiar with the one you mention, but if it was mixed with something lighter as well, to ensure it didn't get too soggy, that might be ok.

 

Thankyou, @fairygirl, that is good news - I have the liquid feed ready on standby for next year.