controlling basal rot article

Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas We tend to concentrate on the two weeks that a particular variety of daffodil is in bloom. The size and quality of that bloom depends entirely on the other 50 weeks out of the year and what quality of life that the bulb and leaves are subjected to in your beds.
It would seem that anyone who spends much time or money on the daffodils or strives for the biggest and best blooms would want or need to get the best information. Below is a link that describes a little of the Hot Water Treatment and other aspects of growing and storing daffodil bulbs in a commercial operation.
http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayArticleForFree.cfm?doi=b314848n&JournalCode=PO
I guess the most surprising tidbit of information was that the UK has three times the acreage of daffodils as compared to the Netherlands and eleven times the acreage of the USA.
In regards to bulb and stem nematodes wiping out daffodils it is NOT in the best interest of a pest to kill off the plants they need to feed from. Depending on soil types and environmental factors would determine if you would ever have an infestation large enough to actually kill off the particular bulbs or even have masses of them large enough to see with the human eye. Notice in this article that they basically dig ALL of the bulbs in the UK on a two or three year rotation and HWT them but they recommend that it should be done EVERY YEAR for best results.
There are literally thousands of species of nematodes in your soils. It is VERY difficult to find a plant pathologist who would even know the difference between a root knot nematode and any one of the many different species of bulb and stem nematodes. KK