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Time to separate spring-flowering bulbs, butterflies being laying eggs in vegetables

Subhead
Know It Grow It
Lead Summary
By
George Bonnema, Luverne Horticulturalist

I have many clumps of daffodils that have been growing for several years, and I noticed this spring that it is time to lift those bulbs and thin them.
Any type of spring-flowering bulb reproduces by dividing, and eventually those clumps become too dense. Consequently the flower production is limited because of the competition.
Moving or lifting the bulbs can only be done after the foliage begins to turn yellow when the bulbs have matured for the season. If you wait too long after that, you will not be able to locate the clumps very easily because the leaves disappear. I will lift the bulbs and separate them, only replanting the largest bulbs.
Replanting can be done immediately, or you can wait until later September or October ... just don’t forget to get the job done. Mixing some bone meal in the soil at the same time provides a good nutrient base that will feed the bulbs for many years.
Summer-blooming spireas are either in full bloom or have finished, so this is the time to shear those dead flowers, and the plant will reward you with fresh growth that will make them look like they did in early spring.
I’m noticing lots of white butterflies floating around my cabbage and broccoli. Those lovely visitors are laying egg masses that hatch into the green cabbage looper worms. These are the caterpillars that eat holes in the leaves or in the case of many of them, they eat the entire plant.
Dipel is an organic product that does a great job of controlling these pests. It can be used as a dust or spray. I prefer to apply it as a spray because I can get the product under the leaves where the worms are eating, and I can get a much more thorough coverage than I can with a dust. Don’t wait too long to go on the attack or you’ll be looking at some pretty sad plants for the remainder of the season.
Speaking of pesticide chemicals, most of them will advise shaking well before using, the reason being that the active ingredient can settle out and form a hard clump on the bottom of the container.  If you don’t get that product suspended in the solution, you will not be applying the ingredient you need to get the results you want. This settling out can happen on the store shelf or on your own shelf when the product sets for a length of time.
I recently bought a bottle of fungicide and used a stiff wire to check and found this to be the case. I pried the solid loose with the wire and shook the bottle, rechecking to verify the mass of chemical was thoroughly dissolved ... it took a while to get it done, but I want to have the product do what it’s supposed to do. 

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