It seems a bit early to be thinking of Autumn? But in the last few weeks I have been checking out the boxes of pots of plants that are in dormancy at present. One of the reasons I have been doing this is because there have been a few mice around. In past years, they have done some damage, getting into the pots and actually eating the small bulbs and leaving nothing but the desiccated husks for me to find. I have taken to using Ratsak by putting it down in small containers in my sheds and also under and between the polystyrene boxes. Needless to say, I have to be very careful with this stuff as I have two small dogs and I don't need any "accidents" (Between the mice and the Blackbirds, I have to be alert!)
What I hadn't cosidered until I started checking pots recently, is that I have not repotted some of them for a few years. (Part of this is because I was not well enough to get out and do it last year.)
If you are going to be growing many different species, as I have done in the past, you have to be prepared to put in the work to keep them healthy. Often, too much water will get through to them and they will rot anyway. For this reason, I store mine away in a shed for the dormant period. Those I store outside are covered with a waterproof tarpaulin which keeps them dry for the season. It works quite well most years, except the times you might have a plague of mice. Luckily, I don't have a lot and I have managed to get control of the situation.
Anyway, to get back to what I was saying, I haven't repotted for a while, so I have set up a strategy to go through all of the boxes of pots and repot them all. In doing so, there are a few measures I will take:
Firstly, I will split the pot into two or more pots depending on what is there.
Secondly, I will refresh the potting mix and check that the mix is still quite sandy. (Remember, most of these are South African)
Thirdly, I will add a small amount of blood and bone to the pots as fertiliser. This works quite well with these species.
Fourthly, I will refresh any labels that have become unclear and replace broken ones.
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