Water and Daffodils
Daffodil cannot live without water, but too much water causes daffodil bulbs to die from basal rot or fusarium oxysporum fungus. There is a time to water daffodils and a time to let them go dry.
The rule of thumb is that daffodils like rich soil, high in organic matter, and good drainage. Sounds good! However, it's that part about good drainage that gets our daffodils in trouble.
Here's what my beds look like when I have the soaker hose laid out, and just before applying the mulch.
Watering Daffodils in the Garden and Lawn
Daffodils for the garden do not require that much water, other than normal rain, to naturalize well and return year after year with gorgeous displays of flowers. It's because daffodils need to go dormant each summer to reset for another season that they also need to be dry and cool during that dormant season. Again, nothing to worry about, as normal rainfall does not generally have an ill effect on the daffodils. It's the garden and lawn watering and sprinkling that gets the daffodils in trouble.
As a general rule, do not plant daffodils in that area of the lawn or the garden that has to be watered in the summer, nor in a place that collects water. If you water the summer garden, try to place the daffodils in that part of the garden that is located with other draught resistant perennials, and shrubs or bushes that do not need constant watering. Your daffodils will thank you by giving you an early display of bright spring flowers for years to come.
Heat and Water Combination
The experts seem to agree that bulb rot, called basal rot, is caused by a combination of heat and water. The heat is from the summer and the water from "watering." The basal rot fungus, fusarium oxysporum, is naturally in the soil, and a friend of the gardener. It's that part of mother nature that helps break down the organic matter in the soil as part of nature's plan. The same fungus becomes the enemy of daffodil bulbs, and attacks the bulbs when water and heat are added to the formula.
Basal rot fungus fusarium oxysporum becomes active in temperatures about 54 degrees "F." That's why convention has it that the best time for planting daffodil bulbs is after the soil temperature reaches below 54 degrees, and the fungus becomes inactive. I find that formula a good one to follow.
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