Mixing Daffodils & Veggies?

Hi All,

I have two large (4 x 8 x 2 1/2 ft high) planters that I use for my veggies. I was wondering if there would be any problem with filling them with bulbs - most likely all daffodils and leaving them in and growing the veggies as normal. Would they affect the success of the veggies? Are there certain ones that might not get along with the daffies? I usually devote one box entirely to tomatoes and use the other for a mix. Thanks.

Victor

The only thought I have on it is the daffs will do their thing in the spring and then the veggies will come along. So, you'd have a pretty bed, and then later a pretty bed. I'd only fuss about keeping enough nutrients for the veggies, as the daffs suck them in as long as there are leaves.

A couple of books I can't remember the author of -- one is Roses Love Garlic and the other is Carrots Love... something... might have the answer you need. Someone will come along and say who wrote them. The idea I get from having scanned them is if you have root systems that don't interfere with each other, you can probably companion them safely.

Good luck! Post results!

Thanks. I posed the question to my extension agent, whose opinion I greatly value, and she said it was okay. One consideration - air circulation for the veggies as the daff leaves are still bushy. I'll see what happens!

Victor

I'm the only one in chat - and lonely!

Would you run any risk of having the daff bulbs getting too wet after they were done blooming? Would you risk having them rot? I don't know the answer to this question, but I was under the assumption that once Spring bulbs were done blooming that they preferred to be on the dry side. Be sure to let us know how it works out for you.

I saw something about this in a magazine recently (don't remember which one) and they did tulips in their raised veggie beds. So, this year I put in tulips, daffs and irises to use as a cutting garden and will see what happens.

My raised beds are 30 inches high so they have perfect drainage. That shouldn't be a problem. The only 'problem' I see is hitting a daff bulb when I plant the veggies, but that's no big deal.

Um daffodil bulbs are poisonous, actually a lot of spring bulbs are poisonous .. I'm not so sure you should be growing something you want to eat next to them.

X

Thanks X, well maybe that raised bed will be a flower bed next year, or I can move the bulbs somewhere else in the yard before planting veggies.

I repeat what my trusted extension agent said. To my specific question about safety of edibles, her response was that the compounds, which work so well to deter deer, are well-contained inside the bulbs. They do not leech out. I have had hostas eaten which were right next to daffs and have yet to find any deer or rabbit corpses around.

I've eaten tulip bulbs. When I was a kid, my Mom was making dinner, and we were having my grandparents over. With four kids and company coming, I guess she was a little harried, and absent-mindedly grabbed a bag of tulip bulbs instead of onions for the salad. After repeated comments during dinner about how mild the onions in the salad were, my Dad got up to see what kind of onions they were, and figured out she had used tulip bulbs instead of onions. We all had a good laugh, and nobody got sick, but Mom still has to hear the occasional joke about mild onions...

Hi Victor, I saw this thread on the DG opening page and thought I'd pop in.

The daffodil-vegetable garden is fine as far as any poisons which really are inside the bulb, and stay there. People in Northern Ireland, where they hybridize a lot of new daffodils, often grow edibles with daffodils.

What I really wanted to tell you is that Daffodils only need 6 weeks of foliage ripening (per the RHS in a 5-year trial they recently completed at Wisley) for full production of everything they need for the next year's flowers. There is absolutely no benefit to leaving them on for 8 weeks or until they ripen on their own. This means that exactly 6 weeks to the day, you can cut or pull your daffodil foliage, even if it is green and standing straight up. Very useful information if you want to grow babies over daffodils because when that foliage leans over to the ground, it will smother any baby seedlings. Now, even if the foliage is standing straight up at 6 weeks, we can get rid of it.

As Marie said, the biggest problem with planting vegetables on top of daffodils is the water and fertilizer that comes at the wrong time for the bulbs. Your raised beds will help, and you're in zone 6NY, nice and cool, so that's good, but what will help the most is planting those vegetables nice and thick so they shade the soil. And planting those daffodils 2: deeper than the 6" which is normally recommended. Plant them 8" deep. Serves 3 purposes: Keeps bulbs cooler, keeps bulbs drier, prevents a handheld trowel from impaling bulbs when you plant or weed.

That's pretty much all I wanted to say, sorry to barge in,

Suzy
Immediate past Pres Indiana Daffodil Society.

Thanks to both of you. Suzy, I assume you mean six weeks after the flowers die, no? As for the fertilizer issue, I don't use much for my veggies. The box is filled with great composted manure, to which I keep adding compost, leaves, etc. I use foliar feeds for greens and sometimes some organic fertilizer in the plantig hole. I don't fertilize the entire bed. Thanks for your input.

Victor

Interesting! I wonder if a ring of daff's would discourage moles and voles?

X

Great Info. I just love all of the wisdom on DG. I still have some daffs to get into the ground (it hasn't frozen quite yet) and being able to cut the foliage at 6 weeks will make a difference in where I plan to plant them.

Thanks a bunch.

Planted the last of them today - 144 in all. 4 varieties.

Victor

Brigidlily, the author of the books was Louise Riotte.

My only concern in planting daffodils with veggies is that the bulbs do contain poisonous crystals. Certain insects can eat them with impunity, but animals such as squirrels, chipmunks or voles cannot. The crystals probably stay contained within the bulb, but I wonder if any studies have been done on possible transmission into the soil.

Page down midway here:

http://daffodilusa.org/daffodils/faq.html

This message was edited Nov 16, 2006 3:12 PM

If my posts suddenly stop next Summer, you'll know the answer. That is, unless I do the smart thing and let my wife test the veggies first.

Victor

lol, victor. What's a spouse for, anyway?

Thanks, Yuska. I have both her books and they're GREAT.

Yuska that's my worry too .. especially if you accidentally cut into one and say carrots pick up the juice. What got me concerned was that Victor wanted to plant veggies on top of them.

X

At this point I don't plan on planting any root veggies in the boxes. At the same time, is there any evidence that these compounds are so toxic that a micro-drop is going to make you deathly ill???

Victor

I wouldn't think a micro drop would make you ill, actually in olden times people used to take minute doses of poison to make them immune to it .. it actually worked except for the heavy metal ones like arsenic.

In the long view, I bow to the daff adepts and their advice. What you might do is plant your bulbs in pots and bury the pots.

X

Update. I emailed my extension agent and asked if there is any chance of the toxins getting into the veggies, to which she replied, "The only way you could be affected by the toxins in daffodils is to eat the bulbs or leaves."

I also contacted the American Daffodil Society and their reply was that they could not answer that immediately and would get back to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Victor

Daffys merely deter moles and voles and squirrels, not poison them because they will not eat them. I always plant a few most everywhere, because a vole raised havoc in my gardens this spring, even eating all the way the lower stem, just above the graft, on my rose buses.

Perhaps a vole is what's been eating things in my garden over the winter. I'm find plants that are green, but then nothing under them, fat stems and all the roots, gone. More daffs are definately in order (good excuse, eh?)

I'm pleased to find this thread, as I have raised beds with bulbs in them and would prefer to put some vegetables in them, not just ornamentals. Thank you!