We'll let me clarify a little better. Those stems and stem roots were packed in a bag with fairly dry soil. I looked for evidence of rotten bulbs but couldn't find any. It's as if someone who did not know lilies at all had packed them and thought that they will sprout again.(like a bare root peony)
As far as the Taliense bulbs, they WERE in damp soil in 4 inch pots. After not finding any Sargentiae bulbs I dumped those pots to see what was inside and I found those disappointing bulblets. That said, ten bulblets are nice if I can get most to mature.
Lorn, your diagnosis seems dead on being that they were in damp soil but what does that mean for me? Are these bulb mites a big problem? Truth is I only noticed them on 1 or two of the bulblets. I don't know what one looks like but I did not see anything visibly on them.
