This year, you may have noticed a significant decrease in the number of daffodil blooms compared to previous years, where the flowers created a vibrant yellow spectacle. This is not a common occurrence, and the phenomenon is known as “daffodil blindness”. This can be attributed to several potential factors.
The most probable cause is premature removal of the leaves post-flowering. If the foliage was cut or mowed before it naturally withered away – a process that generally takes a few months – then this would have deprived the bulbs of the necessary nutrients, leading to weaker blooms this year. Bulbs rely on the nutrients absorbed from the leaves after blooming to fortify them and store sufficient food.
Another potential issue could be down to soil quality – particularly if it is light and drains freely. Here, a drought in the previous spring could negatively impact the nascent flowers in the bulbs, particularly if the leaves wilted prematurely due to water shortage before the bulbs had time to absorb nutrients. If you suspect this to be the problem, incorporating plenty of organic matter into the soil after the plants have died back, and a sprinkling of a slow-release organic fertiliser should help.
Interestingly, daffodils can struggle in overly damp soil which could also lead to fewer flowers. If your area experienced particularly high rainfall last year, your daffodils may have found themselves in saturated soil. In such cases, drainage improvement is essential.
Lastly, another potential issue could be overcrowding if the daffodil bulbs are too close together. In this case, lifting, thinning out, and replanting the bulbs is advisable. However, considering the drastic reduction in the number of blooms from last year, this seems like a less likely option.
Ultimately, there’s a slight chance that your daffodil bulbs have been infected by a pest or disease. Examples encompass the narcissus bulb fly, narcissus eelworm, or narcissus basal rot. Inspecting a few sample bulbs by digging them up and examining them closely would be my advice to confirm this.
The presence of white maggots feeding within the bulb indicates the infestation of the narcissus bulb fly, while the narcissus eelworm is identified by deformed, bloated bulbs and impeded growth. The narcissus basal rot exhibits itself through inferior growth and squishy bulbs. However, considering the robust foliage your plants have generated, my assumption is that these problems are improbable culprits.