I'm curious about the best way to care for flower bulbs after planting them. I usually just plant them and may add some granular fertilizer at the start. But I'm wondering if others also fertilize their bulbs in the following years? If you do, what type of fertilizer do you use and when do you apply it during their growth cycle?
3 Answers
I tend to use bone meal when my bulbs first start to show up. It seems to give them a good boost at the beginning of their growth.
I apply Miracle-Gro a few times during the growing season, but I stop by late August. This way, my bulbs can start winding down before winter hits.
For my perennial beds, I add about 4-6 inches of leaf mulch in the fall. It breaks down nicely into compost by summer, and my bulbs thrive! They flower so well that I need to dig them up every 5-7 years to divide them.
I get that bone meal is great at planting, but using it later might not be super effective since it's slow to break down. You might want to double-check if using it as a top dressing is actually beneficial.