Cutting down daffodils

[jonny]

How long should I leave daffodils before cutting them down? All flowers have gone, but the plants are still fairly upright. I have heard that you need to let them die well down to enable a good show the following year. Is this so? And if so, how well down?

[janie]

Hi, I'm sure I read it was about 6 weeks after they finish, and not to plait the leaves as they need to be able to photosynthesise properly. I think it also said that if you give them a feed it will help the bulbs to bulk up ready for next year, but I can't remember what kind of feed? General purpose possibly?
HTH
Janie

[jonny]

Thanks Janie, I can't remember when they finished exactly , maybe 3-4 weeks ago. What does plait mean

[Alice]

Jonny, when your daffodils finish flowering you should remove the flower heads including the seed pod behind them. This stops the plant putting its energy into making seeds and lets it go back into the bulb for next year. At the same time sprinle some fertiliser around the area - whatever you have, nothing can do any harm and anything will do some good. If they are in pots top up with some fresh compost. Leave the leaves on the plants until they are completely spent and you can just lift the dead leaves away. This will give your daffs the best possible conditions for next year. BUT we don't live in an ideal world and if you do nothing your daffs will be OK, just a bit better if you do all of the above. So don't fret about it, just do what you can and remove the dead leaves when you can't stand the mess anymore or its the only time slot you can see coming up. Happy gardening.

[jonny]

Ta muchly, Alice. Happy gardening to you too.

[nick the grief]

It won't hurt to give them a feed as well Jonny, give the bulbs a bit of a boost Blood fish & bone should be OK