Hi, I would like to start a discussion about what we do in the Spring for our daylily beds.

I have many that I need to thin and reset. I was wondering if I should add something to each hole.

Teresa in KY

Do you use Osmocote?

Hi Teresa. Kenny from Rineyville, ky. The last couple of years I have used a few worm castings, glandular molases,and alapha pellets. Which seems to work very well. With maybe a dose or two of seaweed/fish liquid fertilizer just as scapes are about 4-6 inches long. Hope all are well.

Chemical fertilizers seem to work just as well when applied as a top-dressing, so I apply them as-needed during the season.

I like to mix a little something organic in the hole, such as cottonseed meal or alfalfa pellets, maybe mix some worm castings, 1/4" ground bark or home-made compost. Theoretically, it's the soil that we feed, and if we keep it healthy, the plants are able to grow better in it.

I mix the soil that comes out of the hole, which in my case is sandy, with my own compost and well rotted manure. I put a handful of bone meal in the bottom of the hole and mix that in.

All my daylilies are in beds suspended above the ground. This year all boxes were emptied, soil, perlite and fertilizer were added and the plants were replanted. Then about the second week of February I put a small application of 120-day Nutricote on each plant. That's about all they will get this year. They look beautiful!

My beds are made almost entirely of added leaves and grass clippings, several feet thick in places. The worms love it and leave behind their castings. In certain areas the ground is exposed even after years of adding organic material. I just don't know how that is possible. Then in spring and fall I like to add milorganite and high nitrogen fertilizer, but I really think that is more for my benefit than the plants, it just seems like I am doing something extra for the plants. I have used alfalfa pellets, coffee grounds, cotton seed meal etc. The daylilies grew well with all of them, and would probably grow well with none of them.

Thank you for all the replies. Now if we could just get all the rain to subside!

My plants are up a few inches now. Spring is on the way. Crocus and daffs are blooming here.

For putting in the hole when planting/transplanting I use alfalfa pellets for anything in the raised bed garden, where I swap things around and also plant vegetables. In the rest of the yard, I often put a few handfuls of Milorganite in the hole.

I have used urea as a very light side dressing in the spring before the foliage gets up much to give them a jump start. Unfortunately, I can't really get that here in the DC area. If you can get it, just be careful to not overdo it and try to keep it off the foliage if it's up already.

I use 8 8 8
and put a tablespoon around the entire plant away from the green
scratching it down l inch..water lightly
works for me for many years

I am gardening in southern Maine. What recommendations would you make for fertilizing in my area. What and when?
Thanks,
DD