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Oct 5, 2015 2:32 PM CST
Name: Ken
East S.F. Bay Area (Zone 9a)
Region: California
There are many reasons for poor performance. Before I toss something I bought, I want to be reasonably certain that the problem isn't my culture. This climate may not be that great for getting daylilies to open reliably, but it's almost perfect for overall plant growth and health.

Normally, if a daylily has any kind of size to it, I'll see flowers the first bloom season after planting. The longest it has ever taken a daylily to bloom for me is 5 years.
I have always loved Reckamp's diamond-dusted melon tones with the lavender-pink shimmer. The Reckamp line seems to have a reputation for being "hard dormant" and developing relatively small fans, but I've had good luck with Live Jazz, My Sunshine, and Angel's Smile, so when I saw the picture of One Dreamer, I had to have it, and bought a plant from the mother nursery, Song Sparrow. It wasn't very big on receipt, and I made the mistake of planting it on a warm, south-facing slope in a bed of vigorous evergreens. It couldn't compete, and seemed to get smaller each year, so last summer, before it totally disappeared, I planted it in a 5-gallon nursery can so that I could feed it well, build it back up to size and give it full shade once it went dormant. This year it scaped, and produced about 15 blooms. It was well worth the wait.

On a side note regarding Miracle-Gro, check the formulation. Their flagship product used to be 15-30-15, although I hear they've changed to a lower phosphorus formula. (this info was related by a Canadian gardener—a different formulation might be available there.)

Be cautious, because phosphorus can build up in some soils to toxic levels. Most good mineral-based soils have plenty of phosphorus anyway.

Years ago - I believe it was in the late 80's, UC Davis collaborated with Sunset Magazine on a fertilizer field trial (mostly vegetables and perennials, as I recall) which debunked the high-phosphorus "Bloom Fertilizer" theory, (0-50-0) finding that with most plants, the ideal macronutrient ratio was approximately 5-2-3. (or a multiple thereof, e.g. 10-4-6)

Daylilies love nitrogen, so don't be afraid of it. Nitrogen stimulates growth, and produces bigger, stronger fans and roots, which means more flowers. To prevent soft growth, apply less to plants which aren't getting full sun.

Dan Trimmer wrote an excellent article regarding daylily culture. Rich Howard of CT Daylilies hosts it on his site.
http://www.ctdaylilies.com.

Ken
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Oct 5, 2015 3:47 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Kabby
Lowndesboro, AL (Zone 8a)
Region: United States of America Region: Alabama Bookworm Cat Lover Dog Lover Butterflies
Tropicals Bulbs Lilies Birds Bee Lover Fruit Growers
@ CaliFlowers Thank you Ken. Very informative. Now explain soft growth. I have about 50 cvs that are in too much shade and they languish there. Next yr these will be traded and/or moved to sunnier locations.
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Oct 5, 2015 5:05 PM CST
Name: Mayo
The Netherlands, Europe (Zone 9a)
Bee Lover Organic Gardener Irises Hellebores Region: Europe Dragonflies
Dog Lover Daylilies Container Gardener Cat Lover Butterflies Birds
I happen to have a box of Miracle Grow All Purpose here (not easy to come by nowadays for some reason) and
it says that the NPK is 24-8-16 with micro-nutrients.



Mayo
a DL flower a day keeps the doctor away
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Oct 5, 2015 5:43 PM CST
Name: Kevin Smith
INDIANA (Zone 5b)
My garden is suburban so space is a premium compared to you country gardeners. I would have moved it after 2 years and if no bloom by the 3rd year it would have been a goner. I do not pay above 20 bucks for any of my plants and if i can work for them its all the better. More money to spend on weed control and fertilizer and some good dirt.
I had Big Apple for few years and was not impressed with 3 blooms per year so it got trashed.
SO MANY DAYLILYS, SO LITTLE LAND
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Oct 5, 2015 5:48 PM CST
Name: Dnd
SE Michigan (Zone 6a)
Daylilies Dog Lover Houseplants Organic Gardener I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Garden Ideas: Level 2
I've read a lot of people use the 'three year rule'. A fellow daylily enthusiast wrote about the three year 'rule' and the question of "How long do you wait?" in her blog:

http://www.agirlandhergarden.c...
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Oct 5, 2015 7:08 PM CST
Name: Charley
Arroyo Seco New Mexico (Zone 4b)
Don’t trust all-purpose glue.
Garden Ideas: Level 1
If you have a plant that isn't performing it might be that your soil isn't letting it.

All of my local soil test sources charged 20 or 25 dollars and just did the top three nutrients. I googled around and found an outfit that I can recommend.

Soil Kitchen (google it) charges $15 to test for; Nitrate Nitrogen, Potassium (Potash), Phosphorus, Humus, Magnesium, Calcium, Sulfate, Aluminum, Chloride, Ferric Iron, Nitrite Nitrogen, Ammonia Nitrogen, and Manganese.

It cost me about $5 to mail them a two cup sample (they tell on their site how to take the sample) and they sent me a PDF of the results. I was deficient in manganese and sulphates and am correcting it now.

Anyone who wants to see what my report looks like, tree mail me with your email and I will send it to you.

Highly recommended.

Charley
I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.
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Oct 5, 2015 7:10 PM CST
Name: Becky
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Daylilies Hummingbirder Butterflies Seed Starter Container Gardener
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Birds Ponds
Wow! Another garden I would love to have in my yard! Lovey dubby Lovey dubby Lovey dubby
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
Garden Rooms and Becky's Budget Garden
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Oct 5, 2015 7:12 PM CST
Name: Becky
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Daylilies Hummingbirder Butterflies Seed Starter Container Gardener
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Birds Ponds
Charley - Neat!

I wish there was a good (but inexpensive) home test kit for the soil. I would need to test my soil regularly because of the sandy soil and too much rain. I bet my soil changes by the seasons.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
Garden Rooms and Becky's Budget Garden
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Oct 5, 2015 7:16 PM CST
Name: Becky
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Daylilies Hummingbirder Butterflies Seed Starter Container Gardener
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Birds Ponds
I just googles home soil tests and found this interesting link:

http://www.smilinggardener.com...

So I wonder what Albrecht base saturation testing and preferably Reams/Lamotte testing is?

No home soil testing kits were recommended that were reasonably priced.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
Garden Rooms and Becky's Budget Garden
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Oct 7, 2015 8:32 AM CST
Greencastle IN (Zone 5b)
Daylilies Hummingbirder Lilies Region: Indiana Dog Lover Echinacea
Butterflies Birds Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Photography Garden Ideas: Level 2 Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I saw something posted by John Peat on Facebook earlier this year in regards to slow plant growth. Assuming all other plants are performing, he suggested that you should dig up the plant and remove all the dead roots and replant. He suggested that the plants have a large mass off dead root material and in the ground that makes it very hard for the plants new roots to grow.

I had 2 that were very slow to grow and multiply. So I decided I had nothing to lose. I did this in August The varieties were Grand Old Flag & Wyoming Wildfire. I had 2 fans of GOF after doing a trade and WW had finally gotten up to 5 fans. I now have 3 fans of GOF & 6 cans of WW. I also applied lawn fertilizer when I replanted.

I also applied this to Hillbilly Heart which has performed very poorly here. It has not shown any increase but the fan did grow close to mature size. I will see what it does next year. If there is no improvement with this one it will leave.
“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.”
- Alan Keightley
Last edited by Claudia Oct 7, 2015 3:54 PM Icon for preview
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Oct 7, 2015 3:49 PM CST
Name: Ken
East S.F. Bay Area (Zone 9a)
Region: California
After fertilizing—particularly when the weather is nice—a fan will quickly produce a pale green new leaf which bends under its own weight. Generally this leaf will eventually firm up and grow normally, but sometimes the sun will damage it. Either way, I take it as a sign that I fed the plant a little too much.

Ken
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Oct 7, 2015 3:56 PM CST
Name: Debra
Garland, TX (NE Dallas suburb) (Zone 8a)
Rescue dogs: Angels with paws needi
Dragonflies Dog Lover Bookworm I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Bee Lover
Plays in the sandbox Butterflies Region: Texas Garden Sages I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member
Well that explains a lot, Ken, thanks. Now I know what I did wrong when I separated a fan from a seedling and planted it in its own pot. Hilarious! Thumbs up
It’s okay to not know all the answers.

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