Simple things I do....
sniff - to smell for rot
feel - for any soft spots
peel - to look for any hidden bugs/damage
look at the overall health of the bulb to see if you see gashed or deep cuts....try to avoid those if you can.

They probably hate me at the specialty garden centers, as I go over the bulbs. Some attach tags with rubber bands that can cut into the flesh.
K

When I was younger, I tried that with some girl once. When I regained consciousness,......oh, never mind....it's a long story. :) :)

Anyway, thanks for the "scratch-and-sniff" tips.

Not well liked at the Garden Centers?....Yeah, me too. I don't hesitate to let them know that sometimes their plants are crap, and, poorly grown! I've shopped for plants over the last 40 years, and can you believe it, nurseries still stock the same inferior cultivars/varieties that I saw 40 years ago! Millions of improved varieties, but yet, the same garbage from one year to the next. Most of my plants have to come from specialty growers....but I hate not seeing what I'm buying. The end of my rant du jour.

Thanks again for the info.

FDV

Actually, I haven't really been as coarse and intemperate when discussing nursery stock that's been poorly grown. I'm really far more diplomatic.

Frank

I like when nurseries treat their plants like crap. First, it leads to bargains when the sorry-looking ones won't sell. Second, it tells you which plants are really tough varieties that will survive droughts in the garden.

As far as a nursery's choice of variety, though... I dunno, I'm such a penny-pincher (and am a poor freelance writer who graduated from college during the worst recession in 80 years etc) I like to get plants that are heavily discounted when I will "try" anything. I don't mind the challenge of a poor variety. I already have other plants at home so it's not like I'll be left with nothing if something I buy dies. I research the species, don't pay much attention to cultivar or trying to figure out what it's cloned from.

Speaking specifically of hippeastrum bulbs... they usually seem to be really healthy. I don't think you could determine whether they're infected with latent viral infections no matter what you do - that would show on the leaves, which aren't there yet. But the large, dry-stored bulbs are very resistant to rot or mold.

I like to pick the ones that have bulblets visible underneath because within a year they've sprouted leaves and you get more hippeastrums. I also like to pick the ones that are not yet showing any signs of growth, or are showing as little growth as possible, because the stems are a better size and blooms are better and bigger if it produced them while becoming established in soil, as opposed to starting to produce them in dry storage.

I also like to pick bulbs that show the least signs of being affected by long periods of storage while shipping - which would be that the outer layers of the bulb are beginning to whither or wilt.

Aside from that, the largest bulbs in the batch are appealing for obvious reasons.

pizzuti:

Your tips along with Kristi's will be very helpful when I select loose bulbs. Thanks.

Years ago, when I did the "bonsai-thing" I would look for potential material from among the worst looking plants that the nurseries were trying to sell. Of course I would point out all the defects, and ask for a price breaks. They got rid of their garbage, and I got new starter material for bonsai.

Thanks again.

Frank

Pizzuti, Many of us got great bargains on bulbs last year (box kits that were blooming) and MANY (too many) of these bulbs were infected with virus...so...use caution. The blooms were pretty, but not worth the risk if it put our otherwise healthy collection in harms way.
Kristi