Joan, remember that most of these bulbs were created for the cut flower trade, so no, cutting off the scape when ready to bloom would not PO the bulb:) Also, for me, the flowers seem to last longer in a vase than remaining on the bulb. So, if you are not planning to pollinate, why not enjoy them in a vase at home, at work or wherever!

As for the size of your bulbs, some cultivars have huge bulbs and others small ones. Also, it is not uncommon for offsets of parent plants that normally have 4 flowers per scape to only have 2 per scape on its initial blooming.

That being said, I have found that foliar spraying of Thrive helped plump up bulbs as did fish fertilizer (smells a bit). But our environments are all a little different and what works in one may not work in another.

Jody

Cool info, Jody. I had no idea that these were ever raised to be cut flowers. Interesting. When raised for cut flowers, at what point are the scapes cut?

But that's kind of a sidelight. By the time a scape is ready to be cut for the trade it has probably already pulled a heckuva lot of energy out of the mother bulb. My ultimate goal is getting young bulbs to the size any one of us would expect as a minimum, when we order bulbs from some company, as quickly as possible. Does one cut the scapes (and when?) to hurry this process along?

I've delayed asking this question so long that the tallest scape in the photo below has opened the capsule and the buds are starting to wing out. Probably too late to make any difference, cutting that one off. But what about the little one?

That was a very good reminder, about not all bulbs being genetically programmed to get Big. I tend to forget that. Still, when two scapes are coming off a bulb that started out at 2.5" diameter - I measured it - I do very much worry about what's going to be left! And the mother bulb was 4" at least, when I got it. Uff da. Kudos to the bulb for its exuberance, but Momma (me) maybe needs to say when it's time to get some rest? Take a nap, eat a meal, tank up?

The one of these bulbs that doesn't (yet) have two scapes is, as a mere youngster herself, setting a baby of her own. Sheesh. Both are Snow Drift, by the way.

So the question remains: do I chop the heads off, or let them just do their thing in their own time?

I'm going to get some fish fertilizer and use it over the summer - I believe in that stuff, my dear Mother used it - once I can move things outside. I have a cat: a very active, very social, very Interested in All Things That Smell of the Outdoor World cat. Can't even sneak a caesar salad without she's whining at me. So fish fertilizer in the house is a no-go, hah.

Joan, yeah, cats and fish fertilizer are a definite no go!

Sorry to be so late answering this but I have been so busy repotting as everything is starting to grow and bloom ..what we do for our plants right?! Also time to pollinate and all of this means labeling and covering pods. This was supposed to be a hobby, but then I saw my first home grown hybrid and I was hooked lol. I blame this on all our forum friends -- YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE lol

But back to your question, personally I would't worry about cutting off scapes from a healthy bulb as I don't think it would drain that much energy by leaving them, but I would not let seed pods develop if you're trying to grow the bulb (just my personal opinion). The most important time to bulk up your bulbs will be during their main growing season. Again, from personal experience, I am careful with regular fertilizer not to burn the roots, however I have not had any problems with the addition of fish fert and/or thrive to the program.

I don't know if this will mean anything in your climate, but here when the bulbs start growing they seem to shed their roots just before pushing out new growth. If I don't repot and clean off the dead roots, there is a good chance that rot will develop and seems to impact the development of new roots and bulb growth, although it will flower.

That's useful information, Jody. I think what I will do is cut off any skinny/weak looking scapes, at least.

Oddly, on one of the smaller bulbs - it's Snow Drift - that was shooting two scapes, the second one's stem was only half an inch or less in diameter. I just made the call on that and cut it off. The first scape has five healthy buds on it! Go figure.

I tried taking a year off from re-potting last year except where it was obviously necessary, and didn't get the growth (bulb size recovery) that I expected, for whatever reason. I've made up my mind to just do it, every year.

Labeling and covering all those pods sounds like a major finicky project. Good luck!