Long ago Paul Christian gave a lecture in Seattle on propagation
of bulbs and demonstrated how he forced crocus to produce subsidiary buds by
cutting out the main bud, treating the cut surface with a fungicide ( I think
it was sulfur ) and then oversummering the corm in dry sand until fall, when
they would be planted in the usual way. He claimed much better increase than
with natural increase, which can be excruciatingly slow in some plants. I have
not tried it myself yet.
Jerry John Flintoff
Vashon Island,Washigton,USA
Zone 8