Thanks, Michele and Bobbi! : )
I actually use Osmocote, but just couldn’t remember the name when I wrote the post. I’ll have to squeeze the pellets/granules to make sure that it’s just the outer shell when I come across it while weeding in the off season when blooms are sparse. (Michele, it's especially good to know that the outer shell of the fertilizer might remain!)
My concern for a while now has been how much of the fertilizer is released when we have a particularly cool season and temps only get up to 70 degrees for a few hours a day – if that. What Molly D was warning about was a build up of time release fertilizer under cool and/or dry conditions. According to something she sent me privately, it’s possible to create toxic conditions especially in potted plants in a soil-less medium, if time release fertilizer is added every year, and the previous years’ fertilizer hasn’t entirely been released. If during the next season it gets warmer, then the cultivar may get over-fertilized.
Thanks again! : ) - Elizabete
PS I have mixed feelings about using organic material – farmer’s gold – in potted daylilies. Sure, the mulch that I use that breaks down is organic, but that’s such an infinitesimal amount. The problem is that the pot doesn’t ‘breathe’ in the same way that soil does. Any thoughts about this?
