I feed my lilies Miracle grow and one of them threw 25 flowers on one plant. Janet

Wow, thanks! That's easy. The regular kind? I have some. As directed on package; i.e., how often?

I sure can't feed them now. They are under clear plastic. The nights are way below freezing, hope I don't harm them.

I will do that ASAP as soon as this is over.

mamoo thanks for the tip about the kelp and what and how to feed. If mine get that far, I'll try to find some, do you dilute it or use it full strength out of the container?

They are well past having just poked up and still look ok under the heavy plastic, so if they survive after I remove it, only one more night I hope, I will just do the Miracle Gro for now. Last year when I planted them I put a small amt of bone meal and covered it with a little soil before I put the bulbs in the hole. Next week one station predicts low 20's again, other site more optimistic, but if it threatens to get very much below freezing again, the plastic will go back on or I will cover them with a large sheet.

Poor things got off to a bad start last year and never grew very high nor bloomed. They came late, were on sale, saw why they probably were on sale because when they came they had sprouted and were in contorted shapes in the plastic bags.

This spring they were coming up nice and straight, and one spot or two seemed empty, but they looked good. Then the deep freeze and the plastic which they say not to do. A little air circulation can get in there because I didn't completely seal it off.

As cold as it's been here, I think they'd be goners by now if I hadn't covered them. I've got a feeling my stargazers in another spot aren't going to come up.

We'll see by and by.

I use 1 tsp of the liquid Kelp to a gallon of water & spray the foliage. If I use the Kelp at the base of the plant which I do sometimes I then use 1 tab to a gallon of water & pour it all around the base of each lily only giving each lily a long drink. I can get many lilies fertilized with that one gallon. Don't spray during the heat of the day or when a plant is in bloom. I have read to spray during the early morning or late afternoon to evening when plants are more active. I myself like to spray on a cloudy day because then I can spray when I want.
When planting you can use 1 tsp to a qt of water & pour this over the hole once you are done planting. This is to increase roots on new plants. The Kelp according to the instructions on the bottle accelerates growth, increases fruiting & flowering, provides resistance to disease & insects & frost. Kelp also has growth hormones in it & can be sprayed every 2 to 4 weeks. I only spray once a month or as needed.
What I have noticed is the foliage gets a deeper green right away & I get an increase of blooms. When I use it on bulbs plants like Daf's & Tulips or Hyacinths it increases the bulbs I get the next spring. It helps all my bulb plants multiply rapidly. I also spray my apple trees with it at the 1 tsp to a gallon rate & boy do I get more fruit. I spray it on my lawn at the 1 tab to a gallon rate in fall to produce more roots the following spring. It can pick up a weak looking lawn quickly. I use it on sections of my lawn where needed. I do not spray the whole lawn with it. Kelp has been a wonderful thing for my lawn & flowers & apple trees. I have used it for 4 years now with not one problem using the above rates. I have poor soil & maybe that is why it works so good for me. I don't know if others have had as good of results as I have. I have never seen anyone else write about its results.

Thanks for that wonderful post; I printed it out. I'm on a crash course for different plants here. I hate to ask another dumb question, but where do you buy kelp, don't usually check those shelves in the stores, need to go to the hardware store later but that one doesn't stock much, can check at Home Depot, too.

I believe it's a natural, organic product, too, which would be all the better. I haven't sprayed because I'm lazy not because I'm such an organic freak. I never liked messing with pesticides but may have to at some point trying to grow more things.

What kind of sprayer do you use? All I have is one of those bottles, have been using liquid fence with that.

I can only find Liquid Kelp at http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8502&ss=Liquid%20Kelp
I can't find it anywhere else local so when I buy I buy the quart size because shipping is cheaper for the larger size in the end. The quart last me 2 years & Kelp does not seem to go bad. Also with that qt I share some of it with my daughter. That qt goes a long way!
The sprayer I use is a 2 gallon sprayer. I have a RL Flo-Master PGX but any 2 gallon sprayer will do. The one thing I have learned about sprayers though is don't buy the ones with the black plastic wands. They don't last & the wand leaks early in the sprayers life. Look for & buy any sprayer that has an all metal wand they seem to last forever & you can buy parts for them. I have never had to buy a part & my sprayer must be 6 years old.
Also I would say do a google search on Kelp & you will find the many uses for it. I only told you a few because the post was getting to long.
You will not be disappointed with the results from the Kelp. I use it mostly because of my alkaline soil & my plants need the help with the uptake of nutrients.
I hope this helps you. MaMoo

I meant to get back to you sooner, but have too much going here. Thank you for all the good info about the kelp and where to get it. I went to the hardware store and didn't see any and 'twould be nice if I could find a local source but will order it online if I can't.

I printed this out and will keep it among the things I'm currently working on at the moment. I can't thank you enough for taking the time and the detailed explanations.

Sprayers. Ugh. I guess I'll have to buy one, thanks for the heads-up on what not to get. I'm guessing they attach to the hose or they could be self-contained.

I've got a student just out of landscaping school who will come tomorrow. I have a couple big projects and just can't do it all by myself getting it set up and planted. After that, I can try to get myself on a regimen about spraying, will try to keep most spraying to a minimum, think kelp is organic.

My lilies that I covered, some look fine, some emerged that were late in poking up, they will probably be better off than the other ones. Some put up regular lily looking stalks, and some just some leafy things that looks fringy. I wonder what's up with that? I've never grown lilies before and took great care when I planted these. A couple of the lilies that were the tallest and touched the plastic more look freeze burned, but the Easter lily I stuck in there because my daughter gave it to me touched the plastic, too, and looks great. So far. Thanks again!

I always feed lilies when they break the ground in spring, and again after bloom. I use tomato food. Be sure to cut off the seedpods so they won't go to seed.

Thank you! Seedpods. Some people are having fun growing lilies from seed but it takes quite awhile. So I won't let them all go to seed then, assuming I actually get a bloom. I didn't think of that, and I suppose energy that should go to the bulb to produce good blooms the following season will go toward making seed.

I just ordered some tomato seeds. It's a little late to start them, but I just used to give mine Miracle Gro, but can't say that I ever got any miracles except one cherry tomato went kind of crazy and climbed up to the top of the house.