Ericaceous compost and daffodils

I'd just use the tomato type liquid feed, just once a week maybe.

 

Adding new compost in the autumn isn't really when the bulbs need feeding. There's a good chance that the fertiliser in new compost will have washed away by the time the bulbs need it, which is while the foliage is dying back and they're building up the reserves in the bulbs for the next year's flowers. You can also encourage better flowers the next year by deadheading so they don't use energy making seed (unless you want the seed, but generally bulbs take several years from seed to flowering size so most people wouldn't want the seeds unless the bulbs are in the ground and being allowed to naturalise and spread gradually).

These days, with decent compost being quite pricey, I pot up my new bulbs, a few to a pot depending on size, in spent compost or the cheapest bought stuff I can find (or a mix of the two) and then plant them out into the ground or into my big "display" containers in the spring when they've started to grow, like you would if you bought growing bulbs in the spring. Everything they need for the first year's flowering is already in the bulb when you buy them, except moisture (remember growing hyacinths just in glasses of water?)

 

Yes - topping up with new compost is best done when bulbs are appearing, depending on the timing of that, to tidy/smarten up the pots, or as they're dying back ,so that nutrients are used effectively.
I stick pots somewhere out of the way after they've finished flowering, doing that liquid feeding as they die back, and it's when I bring them back into the main part of the garden for their display that I tidy and top them up, as the level's usually dropped over autumn/winter. They might be peeping through as well, so it just keeps them well covered.
If I'm using old compost, it doesn't matter when I add it, and it can be useful just to keep the level at a good height.
I always deadhead too.

 

Thankyou, @pete, @JennyJB, @fairygirl . Ok, let me check I have understood: as long as the growing medium is not too dry or moist, could I get away with only giving the bulbs liquid feed and just using old compost all the time (for the potted ones)?!

 

To be honest, I don't know how they would perform in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc years because I don't leave mine in the pots, but spent compost or rubbishy cheapo stuff is certainly fine for the first year.

 

Thankyou, @JennyJB, I must admit, if I do get a 3rd year out of them, I will consider it a bonus. I resent spending lots of time and space on compost for daffodils, especially this year. I will try a weekly feed, as advised and see what happens!

 

I do leave some in pots longer term, but it's harder to keep them going unless they have enough nourishment, and that's why I tend to use a soil based mix for mine. I also use decent sized pots to give them enough volume to grow in. If you have decent garden soil, that's ideal, and you can just keep adding all the extras to it at the appropriate times. Drainage has to be good though. Soil doesn't 'disappear' so easily, the way compost does, but it's still a good idea to empty bulbs out every couple of years and check them as they can multiply, and crowd the pots with roots and new bulbs, as well as coming into contact with each other.
Like @JennyJB , I also shove some of them into borders every now and again, but they can rot away quite easily here, so it's always a bit of juggling with them. The variety is also a factor as some simply don't thrive as well as others.
I expect the only sure fire way to keep them going is to lift and store them, but I don't know how well that works, or how easy it would be.

 

Thankyou, @fairygirl for your suggestions. Good idea re soil not disappearing as quickly as compost - I will try that, too. Next summer, I will check the bulbs and refresh the growing medium, instead of doing it in early autumn/late summer.

 

Yes - a soil based mix with some grit or gravel is probably the ideal for daffs. If I have tulips, I use more grit/gravel in the mix, and I keep them more sheltered until they start to come through properly. It's too easy for them to get soaked, and be sitting in wet conditions for too long. Daffs will generally cope better with more moisture.
If you just remember that you're trying to make the bulbs bigger and stronger for the following year, and that means getting more substance/food around them as they die off, that's the method to follow as well as you can.