Is this a newly purchased bulb, if so I would complain to the retailer as basal plate rot isn't acceptable.

A good way to get a lot of the rot out is with a spoon, gently spoon it out. If there is still a large amount I would consider removing the offsets so that you can keep the large bulb living. It would be really beneficial if we had pictures of what is going on. How large are the offsets? If you think you can clear up the rot by drying and use of cinnamon without removing the offsets then that is what I would do.

Another thing you might want to inspect is if there are any holes in the basal plate, it's possible that this bulb suffers NBF (narcissus bulb fly), this would also produce a massive amount of offsets and rot on the basal plate.

Hi and Welcome!

I have a Graffiti and also a Green Dragon and neither of them appears to have gone into overdrive to produce offsets. I'm not sure, but it may have been the bulb's survival mechanism thinking that the bulb is going to succumb to your rot situation..maybe the rot goes in deeper than you thought. Now this is all speculation on my part. I do have a healthy Giraffe that has done what you say, set about the same amount of bulblets..maybe you've got a Giraffe (you should be so lucky!)

Maybe someone else will have a better idea of what's going on but here is a picture of my Giraffe with all my bulblets.
Donna
{{gwi:449339}}

The seller is already sending replacement bulbs due to the mislabeled bulbs (I ordered 4 "Graffiti"). He's out of "Graffiti", so I don't know what I'll get. I'm sure I'll get something that I don't already have... so, this seems like a win-win situation... I get a bulb with a ton of offsets and some new bulbs too! Donna, the offsets are just like on your "Giraffe" bulb... they are all around the basal plate. Mine are just a lot smaller!

For the remaining rot that I couldn't cut off, I scraped it with my fingernail to try to remove it. The rot doesn't seem to go too deep. Then rinsed the bottom of the bulb well, blotted it on a paper towel and coated it with cinnamon. I think the bulb will be okay once it dries out. Time will tell!

Well good luck with you new bulb, some of my favorite bulbs were mislabels...Giraffe was..was bought as papilio..I think it's easier to get a papilio than a Giraffe these days...

Donna

Jodi,
Please explain your comment, "NBF (narcissus bulb fly), this would also produce a massive amount of offsets and rot on the basal plate."

Are you linking the offsets with NFB...or rather that the bulb "knows" it's a goner and is trying to ensure that its lineage will go on, through the offsets?

Somehow it just sounded funny, almost like...if you want your bulb to produce a crazy amount of offsets, threaten it with NFB! :-)...or bulbs hit by NFB produce offsets. In my experience, bulbs hit by NFB (a couple of years ago) just disappeared, without the benefit of offsets!

Thanks!
Kristi

Kristi,

It was me, not Jodi

When a bulb gets hit with NBF they usually produce a mad amount of offsets, at least in my environment! I think the bulb realizes there is damage and sends out offsets. It's similar to if you damage the basal plate and an offset with form in that area that was nicked.

A lot of times the bulb also propagates itself inside of the bulb too, I think it's similar to bulb chipping. When the main growing point or meristem is damaged and can no longer grow the bulb focuses its energy putting out baby bulbs. In a very blatant way it understands it can no longer grow like before so it produces babies that can.

Sorry Josh, I had just come in from MOWING, raking, cleaning the gutters...was having mini-heat stroke!! At least I got the "J" right!!

I wish that happened to me...my NFB bulbs from a couple of years ago (and I know it was NFB because I saw them) just rotted without any reproductive efforts!

Now....the Germa that I got had 18 bulblets when I got it. What a bonus.
K

Everything is dried out and well-callused over. So, I'll pot the bulb up and see what happens. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide input!