Winter Care of Peony Crops (and others!)

For most peony growers in the Northern Hemisphere, it is still winter. Although this doesn’t seem like an ideal time to focus efforts on our crops, there are still many things we can do now to help create a bountiful harvest later in the season.

Market growers have many supplies that we count on to nurse the peony crop to fruition, and now is the time to be sure those supplies will be on hand when they are needed. Later in the season, when a certain product is called for, it should be quickly available without delay. Problems often arise in supply chain inventory, shipping, or procurement logistics. These delays are relatively inconsequential now, but later in the spring, the time waiting for a needed amendment or equipment part can be critical and have large negative consequences.

Here are a few examples:

-Organic Pre-emergent herbicides are very effective when applied in late winter or very early spring, before soil temps warm enough to allow seeds from weed competition to germinate. If that product is not at the growing site, and you order it when the first spring days come, it may arrive weeks later. Those weeks of delay will allow a large percent of the weed seed competition to germinate, and the window to most effectively use the product will have passed.

-Organic Post Emergent Herbicide can also be a very effective tool to control weed competition. One of the weeds we struggle with most here in Vermont are Dandelion. They are some of the first weeds to show green growth in early spring, and have started their season well before the peony eyes emerge from the soil. At this time, a foliar knockdown spray will either kill the dandelions, or set them back enough to allow the peony to win the race towards sunlight. Be sure to leave plenty of other Dandelion living healthy in other places around the farm, as they are an important source of early season pollen for bees. Interestingly, when we dig large mature peony clumps, dandelion are the only weeds that have not been choked out by the mass of peony root. They will actually grow right through the center of a peony clump, like an iron carrot of sorts, and when we remove them during the process of washing and dividing roots, they leave a deep circular tunnel where they once were.

The window to optimally use a knockdown post-emergent herbicide is very small. Before the peony eyes emerge (up to no later than ½” of growth), we can indiscriminately spray over the whole peony plantings with a product like “Avenger”, and cause the peony no harm. Do not try this with a toxic chemical herbicide like Glyphosphate. These products have no place on a farm with healthy soils.

-Wood Ash is well known in both folklore and scientific research to benefit peony plants. Chances are you may have a woodstove or fireplace full of ash after a cold winter! Now is the time to gather this up and have it ready to spread just as soon as the ground thaws. In larger size operations, truckloads of wood ash must be ordered and delivered now, while supplies are readily available and trucking to rural areas is possible on frozen dirt roads. Wait too long, and the trucking company will say you need to wait for the roads to dry out and firm up before they will deliver. Ground thaw happens much sooner than most of us think. In places with snow cover, the ground is thawed well before the snow on the surface has disappeared.

If you are growing cut flowers for profit, be sure to invest in a soil thermometer so you can learn the annual cycle of soil temps. It is much different than the ambient air temperatures we are accustomed to tuning into.

-Early Fertilizer application is another area where being prepared and ready is essential. All nutrients require microbiological action to be made available to plant roots. Early in the season this microbiological action is at a low, and we can give plants a boost by lightly topdressing the soil with a mix of compost and blended organic slow release fertilizer (we use North Country Organics Pro-Start). This mixture can be lightly applied directly on top of peony crowns before the eyes emerge, and will guarantee that the plants have all they need just as soon as they can possibly utilize it.Getting off to a strong early start will help create larger blooms that fetch a higher price at market. We don’t want to waste precious days or weeks waiting for supplies of fertilizer and compost to arrive on site. This ordering and delivering must be done before the first signs of spring. *Note that conventional water soluble chemical fertilizers (Miracle-Grow, Osmocote, etc.) should not be applied this way.

Ordering and preparing for the first days of field work is a relatively easy task that we can do from the comfort of home… but what about outdoors?

Even though we may not be ready to hop on the tractor and start cultivating fields, we can certainly get some productive hours under our belts before the spring work load sets in.

Fields are usually quite wet at this time of the year, and melting snow and rains also tend to be plentiful, so dress for the weather and get out there and see what is happening in the fields. Bring a pick axe, and look for drainage issues you can remedy by hand. Pooling water must not be allowed in peony plantings, and this a great time to spot these problem areas and provide a little hand work to get these sections draining properly.

Farm equipment is another area where our work now, can be greatly rewarded later. The last thing we want is for important equipment like tractors, rototillers, or cultivators to be breaking down when they are critically needed. Now is the time to inspect machinery, look for wear and tear, and replace parts where needed. If you find a part of your machinery showing lots of wear, it is much better to replace it proactively, and then have a (worn) spare on hand for later. The time it takes to order and receive broken parts during the peak growing season can translate into an important window of opportunity that is missed. Changing the oil, hydraulic fluids, and properly greasing all the wear joints should be done now, not later when there is likely to be an overload of time sensitive farm projects that need attention.

Last but certainly not least, are the administrative tasks that necessarily go along with any business. While the farm load is still light, it is a great time to tackle things like marketing, advertising, accounting, or hiring and planning. We now live in a world dominated by social media, but if you’re spending precious hours of the growing season with a phone in your hand, than those are hours when you are not farming. Try pre-editing and scheduling social media posts, email newsletters, etc. Save yourself time for later, when you’ll need it most.

It won’t be long before the days are stretching, the sun is shining, and the first shoots are popping up! Let’s get ready now for a successful season ahead!

#Flowers

#Farmers

#Future

@mountainflowerfarm

Best wishes,

Walt

About the Author: Walt Krukowski started Mountain Flower Farm in 1998, and has been growing peonies on a hillside farm in Warren, VT ever since. Mountain Flower Farm specializes in shipping seasonal cut flowers and woody branches to high end floral designers nationwide. The farm is also a leading peony root producer and provides peony stock to discerning growers throughout the USA. You can visit online: www.mountainflowerfarm.com