I have never written here before, although I've been reading all your posts with interest for quite awhile. However, I felt compelled to pipe in a few comments on the rock dust discussion. Last year I wrote two papers for my soils and plant propagation class on rock dust, after coming across information on it and being intrigued with its possibility. I searched for studies done with rock dust and became more intrigued the more I came across. I will try to give you a succinct impression of what I learned. The obvious first thing one must remember is that the soil we have was created by rocks in the first place, particularly in the Ice Ages, when the movement of rocks enhanced soil throughout the world. Rock dust is a 20th century byproduct of the quarry industry, which is generally considered to be a waste product. In terms of its benefits, they are the following: it improves soil hydrology, buffers acid soils, and can provide potassium to plants on demand. According to the studies I located, it can restore lost and trace elements to the soil, increase the nutritional value of food crops, increase product yield, increase plant resistance to insects and disease, enhance microbial activity, aid soil moisture retention, aid the development of better root systems, reduce plant mortality rate during transplant, reduce the plant's need for soluble chemical fertilizers...there's a lot more, but you get the idea. It is very stable, dissolves very slowly and remains active in soils for many years, making it very cost-effective. It can be gotten for next to nothing at any local quarry. It is not a fertilizer in the usual sense of the word; it contains no nitrogen, very little phosphorus and a tiny amount of potassium. The most recent study I'm aware of is in Scotland, where the government has invested $100,000 in a three-year study combining compost and rock dust. Studies have also been done in Australia by an organization called Men of the Trees, who did a fascinating and successful trial using tree seedlings: in it, every tree species grown was twice as tall as the control plant, growth rates were up to five times faster than without rock dust, tree seedlings with rock dust appeared to resist insect predation, and there was a noted absence of fungal attack in the early stages of seedling growth. They now use 5 grams of rock dust for each tree seedling they grow. The amount to add per plant seemed to vary a great deal depending on what I was reading, and I found this somewhat confusing. It seemed to vary from 14# to 50# per hundred square feet if you are broadcasting it. In pots perhaps 5 grams per plant/bulb? This is a guess. If anyone is interested--and I hope this contributes to the discussion of bulb health rather than appearing to be a tangent on something else entirely--I'm happy to copy and paste one or both of the papers I wrote and send them on. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, Common Ground in Palo Alto sells Spiral Stonemeal for $18/50# bag. Jean in San Francisco I