Yellow leaves?!?!

[JPB]

One of my Ornithogalum pyrenaicum bulbs has developped yellow leaved. They are not in particulary bad shape, but the wrong color

The leave tips of some of the other bulbs (f.i. Narcissus) show the same, but only a bit...

What is it??? Thanks for any advise,

Hans

[David Shaw]

I have had this, as in the illustration, with too many bulbs this winter. Have you tried pulling gently (very gently) on the leaves, Hans? I suspect that the yellow one at the front might just pull out of the compost, in which case the bulb is rotting. I hope that this is not the case with your Ornithogalum. Yellowing at the tips of the leaves can just mean that they got frozen as they were emerging.

[JPB]

David, there are no signs of rot. I will remove the soil around the leaves and check to be sure. but this species is very tough and rot-resistent so I think it must be the freezing weather. Strange thing is that I have not seen this yellowing before.....only this spring..

Thanks, Hans

[Lesley Cox]

Sometimes the tops will be yellow if the developing leaves have been exposed to the air too soon, maybe something digging close by or the pot tipped over. It happens with little Narcissus bulbs. They sometimes green up, sometimes not. In that situation I'd bury the bulbs a bit deeper when they die down.