The actual basal plates were gone??!! Not just the roots?
Aaaiiieeeee!!!! = ([

I saw them same ones last week in the same store and I said what the............. never mind.... Every time I go there I always end up laughing PRO desk Yeah right clowns are pros too they get paid to make people laugh.
So off to the holiday ready garden center I go........ In 5 boxes of hippies lined up the stairs I still head out back returning soon to take a better look.. I guess they hadn't sold any in maybe 5- 6 yrs I am kind of figuring they just store em and break em out at will. I look in boxes no need to lift out bulbs and didn't even have to squeeze the rasin type kind of soft looking outers. Show all five to sales folks and ask them if they'd buy any of em from me. There responce For you sir 14.99 same price as on box . Guess who lost a mini flowering tree sale of 89.99 which is what I was realy shoping for..... Yes them hippie bulbs are still sitting there just waiting to be sold.
Check them bulbs folks even ask to look at em no matter how far off season as well

OMG. That is the very item I posted about a couple of weeks ago. I just looked at mine and . . . . . (CENSORED)!

Patann...I saw your post about the HUGE bulbs inHD for $15. Did you happen to pull any bulbs and notice that the basal plates were GONE!?!?! OMG...still stunned!
K

no, didn't think to look, you can tell now what a neophite I am. Never again. And mine has 2 huge bud stalks coming up. I can't believe I bot that one without looking. There is even mold growing where the plate should be. Lesson learned. Thank you, Kristi.

The Cracker Barrel near me even had hippi's in pots for sale. The poor scapes had sqeezed between the cardboard cover and the pot itself. I said they needed to put them on clearance to at least get what they paid for them, otherwise, they were going to die. UGH...we try to save the world, one bulb at a time!
K

I can't even imagine why they'd cut the basal plate off. So it doesn't grow roots? Very strange. I saw these really big bulbs in Costco yesterday - they were in this round red plastic bowl contraption with just a hole where the scape would come out. Can't imagine growing a bulb like that. I wonder if they took the basal plate off those too. I'll have to investigate next time I'm there... or maybe I really don't want to know.
Alana

I would imagine the concept is, from a greedy corporate retail standpoint, to ensure the bulb dies once flowering is over with... so you buy another one next Holiday season! What a complete and utter waste! I can hardly believe anyone would decimate a bulb in such a way!

It makes me angry just to hear about this practice!

Can someone find out who the grower is? Or whether it's the store doing this? I, for one, would like to write a letter to the company responsible.

I'm sure it's the grower. I'll go back at lunch and take photos if I can! I still can't believe it. I may rescue the one that had bits of root growing. Still sad.....I'm way too sensitive.

K

I'll check our HD and see if they got them & if a vendor is listed. I didn't see any when I went to get decomposed granite the other day. Just the boxes sitting over in a corner. I'm gonna ask the manager closer to Christmas if he'll sell me the whole lot cheap. I can line the alley with them & it'll look totally cool next year.
Tally HO!

Unless it's to promote a completely disposable product, why else would a company cut the basal plates off of bulbs? They know this is the most important part of a bulb!

This is new twist to the industry that I hope we don't see more of! I would love to know whose grand idea this was, and what they are hoping to accomplish?

As a bulb lover and collector, this angers and saddens me... that the industry would do something like this in the name of the almighty dollar. This is the lowest form of greed I've ever encountered.

Sounds like a new corporate practice to me.

Make sure the bulb dies so people have to buy a new one next year.

Consume, consume, consume!!!

I'm more angry at myself than the grower, but I am definitely taking my bulb (and glass hurricane and black river pebbles) back to HD tomorrow. I still have the box so I will also write to the grower tonight. It had to be someone who didn't know what importance a basal plate has to the bulb, I cannot believe someone did that on purpose.

I ran out of time today and almost think it was that I couldn't bear to go back to HD today. I know that if I find the bulb that has some roots growing, it might survive, but then why should I support the company that is doing this??

PatAnn, the ones at my local HD weren't in a box, they had a label on the front and back of the hurricane glass...they even had a link to a website regarding the care of the bulb (www.care._____.com). I'm sure it's the same company. I do recall they were from Michigan.

When I get home on Sunday, maybe I'll stop by and get the grower's info and we can all send them nasty-grams about what a shoddy (as in slip shod...poor/distasteful) practice this is. I still can't believe it!

Kristi

Kristi, if you do find out who the company is, please post the information. I'd like to add my two cents in a letter to them!

That's right, no box. My journal notes for this bulb say it's from Virginia. I will get the name tomorrow when I take it back. And you are right, why should I patronize them at all!

Post the information and we'll flood them with outraged e-mails.
Tally HO!

The comments some may wish to share to the bulb company isn't going to change there way of conducting bussiness...

They are already making a profit from those who are less fortunate than us who have a exchange ideas freely forum it is those VICTUMS that dont or cant find us who get taken advatage of.

I would like to inform BBB of there actions and even then they still won't change......... Move on to new name of company yes thats all they have to do.......... They will always practice this SHADDY SEEDY SNAKE like actions ( Tigers don't change there stipes either)helps to be a cat fan huh ? lol

These deliberate actions/acts upset me too I agree to a pettition that any and all plant sales companies and persons be subject to the same inspections/licences as any other reputable supplyer wholesales or not In the same manner as they would inspect wholesale food supliers and as well local garden center farm stands FDA/USDA are different but lines can often be re writen for consumer protection...

Or we could just make info tags to this webb forum www . gardenwebb / did they rip you off . com forum ???...info and stick it in them boxes and on them tags

Thank you to those who post in pics problems as well as beauty
;-)
Back at yah
Wes

I would suggest that you phone HD corporate HQ and talk to someone in customer relations. The number is 800-553-3199 during normal business hours, or check their web site for hours at HomeDepot.com. You might also let the store manager (NOT the department manager) know what you think of this, and also tell them that you will no longer buy gardening products from them, whether or not this is your intention. The department manager however is just another poor shlub waiting to go on his next coffee break, and complaints to him/her will go right into the 'mental circular file', so start at the top. I used to work part time @ HD, and I can tell you that all purchasing decisions are made at corporate, and the local store personnel have virtually no input regarding the products in any department.

It take specific policy and effort for a company to cut up a good bulb this way, and since profit is their motive, they must be expecting more sales after the first bulbs croak. Unless of course you tell them otherwise!

Now, here's a challenge for you: Call HD, and then return to THIS string and let us all know what your experience was. If enough angry gardeners call them, believe me, they will take notice. This is not a boycott, but an effort to be heard. How many of us will make the call?

Good luck!

--Rr

Maybe they were trying to "scoop" the bulbs (yeah, I doubt it): Scroll down a smidge....

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagation of Tunicate Bulbs

Scooping...yeah...now it all makes sense....

;-)

Not wanting to ruin anyone's dinner, just thought some of you might find this interesting..............certainly not HD reason for distroying bulbs.....

Here is a link that might be useful: chinese propagation methods

Here I go again, click on the generic John and it will take you to my albums and you should be able to find it.

Donna

Scooping doesn't really make sense as why would they then turn around and sell their propagation stock for mere pennies instead of following through with process and growing out many, many more bulbs? Perhaps someone goofed and sent out the wrong bulbs?

As an aside, I've oft wondered what processes were used to mass produce hippie bulbs for the market other than tissue culture, now I know and it would be usable for basement dabbers to be able to increase selected seedlings this way for limited introduction.. Several of my seedlings produce offsets and those could be grow out and then propagated in one of these manners.

Most interesting (the techniques not HD)

Poor babies! I want to write too! I'm sensing there will be a trip to HD in my day tomorrow... I know exactly which river stone/hurricane glass/hippie bulb set up thing you're writing about. I almost had my mother rescue one from that group too...

Yep. I'll go have a look. Poor babies, again!

I read anna's link above about scooping (which is a prerequsit to Donna's link above about chinese propagation) this morning and then I looked at my HD bulb to see if it had been scooped. What I found were new little stubbles of what looks like ROOTS, coming through the basal plate location. We got the cold snap to beat all cold snaps today so I didn't leave the house for HD. If those stubbles have grown by noon tomorrow, I won't take it back. I'm wondering, Kristi, if one needs to really scoop into the plate to fully remove it. We'll see tomorrow.

There is mildew on the plate area, however, and I may have to order the (Schultz) "Garden Safe Fungicide 3" from Amazon if I continue to find that no one carries it locally in the winter (in other words, "gardening" only happens outside in the summer, no one gardens INSIDE in the WINTER). So much for supporting my local merchandizers!! I am assuming that the product above is what ya'll mean when you write "Schultz 3-in-1." It is a miticide, fungicide, pesticide with neem oil.

Patann, I believe most of us use the Schultz's 3 in 1 spray more as a mite and insect control... and we use Captan (by Bonide) as an anti-fungal prevention and treatment. Captan should be available at most garden centers, and is a very effective powder used to dust bruises and wounds on bulbs to prevent fungal infections.

Regarding the removal of basal plates, and the propagation techniques in the links provided... I highly doubt HD's idea is to provide the customer with more bulbs! It appears to me as a way to make more money by ensuring the demise of more bulbs. Cutting off a basal plate makes no sense for growing and display reasons.

Thanks for providing these links... and the phone numbers to complain about this issue to corporate headquarters. Let's see what they have to say about it.

If anyone can find out who the grower/shipper is, that will also help in lodging complaints.

If the bulbs were grown in an area warm enough for the root knot nematode to exist,then the basal plates may have been
trimmed to eliminate the nodules which form.Otherwise they would never get through agricultural inspection,assuming they were inspected.
Del

That Chinese propagation technique picture - I don't know anything about it, but on a gut level, it looks like a bunch of mutilated bulbs. I don't like looking at it.

Jodi, thank you, thank you VERY much for the Captan heads up. I will get some tonight. Your generosity with your experience is one reason why l like this Forum so much more than any other, along with the Hosta Forum.

A local garden center which specializes in hippes (no more big box stores for me, I totally forgot about this place) told me this morning that they use and sell a concentrated neem oil 4 oz for $11. He said they dilute it with water and get rid of fungus and fungus knats in any plant by watering with it. Obviously powdering the basal plate instead of watering it makes more sense to me. I'm sure the Bonide dust I have had for my outside bulbs FOR YEARS is useless, but I'm going to try it until I get to the center tonight.

It still looks like root stubbles are growing around the plate. I don't want to take this bulb back to HD if these are growing roots, but I will get the grower's name and Email address and post it here.

Patann... Maybe you could post a picture of your bulb's bottom
so we could see what you are referring to.......I'd be interested in seeing the nodules. Thanks,
Donna

Donna, I wish I could post pics, but I've avoided learning because I'm lazy. Maybe this crazy bulb will be incentive for me to learn how to do it.
Pat

I did indeed get a rescue mission complete. I rescued one that had at least half it's basal plate. Probably the best out of the bunch. I'll get some pictures up later. Whoever said the things about it being a "customs issue" might be onto something...

The bulbs' origin is Brazil. The company is based out of Waynesboro, VA. Website: www.care.bloomaker.com

I'll link it too, for kicks

Here is a link that might be useful: Bloomaker USA, Inc.

Ugh. I linked the site before I went to it myself. Frightening stuff.Looks like it was written by a third grader...

"Therefor"... "tree (as in 3??) weeks"...

I've already read enough!

And it seems they are only proud of their tulips?

Please also note the forum has been disabled.... I wonder why...??

That's the vase/pebbles and that's the company. I sent 2 questions to them. Thank you.

Notice the "customer feedback"... it only goes as far as April of 2007. The forum has been disabled. And in my opinion, the website does not inspire confidence with its poor grammar. It looks like an old website designed to introduce this disposable product, but there doesn't appear to be any updates or anything else. The site barely mentions Amaryllis... which isn't even the proper name for the bulb, as we all know.

Even if new roots will grow from the bottom of a Hippeastrum bulb that's minus its basal plate, this has all the appearance of a disposable product not meant to last more than one initial flowering.

It is quite possible that a problem caused the company to ship their bulbs sans basal plates, just trying to recoup the money spent to offer the product in the first place.

All I know is... I think it's a horrible turn of events, making these wonderful, and potentially long lasting, bulbs into a quickly disposable product that you'd spend money on only to enjoy once. What a waste!

And every one sold is just more reason to offer them again.

Well, one of the things we haven't talked about is the economy.

I can certainly imagine companies selling off any stock they have (inferior quality that should have been culled or bulbs that were going to be used for production) to raise cash.

Anyone from growers to brokers to retail.

I am curious about the physiology. I did some reading on the internet and found an article saying that the basal plate contains the DNA for flowers and foliage. So can a bulb regenerate the basal plate if it is completely removed?

I saw a bulb at a garden center and basal plate looked like something had bored holes through it -- not vertically -- maybe just huge gouges out of the basal plate. I was surprised the bulb hadn't been thrown out.

G

I ran into one this season that had a suspicious looking hole right at basal plate level, going into the flesh and between the layers... it looked like a hole made by NBF! That's the first time I've ever seen this.

I will say that the boxed kit bulbs this season look really ratty when compared to the previous years' fare. I'm sure the economy has affected this industry, as well. Jobs are jobs, and product is product... and money is money.

Back from out of town....so chiming in, since I added to this with more detail than Patann...sorry....

When I did the cuttage, it was critical that each piece of bulb tissue had a piece of basal plate attached, thus is seems critical/vital that the basal plate is required for bulb growth. Tissue without basal plate won't prosper.

I've been in California for the past 4 days, and appreciate all that's been posted on this. I will try and make a trip over lunch this week to speak with the general manager. Maybe the sales pitch from the bulb company was that these bulbs will put on a magnificent display as they are desparate to survive. Doubt the basal plate was removed for propagation purposes. The hurricane lamp and pebbles are pretty shallow and I bet that the company finds that the roots just "get in the way"...and that the bulb will bloom and die.....ensuring another purchase next year.
K

That's my thought, too... it's more about selling a disposable, good looking item... and ensuring another purchase when the first one fades.

I wanted to email the company, but haven't had a chance to collect my thoughts and send one yet. I shall endeavor to do so today.

I found them at my HD too - and I think that's exactly it, they didn't want roots in that small container with the black river rocks. They even called them "ornamental" Amaryllis or something like that to imply that they would not transplant to a garden after blooming.
Alana

I too just got back from HD and found about 20 or so of them....doesn't appear that anyone is buying them. I picked up about 10 of them and believe it or not several of them had little nubbins that surely were roots desperately drying to grow out! Several more were totally moldy and the bulb was rotting away. TERRIBLE!! Maybe at the end of the season the bulbs with obviously roots could be bought for a song. I know we shouldn't enable them by buying them but it is just so sad to see them treated in this manner and some of them could possibly be saved. It will be interesting to see how long the roots actually grow...they might end up 1/2" long by the end of the Christmas season. My guess is they will get tossed in a dumpster some night and that will be the end of them!

Donna

If these were rare or highly prized varieties, it might be worth it to grab them on clearance... but since the common varieties are a dime a dozen, I consider buying any of them as only enabling this sort of thing to continue.

It's a sad turn of events for the bulb world, to be sure.

They're treating them kinda like cut flowers - with a tad longer shelf life. The big difference, of course, is the bulb gets destroyed in the process :-(
Alana

I see it like Jodik, something like that has not to be encouraged. Of course it's bad for the bulbs, but there'll be more of that if we're buying this stuff.

I didn't catch myself in time when I was buying the Lemon Sorbets I found in a supermarket here recently. They where really cheap but also in a bad shape. I had to pull nearly every root when I repotted them ...
The label said also that they didn't need fertilzer - Yeah, sure if they're just to flower once!

This scooping method of propagation is a new one to me. Now the method called notching is a tried and true method, but again not a pretty site, but does promote many new babies. Must check out my local HD to see for myself. Sonador