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Fertilising heavy feeders when rains have set in?

FireFire Posts: 19,096
in Problem solving
I am facing a feeding problem, now that heavy, regular rain has set in. I do give slow release fert etc, but I also give annuals and dahlias through the blooming season tom feed every week. But now everything is sodden I can't add diluted feed. Of all the ferts I have tried it  really is weekly tom feed that keeps the dahlias in heavy bloom. Almost as soon as the rains came and I stopped tom feed the dahlias stopped budding - despite warm weather. The plants are strong and healthy and might have another month of blooming to offer. At the moment I am facing the question of whether I should call it a day and pull up the annuals, and pack up the dahlias (long night plants). I don't really want to, if I can generate a lot more flower and we are a long way from frost.

Thank you for your thoughts.
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Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I'd think it's a bit late in the year to be feeding. I would leave everything to slow down and finish flowering naturally and then chuck out the annuals and cut the dahlias down and pile some dead leaves over the crowns. We're further north than you though, and could get frosts any time (although there's none in the forecast for the next couple of weeks).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I stopped feeding everything at the beginning of October.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    It seems a shame to waste a month of flowering, but maybe there is no choice
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I don’t feed anything past September. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Cobea can quite easily flower in the new year (in the south) if there are no hard frosts but mine is in a container. It does feel sad to cut short its life.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited October 2023
    Have you considered using a foliar feed @Fire?  If you covered up the soil of your containers when applying it this might be an option to prolong your flowering. You'll still need to keep an eye out for rainfall though!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    thanks for that thought
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I find that Dahlias still flower for weeks after I stop feeding, they are usually still flowering when they are cut down by frost.
    This year I have already lifted mine, because I am likely to be out of action until the New Year.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    With lower temperatures and shrinking availability of daylight isn't the time to fertilise. Surely for a month or so before a proper hard frost they'll keep going but any new feed would be just wasted as the plants won't be functioning highly enough to use it. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I haven't done rigorous weekly feeding for many years. It has certainly worked terrifically this year. I have been quite shocked by how much of a difference it makes. I will probably shut down some plants and leave some to see how they get on. It's so warm down here.
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