Hi Brandon,

I think it is hard to compare bulbs this way. Best to look at whether they are blooming well and if you have any mushy bulbs. If all is going well, no need to check on them. If you see a reduction in flowering, they might be crowded and benefit from dividing.

There are some here that never fertilize their bulbs, but I throw a dose at them while flowering and again after the flowers have faded - nothing very strong - a slow release generic thing. Can't hurt.

I also layer fallen leaves on top my beds in fall and then shredded bark mulch over it all in Spring. So, hopefully I am getting nutrients in there as well.

It's typical for kinds like large-flowered daffodils to need fertilization to remain vigorous and productive. Otherwise when bulbs of any kind split up as a natural part of their growth of course the resulting bulbs are smaller at first.

I do plan on amending it with some compost and maybe topsoil to help with both

Don't do that unless you are planning to modify a large area, much bigger than that occupied by individual plants - you don't want to create pockets or strips of plants sitting in soils that are different from the soil around them.

Thank you both for your input, I haven't seen a lot of rot and most of my daffodils bloom just fine so I guess they're alright for now.

As for the compost, I did plan on using it on my whole garden and not just on the bulbs because I've noticed that some of my plants aren't as vigorous as I'd like them to be, and as I said my drainage is a little lacking.

Left alone, the bulbs will reach an equilibrium of size and bloom quality in line with the prevailing conditions. In the open ground, naturalised bulbs will invariably split and divide, making smaller daughter bulbs which will bulk up (as long as the foliage is allowed to remain for at least 6 weeks after blooming). Smaller bulbs will withstand the elements better than the large, over-fertilised bulbs straight from the growers.

I'm jealous you have so much compost!

Drainage is difficult, but I have heard of people with straight clay who have built up their topsoil simply by mulching and top dressing. I'm not an expert, but my understanding is the crawlies (technical term) and such which digest the compost and mulch will bring prices down into the soil. So, after years they will have softer ground. It's a process.

I actually don't have a lot of compost lol, I just started my compost bin last year so I asked around to see what kind of bagged topsoil/compost would be good to use instead and I heard Black Kow was a good brand so I planned on getting some of that instead, my garden isn't very big though so I don't need a huge amount of it.