Last year I tried a few scales. In one group I repotted into 4" containers and fed them bonemeal at that time. The other group I didn't repot but placed some bonemeal around the small bulbs.(These are really close in their original container). My question is: Do I continue to feed several times this coming year more bonemeal or should I be fertilizing with a liquid? If liquid, how often?
Thanks
What do I feed my scales
Bonemeal is very slow acting, and needs to be broken down by micro organisms and such for the nutrient phosporus in the bone to be available. Remember that to be available to plants nutrients must be in a soluble state. Even ground up bone is not soluble. Add to that the fact that soil fauna(that can break down bone) in a pot is vastly different (and lacking) compared to soil as part of the ground, and you will come to the realization I did: while it generally can't hurt, bonemeal in pots doesn't help much either.
If some of your scale bulblets are still in straight peat, the bonemeal is a non-participant in your endeavor, as decomposition organisms are scarce. (Remember peat is resistant to breakdown.) Remember also that bonemeal is only phosporus (the "P" in N-P-K) and is not a complete fertilizer. Depending on the kind of peat you have, peat can have virtually no nutrients, except what you give it.
Are they growing leaves? If not, you may need to refrigerate them to get them to produce foliage. What kind of lilies are these? Asiatic, oriental, trumpet? Being late in the season for you, I suspect that you could get by with only one month in the frig, and leaf growth will begin. Maybe even earlier.
Intecessor and Pard have a better handle on fertilizing wee lads than me, but to be conservative, I would say: use a liquid when plants are small, at quarter to half strength, and not until they are growing leaves. When they are larger, say, at least 6 inches tall, you can choose liquid or granular. Use a complete fertilizer (containing N, P and K). I would use something near the ratio of 1:1:1 (N:P:K), but if Intecessor or Pard chime in, do what they say.
They are scales from Stargazer (OT) and one unnamed Asiatic. I did not put them in the refrig., but left them outside ( this winter) and it has been very frosty here, Both groups have leaves coming out of the ground. They are in potting soil.
I pretty much do what Lefty recommended, a weak solution 1:1:1 ratio. But I don't use any fertilizer if the bulblets are still stuck on the scale, I believe they feed off the mother scale. I remove them from the scale when they loosen up and come off easily. Then I pot them up and let them settle in before I start fertilizing them. I don't use bone meal at all with them.
Sounds like they are doing just fine.