Steve Water the pots well and then leave them to get fairly dry. Usually the bulb roots need to develop before leaves can grow. I'm not sure where you get the "standard" advice from. I would advise to plant immediately, as you did, but then to water well straight away, and then to wait for signs of growth before watering again. Another way is to immerse the pot in a few cms of water and allow the water to be soaked up from below - this is good for large bulbs that are in large pots, so that only the bottom half is wet. Rhoda Napier, SA