I probably would do it if it were mine-- and if not now, I definitely would next year for sure. The plant may or may not decline but a fresh basal plate makes for more robust root growth (as I'm sure you already know!). Jewel, in particular, benefits from a basal trim now and then.

DR

How did this bulb perform this growing season?
Did it leaf out good with healthy leaves?
Did it get to increase it's bulb size compared to the other season's?
If not, then it's time to rejuvinate it.

This bulb did have lots of lush green leaves and in the middle of summer they ALL died off and I thought something was wrong with it but it sent up new ones in their place. It was the first time I've had a bulb do this,..but the bulb is not any larger than when I bought it.. if anything it's smaller, is that possible with all those leaves..(?)I still haven't done anything to it yet, but I'm willing if everyone things it's time.

Donna

Donna I believe it is time to trim the plate, then. I had bulbs do this before-- grow some leaves then lose them. I can't be certain if this is tied to the basal plate per se but it sounds to me like the bulb may be beginning to struggle.

DR

OK, Please tell me where the 'basal plate' is and why you cut it. I have had Amaryllis in the past but never kept a bulb more than a few years and never did anything to them. I have lots to learn about these gorgeous flowers -- just wish they were hardy in Z5.

The basal plate is the disk shaped organ at the base of the bulb from where roots and offsets grow. It is believed that trauma to the plate causes the bulb to refresh itself through increased offset and root production and in general better performance. Hope that helps.

Donna,

I'd love for you to document and take pictures to post in the thread if that's possible? I would love to see this done ;)

Josh

Will Do..!!

It's time.

*having visions of people standing around in surgical garb*

Be gentle!

Guys, don't sit on the edge of your seats waiting, we have family coming for Christmas they are arriving tomorrow. It may have to wait for a few days or until they leave, or maybe I can get them to take the pictures. I WILL do it.... I've had to clean this place up a bit so they won't think I am loony with all these plants, pots, unplanted bulbs on every surface in this house. Even my kitchen counters. We had to clear off the dining room table and the next thing to go is my Laptop! Will be glad to be able to get back to my messy ways.

Love and best wished to all of you..

Donna

Donna,

I'm in the process of de-bulbifying my kitchen and dining room. Everyone thinks I'm crazy enought that I turned the guest areas into South American jungles!

Whats the worst thing than could happen ?

{{gwi:57422}}

Mrlike2u

Would that be 'Susan' very pretty...

Vera

Sounds like I have a bulb that needs a basal plate trim, too. It's leaves died back this summer, except for one that only partly died back. But I also noticed some soft spots, so I unpotted it, trimmed off the remaining leaf, and cleaned up the soft spots. While doing this, I noticed that the basal plate is very thick on one side and somewhat thick on the other side (explains why it was lopsided in the pot).
I'll have my husband do this procedure for me. But we've never done this before. Any tips or instructions that I should be aware of? Do I just have him cut straight across at an angle that will make the basal plate the same thickness across the bottom of the bulb?
And I have one other question before we attempt this: When I was cleaning up the bulb's soft spots, one spot just above the basal plate went several layers into the bulb. This spot seems to be healing itself nicely. I've been letting it sit exposed to air so it can stay dry there while it heals over. But given that the bulb needs to heal this area, will it still be all right if I trim the basal plate now, too? Or will this be too much trama for the bulb to handle at the same time?
Oh, and I do not have any Captan. Went looking for it at my local nursery and was told that it is no longer being made. They didn't know what to recommend at this point; said they wouldn't know for a couple of months. But I'd rather not wait that long to replant this bulb. Do I recall correctly that cinnamon would be a good substitute?
Any help you all can provide would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Michelle

Hmmm, or maybe not cut it yet? A couple more details...
Thinking about it, the leaves on mine didn't all die back right away. I think it all started when my Nagano was knocked off the table it was sitting on out in the yard (probably thanks to the squirrels). Not sure how long it was on the ground. Bunch of leaves were broken, but I left them on so the plant could reabsorb them if it wanted to. Thought it would, but it kept these for the rest of the summer. But no more new ones grew after it fell.
And I can feel a few little bumps on the thickest side of the basal plate. Don't know if these are remnants from layers removed while cleaning up the bulb or if they are offsets just beginning or what.
And it does still have several healthy-looking roots (though some are thicker than others).
So, what do you all think?
Michelle

Mrlikeu2. Are you sure that your flower is Vera? It looks a lot like my Susan, with the cupped petals, and Susan has that little splash of pink deep in the throat..Vera does not...I'm not crazy about my Susan, but I just love Vera... just food for thought....

Donna

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and Vera, that opens more fully and it more of a coral pink...

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Not to add to the hijacked thread...but this was my v last year:
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K

Michelle,

I have never had to trim a basal plate before, but I know cleanliness is important when cleaning any bulb. Use a nice new razor blade or knife and I would clean it with some rubbing alcohol. I do it to my shears before i cut any leaf on any plant. Also you asked about cinnamon as an anti fungal instead of captan. I have never used captan only cinnamon and it works great. I had a rotting Amorphophallus tuber this spring and I cleaned it real good and rubbed cinnamon all over the tuber and it is still growing healthy. I also like it because it is cheap. Others may have an opinion about trimming the basal plate and treating a spot, but I say do it. I personally am a believer in the determination of nature. It will overcome most anything if you treat the plant right after the procedure. I mean heck you can make more bulbs by cutting them into pieces right? Good luck!

Jason

Jason, thanks for the reply. Glad to hear you've had good success with cinnamon. Do I need to make a paste with it or do I just rub it on as a powder? Never done this before, so tips are appreciated :)
Also, right now, my Nagano is resting in the garage while the wound has a chance to heal over a bit. Temps in there are probably in the 50s or low 60s. Is this good, or should I bring it into the house to be in room temps? I'm leaning toward letting it recover from this before doing anything with the basal plate. Was thinking, too, that that would make it easier to keep the injured part out of the soil. The injured part is unfortunately right above the basal plate. Any suggestions from others? This has been a wonderful bulb, and I'd hate to lose it.
Michelle

I cannot say what others do but I had two very small lemon lime bulbs last year that refused to do anything-- their basal plates were quite thick-- probably 1/3 of the bulb was plate. Here is what I did...

I sterilized a knife. Don't tell my wife this though....but I used our cutco knife-- a santokoo or however you spell it-- as it has a slight curve to the blade and is insanely sharp. Plus, if I did hurt it, they replace the knife! ha! Anyway, I left only about a centimeter or less of the plate on and in one sweeping motion, cut the excess plate off. It was a very clean cut and because I left a bit of the plate on, I never cut into the upper layers of the bulb.

Next I dusted it with some anti-fungal and let the thing sit for a few days. Never replant a bulb right after you cut its plate-- let it callus over like you would for a succulent or similar. If you plant it and it stays moist, you have an open wound sitting in a humid environment, you will get rot.

As for cinnamon-- never used it myself but I hear it can be an inhibitor to root growth as well, so be very careful if you decide to use it. It may inhibit fungus but it may keep roots from growing well, too.

remember..., let the wound callus. Let it take on a dry touch and appearance.

DR

Thanks, Ryan.
Sounds like I can use the cinnamon to protect the spot where I had to clean the bulb up from a soft spot, but not for protecting the basal plate after thinning. Wouldn't want to inhibit root growth! So, given that I cannot get Captan, do you have a suggestion for an appropriate anti-fungal? Thanks!
Michelle

I don't think cinnamon works as a root inhibitor as I said I coated a tuber with it and it grew just fine.

Jason and Michelle-- as I said before, I never used it on or near roots-- or at all for that matter-- only what I read and hear. It could be specific to plants too-- in orchids, I can tell you, loads of people warn against using cinnamon on or near the roots. The tuber you used it on may be another one of those cases where a "it depends" applies.

As for anti-fungal, you could try using sulphur.

You could be right on that one Donna and Kab nice an all black backdrop Label mix up on my end as Susan would be here too I have been wrongly naming them both for a while.
Cinnamon for plant recovery is the same as the I before E rule in elementary English/Grammar and Spelling 101 there will be exceptions and as Ryan said very few.

As for the badly chopped/gashed bulb would you or have you considered to grow it out in a hydro-tron in an isolation to help protect the whole planting for a while.

As I was saying whats the worse thing that could happen !

Well, earlier this afternoon (Dec 24), I put some cinnamon on the spot that's healing from being cleaned up. I checked it this evening, and it's looking really nice. Seems to be healing very nicely. It seems to be healing more rapidly since I put the cinnamon on it. Perhaps, too, it was helpful that the temperature is a bit warmer out in the garage today. I was thinking that the bulb might not be fully healed before I'd want to plant it again, but perhaps it will be. So, perhaps I'll do the basal plate trimming before replanting this season, after all. Will have to think about what I want to use for the anti-fungal after doing the basal plate trim. If I decide to use sulfur, any suggestions on what to look for? Don't have any here that I recall.
On the other hand, if I decide to try the cinnamon after the basal plate trimming, can I do something to reverse the effects if it does inhibit the root growth?
Michelle

Michelle,

I think you might be able to buy Captan online, as I know from a friend in CA that is is forbidden to be sold there, but I think you can have it mailed to you.. You can look into it and see if can be mailed to CA. If you're seriouly getting into bulbs, you really should have a bottle of it as it really works wonders and will last you forever...

Donna

My black backdrop is 36"x54" black fleece. Completely washable. Hangs in the "studio"...doesn't damage blooms if they brush up against it and cost all of $3!

I have been shooting against all black for years. I have many outside shots, but honestly, the background (no matter how simple) seems to detract from the blooms. I tried shooting against 8 different colors of cardboard too. That was fine, but the size was limited to 2'x3' and sometimes it wasn't big enough. I like shooting the entire plant including bulb to blooms. Then move in for the more detailed bloom shots. I post very little of what I take here. Some aren't in total focus, but for every 1 shot posted, I have 20+ that are not. All in my files...for that special rainy day project!

Experiment...
KAB - Kristi :-)

LOL!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally decided it was time to cut the basal plate on Nymph and I guess my old eagle eye failed me and I didn't detect another attack by the dreaded NBF so after I cut, I scooped out the damage and luckily, this time it didn't go too deeply into the bulb. I never did find the maggot, usually I do, so no satisfaction on that score. I dusted with Captan, and I do think this bulb will make it though....

Donna
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{{gwi:448420}}

{{gwi:448421}}

I'm willing to bet that it will do just fine. Let it callus before you replant it and keep it warm when you do and she'll rebound.

I have no experience with NBF-- but would giving it a systemic insecticide do the trick?

DR

Donna, glad you were able to save that bulb. It looks like there's plenty left to it. Maybe the larva died from some systemic you used perhaps? (I'd like to think so anyway.) I guess this is a reminder to us all that when we see a bulb with dying leave in the summer we really need to inspect for NBF damage. I hope it grows back quickly for you.

Alana

Thanks. I'm sure it will be fine, this had the least amount of NBF damage of any of my many bulbs that fell victim to the larvae this year. We just bought some systemic granules by Bayer containing imidacloprid that I will use early next spring in hopes that it stays in the bulb long enough to eradicate the NBF during it's life cycle.

Donna

After reading this post, I remembered that one of the bulbs I got from Corpus looked like the photo posted. Since these bulbs were so much smaller than the San Antonio, bulbs, I went and pulled up some bulbs, and it was Lady Jane, I cut the basal plate, just like the picture, its drying out. One thing I noticed was when I got the bulb it had alot of roots, when I dug it up, the roots were almost gone. The other bulbs even had little offshoots coming out the side. Thank you, for posting this, I know this bulb will do so much better, now that it has been trimmed. This was the only bulb out of the 41 I got at Lowes, that looked like this. I started reading this forum, when I was looking for amaryllis, and have learned so much, from reading your post. Barbra

Honeybunny,

Good luck with your Lady Jane, I'm sure she will be fine if you let her dry out for several days before replanting...I know.. the first time you trim a basal plate you say to yourself "what am I doing"!! But, it gets easier with each one you do...

Donna

Hi Everyone,

It has been pointed out to me by someone.. very caring for others safety.. that I wasn't wearing gloves when handling the bulb dusted with Captan and that is a definite NO NO!! So a word of caution don't do what I did, YOU should wear gloves when handling Captan and don't get it on your skin as I did..and certainly keep it from your eyes and hold your breath when using it. I did the last two but neglected to use gloves. Just wanted to make sure you were all aware of this!!

Donna

Donna, I'm curious to hear more about how this bulb fared last year and this year, post surgical intervention. Your photos were great. Seeing the NBS damage was also useful.

Does anyone else want to share their experiences with cutting the basal plate on their bulbs?

Tina

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mRYvr7KBUQqHeAMQdUSqhg?feat=embedwebsite

Is that yellow tinge in the basal plate of the earlier posted pic normal? I thought it was infected or rotting in one of mine so I cut huge chunks out and then it occurred to me that it is supposed to look like that.

Jemima, I can't make your link produce a picture. Are you referring to one of my pictures farther back in this post..if so the light yellow is just part of the basal plate (as far as I know) and actually I never even noticed it before. And, a resounding NO, I don't think you should have scooped any of it out!! Ouch! Hope your bulb forgave you....

Donna

Yeah it was one of your pics. I thought to myself and wondered if i should come online and ask first but i just kept going. I'll just pretend i was rejuvenating the basal plate. And the bulb in question is not doing that well. It is really damp, red & rotting at the neck despite all my cutting.

I considered cutting it back but a scape came up so i'll let it flower first before i decide what to do. I think it is going to have rotted quite far into the centre and can't face the inevitable. :/