Jan wrote earlier~

Hi,
What's the best thing to do when daffs fail to produce any flower? I
have a border full of bulbs, which have put on a wonderful display for
the last 20 years. They are in a slightly clay soil (though not too
claggy, and reasonably well draining) in a north west facing border, and
have been fed each year after flowering with fish blood and bone, and
the border mulched with garden compost and well rotted horse manure in
the autumn. I always leave it as late as possible to remove the leaves,
and until two years ago they've been great. The last 2 springs have
produced not a single flower.

I understand that this can happen when the bulbs are either too
congested or not deep enough. I dug up a clump to investigate, and found
lots of very small bulbs - mostly 1-1.5cm, none bigger than 2cm, and
quite a lot smaller than 1cm. Most of them had grown no more than 3
leaves. So I'm guessing congestion is the problem?

So what's the best thing to do? Do I leave them alone and hope that
they'll grow enough to flower next year, or dig them up and replant the
biggest ones, a bit more spaced out, or ditch the lot and start again in
the autumn with fresh stock?

TIA,

Jan
~~~~~~~~~~
The above is due to narcissus fly maggots destroying the central meristem
[growing point] of each bulb. This leaves only the numerous axillary buds to
take over and develop small bulbs. These will eventually become large enough
to flower.
Cutting a bulb into numerous segments is the modern method of growing
new vars. quickly, in quantity. Very similar to the above.
Best Wishes Brian.

I understand that it is quite normal for daffs to propagate by producing
many 'baby' bulblets. The 'mother' bulb then usually dies. The baby bulbs
take a few years to grow large enough to produce flowers. So probably
digging up the babies and planting them better spaced out could be the
answer.

cheers

Davy

"Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond wrote in message
...
Jan wrote earlier~

Hi,
What's the best thing to do when daffs fail to produce any flower? I
have a border full of bulbs, which have put on a wonderful display for
the last 20 years. They are in a slightly clay soil (though not too
claggy, and reasonably well draining) in a north west facing border, and
have been fed each year after flowering with fish blood and bone, and
the border mulched with garden compost and well rotted horse manure in
the autumn. I always leave it as late as possible to remove the leaves,
and until two years ago they've been great. The last 2 springs have
produced not a single flower.

I understand that this can happen when the bulbs are either too
congested or not deep enough. I dug up a clump to investigate, and found
lots of very small bulbs - mostly 1-1.5cm, none bigger than 2cm, and
quite a lot smaller than 1cm. Most of them had grown no more than 3
leaves. So I'm guessing congestion is the problem?

So what's the best thing to do? Do I leave them alone and hope that
they'll grow enough to flower next year, or dig them up and replant the
biggest ones, a bit more spaced out, or ditch the lot and start again in
the autumn with fresh stock?

TIA,

Jan
~~~~~~~~~~
The above is due to narcissus fly maggots destroying the central meristem
[growing point] of each bulb. This leaves only the numerous axillary buds
to
take over and develop small bulbs. These will eventually become large
enough
to flower.
Cutting a bulb into numerous segments is the modern method of growing
new vars. quickly, in quantity. Very similar to the above.
Best Wishes Brian.