sirdoofus

Are you putting fert on before you see new growth? And what form do you recommend for first application?

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

exovetek

Here in Tacoma, WA Mekong giant is the last to emerge and not nearly as vigorous as Basjoo. In order of best to worst growers for me is Basjoo, sikkimensis, Mekong giant. Mid June and still no signs of growth in a mat that has been established a few years.

sirdoofus

Has the MG been this late to show growth in past years?

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

exovetek

Yea. Typically they dont start growing untill mid June. However they are in a spot that doesnt get moring sun and the tops died back, so pups are starting to emerge just now. Basjoo and sikkimensis allready have nice sets of leaves

cincinnana

It's time.........well almost for me.

Yes, fertilizer is applied before new growth is seen above ground.

Consistent ground temperature seems to be an indicator when fertilizer is applied.
When early spring bulbs and woodland ephemerals start to flower it is an indicator that soil temps are rising, and time for me to fertilize in the coming month.

My application rate is determined by the growing area's size and plant size.
A good guess is 1lb+ in a 6x6 area with a few mature plants to start.
I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all application and can customed to an individual's taste.

I did go around the yard and fertilized (12-12-12) all the early-growing bulbs and woodland plants last week. The plants in full bloom are Winter Aconite and Galanthus aka Snow Drops. Daffodils are still at ground level. Zone 5/6

Here is the soil temperature link.
This link is a great tool to determine germination of weeds and preemergent applications.

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https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

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wstrickland1

What's up beautiful people

Robbertico18

Holy moly bananas.org is back!

wstrickland1

Between major job changes over the last year and total rebound year for bananas I haven't been in the mood anyway, but staying in Charleston now and a warm winter is putting me in gear. 75 degrees here doesn't hurt either. Looking to do some work in your town so maybe we can get up for lunch this year.

Back to the topic, sorry guys.

cincinnana

Not for long.....

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cincinnana

Never observed this before with basjoo in grow zone 5-6.

I and other local growers had a winter kill of many of the large rhizomes of their basjoo however small plants and tubers were unscathed and finally emerged in June almost 30 days behind schedule.

So this year the plants are small/new and just beginning to break waist-high .

Those large dead corms took a lot of garden space and were no match for the tiller.

I refreshed the soil by removing the small plants and rototilling the rich woodchip mulch and amendments to create a new fresh planting area that should be good for a few more years.


Mekong Giants seem to be unaffected and are still unremarkable.


Note the late summer emerging growth(looks like a rat tail) that was stopped by a hard winter freeze on this mature rhizome.



Spring Basjoo rhizome
by
Hostafarian,
on Flickr

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cincinnana

Basjoo/Mekongs
First light snow of the winter season.
There were no hard freezes or heavy frosts but a few light frosts that did not affect the Mekongs or Basjoo.


Ground temperature 39 degrees F 3.8 C
Air temperature 35 degrees F 1.8 C

5 day average ground temperature 53 degrees F 11.6 C


Basjoo
by
Hostafarian,
on Flickr

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