is my compost killing my bulbs and perennials?

[posskat]

last year my husband built me a wooden planter (have used the same wood for planters before) . i put cardboard in the bottom to cover the grass, wet it copiously and filled it w/homemade compost (1/2), 1/4 sand and 1/4 very old composted manure from the feedlot. (it's 3'x10'x10"tall). i really splurged and got some great bulbs and tons of expensive perennials. this spring, about 7 weeks ago, a handful of crocus and tulip bulbs poked thru, grew about 3", and that was it! nothing for over 5 weeks now!! i dug up a few of the bulbs, and the bulbs have either no roots, or roots only 1/2" long, and the bulb appears fairly healthy, altho some had a bit of mold on them (they didn't when i planted them). there have been about 4 other plants coming on, about 4-5" tall that seem healthy, and have thick roots, and i put in a few leftover pansies and petunias 10 days ago, and they seem fine, but nothing else has appeared, and of all those bulbs, of the handful that came up 3", 2 have flowers, partially opened, at ground level, but have not done anything for about 4-5 weeks now. it is very strange, as the rest of my garden has a ton of plants coming on strong, w/most of the bulbs having blooms and been deadheaded already.

any ideas? i'm just sick about it, and totally dumbfounded!! someone mentioned parasitic nematodes, but w/all the organic matter in there, i don't get it. but the lack of roots has me puzzled. also the lack of all the other perennials even appearring on the surface.

would it be possible to dig up the bulbs and save them for next year,, do you think, or are all the plants doomed??

i wouldn't have a clue where to get the soil tested here, as in canada, i know of know county extension offices.....any help would be greatly appreciated...........sorry for the manuscript.

on another note, i planted some old catnip seeds (starting them in wet paper towels on top of the fridge), which had germinated quickly. put them in fresh potting soil from costco, and they all grew about an inch, got 2 sets of leaves, and for over a month now have done nothing else!! i am flumoxxed. w/old seeds not grow, even if they germinate quickly? sorry if i'm on the wrong topic here; i'm not that forum literate.
thank you

 

[digitS']

I am sorry you are having such trouble with your new garden bed, Posskat.

Perhaps, you have a problem with an herbicide in the compost. There are persistent herbicides (some things other than Round-up) that linger and cause trouble. Here is someinformation from the State of Maine (click) on clopyralid, picloram and triclopyr. They talk a little about clopyralid in compost in Washington State.

Some folks around here think that clopyralid was banned after contaminating so much compost and being spread around the area. To the best of my knowledge, that wasn't true. It is still used by the golf courses.

Some of these other herbicides are used by highway departments and sprayed along roadways. Here is some information from Minnesota (click) on the problem of livestock eating plants that have been sprayed. The manure is then contaminated and kills plants. Yes, the manure kills the plants because it carries the herbicide.

Anyway, I wonder if this may be the problem your bulbs are having.

Perhaps, crocus corms can survive if they don't grow for a year. Tulips are actually bulbs, the base of leaves. It is hard for me to imagine that they could live without growing for a year. I don't know, tho'.

Here is Wishing You the Best of Luck.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Not all the Cooperative Extension Services in the states offer soil testing. However, there are laboratories that will do the testing.

I believe that each province has a Ministry of Agriculture as part of their Executive Councils. These agencies serve the farmers and should be able to direct you to these soil testing services.

In Washington State, the news on clopyralid contaminated compost came with information on how that was known. They actually grew pea seedlings in the compost and could note the damage done to the growth of the plants. That may have been the initial test and it is something that anyone could do at home.

Steve

edited to add: Here it is, Bioassay Test for Herbicide Residues in Compost from WSU complete with pictures of pea seedlings.

 

[posskat]

there were no herbicides used in any of this; i did the composting myself, and know where the the manure and sand came from, and none of these have been introduced by any herbicides, pesticides or chemicals.

i can't figure out what's happened to the roots on the bulbs. the bulbs should have been somewhat shrunken w/lots of roots, but they are plump, and very short, if any roots....i just don't get why everything quit growing, and why some plants haven't even begun.

 

[4grandbabies]

Is there a possibility that the cardboard in the bottom held in too much water, and things rotted or molded?

 

[posskat]

hmmmm........good question. i've used cardboard before w/no problems, but that could be a possibility, i suppose........still, the lack of roots is bugging me........but you did raise a good point. the soil seemed to drain quite well, and it's about 8" deep but i w/try to see if the cardboard is rotted. when i dug up the few plants, the soil was not cloggy or excessively wet, and we've had a bit of wet weather lately..... i'll go do a bit of excavating.....

 

[posskat]

i dug down, and it appears most of the cardboard has rotted away, and the soil down deep is fluffy and nice. i found a root of one of the perennials, and it is normal except for no feeder roots, and no growth. i can't even find most of the other perennials. the tulip bulbs are plump and healthy, just either no roots or only very short roots, so they haven't rotted. only a few had a touch of mold on them.

i'm wondering if nematodes could be the problem, but i can't find much info on them, as in how to determine this (no growths on the bulbs, or masses of roots, like a root nemetode...i'm thinking a pin or ring nematode, but i can't get much basic info on them. if it is them, i suppose i should sterilize the soil (solarize), but i'm sick thinking about all the bulbs and perennials that were/are in there.......

 

[4grandbabies]

i dug down, and it appears most of the cardboard has rotted away, and the soil down deep is fluffy and nice. i found a root of one of the perennials, and it is normal except for no feeder roots, and no growth. i can't even find most of the other perennials. the tulip bulbs are plump and healthy, just either no roots or only very short roots, so they haven't rotted. only a few had a touch of mold on them.

i'm wondering if nematodes could be the problem, but i can't find much info on them, as in how to determine this (no growths on the bulbs, or masses of roots, like a root nemetode...i'm thinking a pin or ring nematode, but i can't get much basic info on them. if it is them, i suppose i should sterilize the soil (solarize), but i'm sick thinking about all the bulbs and perennials that were/are in there.......

Did you test the soil. If it is lacking anything, there are several bulb foods on the market.

 

[posskat]

am trying to find a place to test it; but w/all the compost and old manure, which makes me think there was plenty of bulb food. the bulbs i planted were healthy, and even w/no bulb food should still grow. most everything in the box just quit growing...

 

[so lucky]

Posskat, it almost sounds like they were in a "suspended state" maybe due to not enough water? The sand and old well rotted manure may have sucked moisture out of the bed and kept them from rotting or developing further? (Did you have them sitting under a pyramid?)