Two people stated they suspect narcissus fly, so I am seriously thinking this is the problem as lots of symptoms would confirm this diagnosis, but... I should think I would find a pupa (I know what it would look like since I had that problem with the iris borer) and some fecal matter, but even on close examination I could find none. The bottom four/five centimetres and the top part of the basal plate are completely rotted except for the outside wrapping leaves. Everything is soft watery and brown, but the rest of the plant further up is healthy and upon slicing lengthwise looks rather like a leek. Is there another possibility? Perhaps a fungus that was present in the soil, which is a mixture of sand, dehydrated manure and bagged soil? Cannot find any conclusive info on the net. -----Original Message----- From: Hans-Werner Hammen Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 7:22 PM To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [pbs] amarcrinum If there is a hole in the bulb, the diameter almost that of a pencil, at the ring on the basal plate where the roots emerge from (thus not as easily to be detected!), towards the growing point in the core of the bulb, then the bulb had been infestated by the maggot of the Big Narcissus Bulb Fly. Your depiction sounds pretty much like that. If so, then all your amaryligenous crop outdoors/in the GreenHose is at risk, from next spring on, when the temperatures will exceed 18°>